Duterte names 2 Bedan alumni as CA justices

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has named two fellow San Beda graduates to the Court of Appeals, documents released by the Supreme Court on Friday revealed.

The President, a graduate of the San Beda College of Law, has appointed many officials in his Cabinet and in various positions in both the executive department and the judiciary since 2016.

Documents released by the Supreme Court indicate that the President signed the appointment of Associate Justices Jacinto Fajardo Jr. and Maximo de Leon on May 24, 2021. There was no explanation why it took eight months before the appointments were announced.

De Leon replaced Associate Justice Aurora Lantion, while Fajardo took over the seat vacated by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda.

De Leon holds a Master of Laws from the San Beda Graduate School of Law while Fajardo finished his law studies at the San Beda College of Law.

It was not clear whether the two magistrates belong to Duterte’s law school fraternity, the Lex Talionis Fraternitas.

Prior to his appointment, de Leon, who hails from Taal, Batangas, was presiding judge of Branch 143 of the Regional Trial Court of Makati City since April 2013. He obtained his law degree from the University of Nueva Caceres and

was admitted to the Bar in 1996.

Fajardo was presiding judge of Branch 66 of the Regional Trial Court of Talisay City in Cebu. He was born on March 8, 1955 in Gubat, Sorsogon and was admitted to the Bar in 1985.