Marcos Names Zalameda as the Philippines' 28th Chief Justice
Manila — Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has chosen Supreme Court Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda as the country's next chief justice, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced on November 5. PCO Secretary Lino Cayetano made the announcement at a Palace press briefing, a day before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 on November 6.
Zalameda, 63, will be the Philippines' 28th chief justice and the first appointed by Marcos. He joined the Supreme Court on August 6, 2019, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, after a career of more than three decades that began with work as a trial court clerk and prosecutor, followed by service as city prosecutor of Mandaluyong and as a Court of Appeals justice. He can lead the judiciary until he reaches the mandatory retirement age in August 2033.
Zalameda was selected from a five-name shortlist submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council that also included Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Japar Dimaampao and Jose Midas Marquez. Among the decisions he has written is the Supreme Court's June 10, 2026 ruling acquitting former first lady Imelda Marcos of seven graft counts, overturning her 2018 conviction by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.
Gesmundo, who became chief justice in 2021, is the court's 27th chief justice. Marcos must also fill the vacancy that will be created by the retirement of Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier on November 16.
Source: Presidential Communications Office of the Philippines
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：菲律宾最高法院大法官 Rodil Zalameda 官方肖像。马科斯总统11月5日选定他为菲律宾第28任首席大法官。照片：菲律宾最高法院，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Official portrait of Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, named the country's 28th chief justice on November 5. Photo by the Supreme Court of the Philippines, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
