President Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando as presiding justice of the Court of Appeals (CA).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed Fernando’s appointment in a statement after she was sworn in by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Wednesday afternoon.

“The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has signed the appointment of Court of Appeals Associate Justice Remedios Austria Salazar-Fernando as CA Presiding Justice on November 24, 2020,” he said.

Before Duterte’s appointment, Fernando was already the CA’s acting presiding justice following the retirement of then-presiding justice Romeo Barza in August 2019

Roque expressed confidence that Fernando would do a great job as the CA’s new presiding justice.

“We are confident that Presiding Justice Fernando would serve the CA with the same judicial excellence, dedication, and integrity she demonstrated in her years of service at the CA. Good luck and we wish her all the best in her future undertakings,” he said.

Salazar-Fernando earned her psychology degree at the College of the Holy Spirit and finished her law degree at the Ateneo De Manila University. She passed the Bar exam and became a lawyer in 1977.

She started her public career as a law clerk in the Supreme Court in 1978 and then went on to become the supervising presidential staff officer at the Presidential Management Staff of the Office of the President.

In 1983, she became a municipal trial court judge in Pampanga and served as the chairperson of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and concurrently as assistant secretary of the Land Transportation Office in 1987.

In 1992, she moved on to the Commission on Elections where she was a commissioner until 1998. She was appointed to the CA on May 25, 1999. (PNA)