President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed three new associate justices in the Court of Appeals (CA) filling in the current vacancies in the 69-member court.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Presidential Communications Office said President Marcos has appointed Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty; Parañaque Regional Trial Court – Branch 294 Presiding Judge Leilani Marie Dacanay-Grimares; and Las Piñas RTC Executive Judge Pia Cristina Bersamin-Embuscado as new CA associate justices.
In August, Marcos appointed Justice Assistant Secretary Randolph Pascasio as an associate justice of the CA.
The four were among the 80 nominees in a short list submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to President Marcos in July to fill the four vacancies for associate justice in the CA at the time.
They replaced the four retired associate justices of the CA, who reached the compulsory retirement age of 70, namely Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, Evalyn Arellano-Morales, Marlene Biag Gonzales-Sison, and Apolinario Bruselas Jr.
The JBC has yet to submit to President Marcos a short list of nominees to replace former CA Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos, who availed of early retirement in February.
Bersamin-Embuscado
Bersamin-Embuscado is the eldest daughter of former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
In November last year, Malacañang said the elder Bersamin and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman voluntarily resigned out of delicadeza after their names were mentioned in the flood control scandal.
Marcos’ second Executive Secretary, however, maintained that he was told to step down from his post.
President Marcos would eventually clear things out with Bersamin, saying ‘there’s no bad blood, there’s no acrimonious feeling [and] everything is fine’ between them.
Bersamin-Embuscado completed her communication research degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She then earned her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, and successfully passed the 2004 Bar.
Gepty
Prior to his new appointment, Gepty was the Undersecretary for International Trade Group (ITG) at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), where he supervises the Bureau of International Trade Relations, the Strategic Trade Management Office, and the Philippine International Trading Corporation.
His main portfolio covers trade policy and trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels.
He earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree (Economics) from the UST in 1992 (cum laude), his law degree from San Beda College in 1997, and his Master of Laws degree from the UST in 2016 (summa cum laude).
He also teaches at the UST Faculty of Civil Law and Graduate School of Law
Dacanay-Grimares
Meanwhile, Dacanay-Grimares is also a faculty member of the UST Civil Law.