President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo as the new chief justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Friday.
"Yes, as far as I know," Panelo told reportr in a message.
Sen. Bong Go, a close aide of the President however said there was "none yet officially." Duterte's spokesperson Harry Roque meanwhile has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
Gesmundo, who joined the high tribunal in 2017, succeeds Diosdado Peralta, who retired on March 27.
A Duterte appointee to the Supreme Court, the 64-year-old Gesmundo is the fourth to be named by the President as chief justice after Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Lucas Bersamin, and Peralta.
Peralta's retirement last month left the Supreme Court with only three non-Duterte appointees namely Associate Justices Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen, and Benjamin Caguioa.
Prior to joining the high court, Gesmunod was an associate justice of the Sandiganbayan.
He obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1984 and passed the Bar in April 1985.
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