PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh to the Supreme Court, completing the 15-member tribunal, his office confirmed Wednesday.
Ms. Singh replaces former Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, who retired on May 14.
Ms. Singh, like Ms. Bernabe, was a judge at a metropolitan trial court and a regional trial court before her promotion to the appellate court in 2014.
The newly-appointed magistrate earned her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. She took her undergraduate degree in English from the University of the Philippines.
In 2012, she also worked as a Supreme Court resource person on judicial reform, which handled updating rules and guidelines for trial court judges.
Ms. Singh also taught law at the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University.
The new High Court official is a sister of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire. — John Victor D. Ordoñez