Rody appoints Singh as new SC justice

Court of Appeals Justice Maria Filomena Singh is the newest Supreme Court justice.

Singh will be President Rodrigo Duterte’s last appointee to the high court before Duterte steps down in June.

Singh will take over the post vacated by retired Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe who retired on May 14.

Singh is said to be one of the longest-serving Supreme Court justices before her mandatory retirement in 2036. She is the sister of Department of Health spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Singh’s track record shows she has been with the CA since 2014, and prior to this post, she was a Quezon City RTC judge for seven years and QC Metropolitan Trial Court judge for five years.

She practiced law for 10 years before joining the Judiciary.

For her academic background, Singh has degrees from UP (BA English major in Imaginative Writing, cum laude), Ateneo de Manila University (Juris Doctor, second honors), and American University Washington College of Law (LLM).

She also currently teaches evidence and special proceedings at the UP Diliman Law school.

Singh worked with the Supreme Court in various committees, including the committees on the revision of rules, updating of the Philippine benchbook for trial court judges, and e-courts automation project.