New Court Administrator appointed

THE Supreme Court has appointed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta as the new Court Administrator.

She will replace Raul B. Villanueva, who was earlier named Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Justice Gomez-Estoesta, who took her oath on Monday before Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, will oversee the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) as it undergoes reforms under the judiciary’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022–2027.

The OCA is tasked with supervising all lower courts and implementing measures to improve efficiency, caseflow management, and digitalization, reforms seen as critical to governance and investor confidence.

She has 34 years in public service, beginning as a solicitor in 1991 before serving in Manila’s trial courts.

She later served as presiding judge in Manila’s first- and second-level courts before her 2014 appointment to the Sandiganbayan, where she chaired the Seventh Division.

Her experience includes handling corruption cases at the anti-graft court, along with a long-standing role in legal education. She has taught at Ateneo de Manila University since 2015, served as a bar examiner, and lectured at the Philippine Judicial Academy. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking