MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has named lawyer Librada Buena as the new Clerk of Court of its 1st Division.
In a one-page notice dated Sept. 11, the 13 SC justices unanimously approved Buena’s appointment to the post.
Buena will assume the position vacated by lawyer Edgar Aricheta who was promoted as Clerk of Court of the SC en banc.
She started her career as a librarian in the SC, then to the office of the Clerk of Court of the En banc and then the SC 1st Division, spanning 30 years of service.
Meanwhile, Atty. Ma. Carina M. Cunanan is now promoted to be the as the head of the Office of Administrative Services.
A product of the FEU College of Law, Cunanan has been serving the High Court for almost 20 years.
Cunanan, who was member of the Bids and Awards Committee, testified during the House Justice Committee Impeachment hearing in the procurement of the Toyota Land Cruiser of ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Cunanan was then the Chairperson, Procurement Planning Committee of the SC.
Also appointed as the new Deputy Court Administrator for Mindanao is Leo Madrazo.
Madrazo was the Regional Trial Court Judge of Davao City before his appointment as DCA for Mindanao.
He notched 10 out of 12 votes from the SC en banc.
Madrazo was a former prosecutor of Davao City, then he became a Judge of the Municipal Trial Court of the same province until he was promoted as RTC Judge.
Earlier, Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro is pushing for career officials to fill up the vacancies in the top administrative positions in the Supreme Court (SC).
De Castro has just promised to fill up the vacant posts during his 41 days in the high court giving priority to career and senior officials who were not given a chance to be promoted during their career in the judiciary.
The new chief justice wants to implore that, while she is the first among equals, in the high court.
She wanted to be remembered as the one who restored collegiality in the SC and shall not be based on a one-man or one woman rule.
“I want the De Castro court to be remembered as the court that restored collegiality in the Supreme Court, the court which was able to institute several reforms in the judicial processes and I think we can do that, in such a way that the processes in the judiciary becomes more expeditious, less costly and more accessible to the general public,” she said. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
