By Benjamin Pulta | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Antonio T. Kho Jr. was formally sworn in Thursday (Feb. 24) as the latest appointee of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to the Supreme Court (SC).
Kho, 56, took his oath as the 193rd Associate Justice of the high court before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo at the en banc session hall. He replaced Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang who retired last January 9.
SC spokesperson Bryan Keith Hosaka said Kho’s appointment papers were received by the tribunal on Wednesday.
Kho was born in 1966 in Jolo, Sulu. He received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the San Beda University College of Law in 1991, placing 10th in the Bar examinations.
He served as Undersecretary of the Department of Justice from 2016 to 2018.
In 2018, Duterte picked Kho as a commissioner of the poll body, which he served until his retirement last February 2.
Present during the oathtaking ceremony was Kho’s family along with Justices Jhosep Y. Lopez, Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Japar B. Dimaampao, and Jose Midas P. Marquez.
Meanwhile, the SC announced that Carandang was also sworn in by Gesmundo as chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJA), the court’s judicial education arm. (PNA)
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