00:00President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. chooses Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda as the country's 28th
00:06Supreme Court Chief Justice. Zalameda replaces Chief Justice Alexander Gismundo who will retire
00:11on Friday, November 6. Zalameda, the third most senior among the Chief Justice nominees,
00:17will serve as Chief Justice for seven years until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.
00:23As top magistrate, Zalameda will be the head of the judiciary and all courts in the country.
00:28The Chief Justice steers the judiciary along with the 14 Associate Justices of the High Court
00:33through landmark rulings and judicial actions. For Zalameda's appointment, Marcos skipped seniority,
00:39bypassing Senior Associate Justice Marvick Leonen, the second most senior SC Justice since May 2022,
00:44and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Cagliwa. Then-President Benigno Aquino III appointed
00:49Leonen in November 2012 and Cagliwa in January 2016. Zalameda authored the SC First Division's ruling
00:57that cleared the President's mother, Imelda Marcos, of seven counts of graft related to Swiss
01:01foundations. The 50-page decision overturned the Sandigan Bayan's November 2018 decision that
01:07convicted the 97-year-old former First Lady of seven counts of graft.
