President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Davao judge Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga as new Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals to replace former associate Justice Romeo Barza, while Emily Aliño-Geluz and Georgina Dumpit Hidalgo were named associate justices of the Sandiganbayan.
Gonzaga is the Davao del Norte judge who ordered the arrest of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato.
Aliño-Geluz, whose appointment paper was signed last April 30, is a former Cavite Regional Trial court judge.
Hidalgo, whose appointment paper was signed last January 18, 2018, is a former Caloocan City RTC judge. She will take the seat vacated by Rodolfo Ponferrada. She was also the former president of the Philippine Judges Association.
Gonzaga was the judge who ordered the arrest of self-confessed hitman Matobato for a kidnapping case.
Aside from kidnapping, Matobato is also facing a frustrated murder charge before a Digos City court in connection with the ambush of retired agrarian reform adjudicator Abeto Salcedo Jr. in 2014.
