Chief Justice of the Philippines

The **Chief Justice of the Philippines** () is the judge in charge of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. They are the highest ranking judge in the government of the Philippines. The current chief justice is Alexander Gesmundo. He was chosen to be the chief justice by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2021.

## List of chief justices

|#|Image|Chief Justice|Term|colspan="2"|Appointed by|Law school||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||Cayetano Arellano|June 11, 1901 – April 12, 1920 ()|William McKinley|Republican|UST|||
||Victorino Mapa|July 1, 1920 – October 31, 1921 ()|Woodrow Wilson|Democratic|UST|||
||Manuel Araullo|November 1, 1921 – July 26, 1924 ()|Warren G. Harding|Republican|UST|||
||Ramón Avanceña|April 1, 1925 – December 24, 1941 ()|Calvin Coolidge|Republican|UST|||
||José Abad Santos|December 24, 1941 – May 2, 1942 ()|Manuel L. Quezon|Nacionalista|Northwestern|||
||José Yulo|May 7, 1942 – July 9, 1945 ()|Masaharu Homma|Miliitary|UP|||
||Manuel Moran|July 9, 1945 – March 20, 1951 ()|Sergio Osmeña|Nacionalista|Escuela de Derecho|||
||Ricardo Paras|April 2, 1951 – February 17, 1961 ()|Elpidio Quirino|Liberal|UP|||
||César Bengzon|April 28, 1961 – May 29, 1966 ()|Carlos P. Garcia|rowspan="4"|Nacionalista|UP||
||Roberto Concepcion|June 17, 1966 – April 18, 1973 ()|rowspan="6"|Ferdinand Marcos|UST|||
||Querube Makalintal|October 21, 1973 – December 22, 1975 ()|UP|||||
||Fred Ruiz Castro|January 5, 1976 – April 19, 1979 ()|UP|||||
||Enrique Fernando|July 2, 1979 – July 24, 1985 ()|rowspan="3"|KBL|UP|||
||Felix Makasiar|July 25, 1985 – November 19, 1985 ()|UP|||||
||Ramon Aquino|November 20, 1985 – March 6, 1987 ()|UP|||||
||Claudio Teehankee, Sr.|April 2, 1987 – April 18, 1988 ()|rowspan="4"|Corazon Aquino|UNIDO|Ateneo||
||Pedro Yap|April 19, 1988 – June 30, 1988 (72 days)|rowspan="3"|Independent|UP|||
||Marcelo Fernan|July 1, 1988 – December 6, 1991 (3 years, 158 days)|UP|||||
||Andres Narvasa|December 8, 1991 – November 30, 1998 (6 years, 357 days)|UST|||||
||Hilario Davide Jr.|November 30, 1998 – December 20, 2005 (7 years, 20 days)|Joseph Estrada|LAMMP|UP|||
||Artemio Panganiban|December 20, 2005 – December 7, 2006 (351 days)|rowspan="3"|Gloria Macapagal Arroyo|rowspan="3"|Lakas|FEU|
||Reynato Puno|December 8, 2006 – May 17, 2010 (3 years, 160 days)|UP|||||
||Renato Corona|May 17, 2010 – May 29, 2012 (2 years, 12 days)|Ateneo|||||
||Maria Lourdes Sereno|August 25, 2012 – May 11, 2018 (5 years, 259 days) <small>(_de facto_)</small>|Benigno Aquino III|Liberal|UP|||
||Teresita de Castro|August 28, 2018 – October 10, 2018 (44 days)|rowspan="4"|Rodrigo Duterte|rowspan="4"|PDP–Laban|UP|
||Lucas Bersamin|November 26, 2018 – October 18, 2019 (324 days)|UE|||||
||Diosdado Peralta|October 23, 2019 – March 27, 2021 (1 year, 155 days)|UST|||||
||Alexander Gesmundo|April 5, 2021 – present ()|Ateneo|||||
- José Abad Santos was unable to preside over the Supreme Court due to the outbreak of World War II.
- Renato Corona was impeached on December 12, 2011, and convicted on May 29, 2012, removing him from office.
- Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio served as acting Chief Justice after the Impeachment of Renato Corona from May 30, 2012 to August 25, 2012 and after the removal of Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto proceedings from May 14, 2018 to August 25, 2018.
- Maria Lourdes Sereno was removed on May 11, 2018 via _quo warranto_ by a special _en banc_ session; the petition alleged Sereno's appointment was void _ab initio_ due to her failure in complying with the requirements of the Judicial and Bar Council. Hence her entire term as Chief Justice is considered a ***de facto*** tenure; legally void since the ouster of her predecessor. Sereno filed an _ad cautelam_ motion for reconsideration pleading for the reversal of the decision on May 31, 2018, but on June 19, 2018 was denied with finality (meaning no further pleading shall be entertained, as well as for the immediate entry for judgment) for lack of merit.

## Infobox (political post)

- **border**: presidential
- **font color**: pink
- **post**: Chief Justice
- **body**:

- **insignia**: Seal of the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines.svg
- **insigniacaption**: Seal of the Supreme Court
- **flag**: Flag of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.svg
- **flagsize**: 180px
- **flagcaption**: Flag of the Supreme Court
- **termlength**: Supreme Court of the Philippines#Composition, Retirement at the age of 70
- **style**: The Honorable
Your Honor
- **member of**: * Supreme Court of the Philippines, Supreme Court
* Presidential Electoral Tribunal
* Judicial and Bar Council
- **image**: File:CJ Alexander Gesmundo (2021).jpg
- **incumbent**: Alexander Gesmundo
- **incumbentsince**: April 5, 2021
- **appointer**: President of the Philippines, Presidential appointment upon nomination by the Judicial and Bar Council
- **formation**: June 11, 1901
- **inaugural**: * 1583 - Dr. Santiago de Vera y Rivas, Captain-General of the Spanish East Indies (Real Audiencia, Spanish East Indies)
* 1901 - Cayetano Arellano (Supreme Court of the Philippines)
- **website**: [http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/ Official Website]