page_title: List of first women lawyers and judges in Asia
section_title: Philippines
hierarchical_section_title: List of first women lawyers and judges in Asia / Philippines
caption_attribution_description: Cecilia Muñoz-Palma
context_page_description: This is a list of the first women lawyer and judge in Asia. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law. Also included are the first women in their country to achieve a certain distinction such as obtaining a law degree.
context_section_description: Floy Gilmore: First female appointed as the Assistant Attorney General of the Philippines (1903)
  Maria del Pilar Francisco de Villacerna (1911): First female lawyer in the Philippines
  Natividad Almeda-López (1914): First female judge in the Philippines (1934), as well as the first female appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeals in the Philippines
  Cecilia Muñoz-Palma (1937): First female appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (1973). She was also the first female district court judge in the Philippines (1954), as well as the first female prosecutor for Quezon City, Philippines (1947).
  Merceditas Gutierrez (1974): First female (a lawyer) appointed as the Ombudsman of the Philippines (2005). She was also the first female to serve as the Secretary of Justice for the Philippines (2002-2003).
  Agnes Devanadera: First female appointed as the Solicitor-General of the Philippines (2007-2010)
  Marian Aleido (1979): First female appointed as the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (2012)
  Maria Lourdes Sereno: First female justice appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (2012)
  Miriam Defensor Santiago: First female of Filipino descent elected as a Judge of the International Criminal Court (2012)
caption: Cecilia Muñoz-Palma: First female Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (1973)
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