MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed acting Court of Appeals (CA) Presiding Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando as the head of the appellate court in full capacity, the Supreme Court announced Wednesday.

Fernando took her oath at the new CA Presiding Justice before Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta at the En Banc Session Hall, accompanied by her son, lawyer John Daniel Fernando and his wife Gem.

Her appointment came a year after the retirement of CA Presiding Justice Romeo Barza in 2019, the High Court noted.

Malacañang is "confident" that Fernando "would serve the CA with the same judicial excellence, dedication and integrity she demonstrated in her years of service at the CA," Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

Justice Fernando has a psychology degree from the College of the Holy Spirit and finished fifth in her law class at the Ateneo de Manila University. She passed the 1977 Bar Exams with a grade of 84.3250.

Fernando worked as a law clerk at the Supreme Court in 1978 before working at the Presidential Management Staff. She was appointed Municipal Trial Court judge in Sta. Rita, Pampanga in 1983 and Acting MTC Judge of Lubao in 1984.

She left the judiciary in 1987 to serve as Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman and assistant secretary of the Land Transportation Office.

The new CA Presiding Justice also served as Comelec commissioner from 1992 until 1998. She returned to the Judiciary as a Court of Appeals justice in May 1999.

She served as bar examiner in the 2005 and 2010 Bar Exams and is a professional lecturer for the Philippine Judicial Academy.

Among the 3 nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council to the President, Salazar-Fernando received the highest number of votes, with 7 JBC members voting for her, a document from the Judicial and Bar Council showed.

Among the 3 nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council to the President, Salazar-Fernando received the highest number of votes with 7 JBC members voting for her. She edged out CA Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison and SB Justice Geraldine Faith Econg. pic.twitter.com/6DiffG0XIy

— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) November 25, 2020

She edged out CA Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison and Sandiganbayan Justice Geraldine Faith Econg.