Raul Villanueva appointed as new Supreme Court justice

Metro Manila, Philippines - Court Administrator Raul Villanueva has been appointed as new Supreme Court justice.

Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro announced the appointment on Monday, June 9. Villanueva is the first appointee of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the court.

He replaced former Supreme Court Associate Justice Mario Lopez, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 years old on June 4.

Villanueva was deputy court administrator in March 2010. In November 2021, he was designated as officer-in-charge of the Office of the Court Administrator, then promoted to court administrator in March 2022.

He began his judicial career as the presiding judge of Las Piñas City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 255 in 2002.

He was also acting presiding judge of Taguig RTC Branch 267 and Manila RTC Branch 4, as well as an executive judge of the Las Piñas City RTC.

The new Supreme Court justice has worked for a number of government institutions and served all three branches of the government.

The Narvacan, Ilocos Sur native obtained his AB Economics degree in 1985 and his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1990 both from the University of the Philippines.