Cecilia Muñoz-Palma

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Cecilia Muñoz-Palma

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma (born November 22, 1913 , † January 2, 2006 ) was the first woman to be appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court of the Philippines . She had been appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29, 1973 and remained in this post until she reached the then applicable retirement age of 65 years. She later was chair of the constitutional commission that drafted the new constitution of the Philippines in 1987 .

She was the daughter of the Lower House MP for Batangas . Muñoz-Palma received her law degree from the University of the Philippines and a Master of Laws from Yale University . She became Quezon City's first female prosecutor in 1947 and the first female district judge seven years later when she was appointed criminal judge for Negros Oriental . The next steps in her career were judges in Laguna and Rizal , before she was appointed to the Philippine Court of Appeal in 1968 , the second highest court in the Philippines, as the second woman to succeed.

Opponent of martial law

By the time she resigned in 1978, Muñoz-Palma had become acquainted with Claudio Teehankee with conflicting opinions in judgments confirming decrees and acts carried out under martial law by President Marcos during his reign . As early as 1975 she had expressed skepticism that “a referendum under martial law cannot be of far-reaching significance, since it is carried out under the atmosphere and the effects of fear.” The following year she was against the constitutional amendment that made Marcos law admitted to requesting proposals to supplement the constitution itself, and with this she also connected the call for the abolition of martial law itself. In a later divergent decision, she added that “under a martial law regime there are undoubtedly restrictions on certain rights and freedoms and any Expression would not stand up to the scrutiny of a free and unbound expression of the popular will. That 'martial law [comprised] armed force, that is, coercion by the military and coercion and intimidation', was laid down by President Ferdinand E. Marcos when declaring martial law in the country. "

After leaving the court, Muñoz-Palma became a prominent member of the political opposition directed against Marcos. In 1984 she was elected to the Batasang Pambansa as Member of Parliament for Quezon City. For a while she chaired a national unification council that tried to unite the opposition groups against Marcos and was an early supporter of the attempt to persuade the hesitant Corazon Aquino to run for the presidency against Marcos.

Constitutional Commission 1986 and later life

After Aquino took over the presidency in 1986 and constituted a commission to draft a new constitution, she appointed Muñoz-Palma as one of the members and the commission later elected her as its chairman.

After the ratification of the new constitution in 1987, Muñoz-Palma disappeared from public interest. In 1998 she supported Joseph Estrada in the presidential election. Muñoz-Palma severely condemned the circumstances that led to his leave of absence and the assumption of office by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo .

Muñoz-Palma died on January 2, 2006 at the age of 92.

Great decisions

Web links

literature

  • Victor J. Sevilla: Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Volume III. New Day Publishers, Quezon City, Philippines 1985, ISBN 971-10-0139-X , pp. 93-95.

Remarks

  1. ^ Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Volume III, p. 94.
  2. ↑ Aquino v. COMELEC, GR No. L-40004, January 31, 1975
  3. ↑ Collection proceedings against COMELEC
  4. ↑ Gualbert J. dela Llana vs. COMELEC
predecessor Office successor
previously non-existent seat Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1973–1978 		Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera
personal data
SURNAME Muñoz-Palma, Cecilia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Filipino Chief Justice
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1913
DATE OF DEATH January 2, 2006