Ong appointed new Court of Appeals associate justice

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed Michael P. Ong, who used to work at the Office of the President as senior deputy executive secretary for legal affairs, as the newest member of the Court of Appeals on Thursday.

Mr. Ong will replace Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, who was appointed to the Supreme Court (SC) in Jan. 2020. 

The appointment paper was dated May 20, 2020 but was only marked as received by the High Court on Wednesday.

Mr. Ong took his oath before SC Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo Thursday morning.

The newly appointed appellate court judge is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law.

He was an assistant secretary under the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs during the late President Benigno S.C. Aquino III’s administration. — John Victor D. Ordonez