THE Supreme Court has appointed Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta as the new court administrator. She took her oath of office on Monday before Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo., This news data comes from:http://lq-lkt-mqac-gdg.771bg.com

Gomez-Estoesta named court administrator by Supreme Court

Gomez-Estoesta replaced former court administrator Raul Villanueva, who was recently appointed as an associate justice of the high tribunal.

With 34 years of distinguished government service, Gomez-Estoesta began her legal career as a solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General in 1991. She joined the judiciary in 2002 as presiding judge of Branch 6 of the Metropolitan Trial Court in Manila. In 2006, she was promoted to presiding judge of Branch 7 of the Manila Regional Trial Court, a position she held until her appointment to the Sandiganbayan in 2014. At the anti-graft court, she chaired the Seventh Division.

A multi-awarded jurist, Gomez-Estoesta received the Judicial Excellence Award for Most Outstanding Judge for First-Level Courts and Best Decision in Criminal Cases in 2005. In 2012, she was honored with the Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano Award as Most Outstanding Judge for Second-Level Courts.

Beyond the bench, she has contributed significantly to legal education as a faculty member at the Ateneo de Manila School of Law since 2015 and as a professorial lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy. She also served as a bar examiner for Remedial Law and Legal Ethics in the 2024 Bar Examinations.

Gomez-Estoesta earned her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and passed the Bar in 1991. She also holds a cum laude degree in political science from De La Salle University, where she received the Gold Medal for Excellence in Political Science.

The Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), established under Presidential Decree 828 (as amended by PD 842), assists the Supreme Court in the administration and supervision of all lower courts nationwide. As part of the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI), the OCA is undergoing modernization to enhance its efficiency, regional support, and service delivery.

Under the new structure, the court administrator will lead a central OCA leadership team responsible for setting overall strategy and policy direction for trial courts. Administrative functions are being decentralized to the newly established Office of the Regional Court Manager (ORCM) across all judicial regions, with six interim ORCMs launched in 2024 as part of these ongoing reforms.