Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo is the 27th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1984. After passing the bar the following year, he joined the Office of the Solicitor General where he was awarded Most Outstanding Solicitor in 1998. He was on Seconded Appointment as Commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government from July 17, 1998 to February 15, 2001. In August 2002, he was promoted to Assistant Solicitor General, and on October 15, 2005, appointed as Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan, later becoming Chairperson of its 7th Division. He was appointed to the Supreme Court as Associate Justice on August 14, 2017 and as Chief Justice on April 5, 2021.
Chief Justice Gesmundo is the Chairperson of the Committee on Ethics and Ethical Standards, Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court, Committee on Computerization and Library, and Sub-Committee for the Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Until recently, he was the Chairperson of the Oversight Committee for the Implementation of Rule 138-A or the Revised Student Practice Rule.
During his tenure, Chief Justice Gesmundo intends to focus on two things: case decongestion and a technology-driven Judiciary. Recently, the Court en Banc approved the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 or SPJI, the institutional blueprint for judicial reforms containing the ideas, aspirations, plans and proposals of the present Court for the pursuit of one overarching goal: the delivery of responsive and real-time justice.
Chief Justice Gesmundo was conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, by the Philippine Christian University on August 31, 2022, Manuel L. Quezon University on March 26, 2022, and Centro Escolar University School of Law and Jurisprudence on July 8, 2021. On December 1, 2021, he was conferred the honorary rank of Knight Grand Cross of Rizal.
As an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Gesmundo was designated as Chairperson of the Technical Working Group for the Revision of the Law Student Practice Rule (Rule 138-A) (later converted to the Oversight Committee for the Implementation of the Revised Student Practice Rule), Committee and Technical Working Group for the 2019 Legal Education Summit, Sub-Committee on Libraries and Research, and Halls of Justice Coordinating Committee for the Cities of Manila and San Pablo, Laguna. He also served as Working Chairperson of the Technical Working Group on the Proposed Guidelines for Republic Act No. 11362 (Community Service Act).
He was also Vice-Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee to update and enhance the Supreme Court’s Case Selection and Docket Management System, Ad Hoc Committee for the Review of the Manual on Caseflow Management for Judges, Committee in the Implementation of the Judicial Integrity Board, Committee on Computerization and Library, Special Committee for the Rules on Procedure for Admiralty Cases, Special Committee for the Rules on Inspection (under the Philippine Competition Act), Sub-Committee for the Revision of the 1997 Rules on Civil Procedure, Sub-Committee for the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Oversight, Special Committee on the Rules of Procedure in Election Contests before the First Level Courts, Sub- Committee on the Revision of the Rules on Criminal Procedure, Sub- Committee for the Revision of the Rules of Procedure for Intellectual Property Rights Cases, Special Committee on Virtual Hearings and Electronic Testimony, Subcommittee on Computerization and Technology, Committee on the Revision of the Revised Rule on Summary Procedure, Special Committee on Facilitated Naturalization for Refugees and Stateless Individuals, Special Committee on the Proposed Rule on Criminal Confiscation and Forfeiture, and Special Committee on the Proposed Court of Appeals Rule of Procedure Relating to An Unlawful Activity or a Money Laundering Offense Under Republic Act No. (RA) 9160, as amended.
He was also designated as Member of the Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court, Committee on Continuing Legal Education and Bar Matters, Special Committee on Speedy Trial, Subcommittee on the Admission to the Bar, Committee on Internal Rules of the Supreme Court, Committee on Ethics and Ethical Standards, and Technical Working Group of the Committee on the New Supreme Court Complex.
Chief Justice Gesmundo was a former Vice-Chairperson of the Department of Remedial Law of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and a member of its Corps of Professors as a Professorial Lecturer in Remedial Law. He was the Examiner in Remedial Law in the 2009 and 2015 Bar examinations. He taught various remedial law subjects at the Ateneo de Manila University, Centro Escolar University School of Law and Jurisprudence, Lyceum of the Philippines, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta in Las Piñas City, University of Sto. Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay.
He was a member of the core committee of the National Conference for the Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure, a joint project of the Supreme Court, UP Law Center, PHILJA, and Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). He is a member of the Committee on the Updating of the Benchbook for Philippine Trial Courts (Revised and Expanded) and of the Court of Tax Appeals 2004 Committee on Revision of the Rules of the Court of Tax Appeals.
Chief Justice Gesmundo has participated in various international events and study visits abroad. On December 4 to 10, 2019, he attended the 2019 Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) in Bandung, Indonesia under the behest of The Asia Foundation (TAF). On October
29 to November 2, 2019, he participated in the 101st International Refugee Law Course held in Sanremo, Italy under the invitation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in the Philippines. On September 15 to 26, 2019, he joined the Justice Sector Coordinating Council’s (JSSC) Study Tour of the Philippine Delegation to Europe, particularly Spain and France, organized by the European Union-Governance in Justice (GOJUST) Programme. On August 15 to 25, 2019, he took part in a learning visit to Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne, Australia, under the Public Accountability through Court Transformation Project funded by the Australian Government, with the goal to strengthen the anti-corruption expertise of the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan through international bench marking. The trip was sponsored by the TAF under its Philippines-Australia Information Exchange program. He also attended the 2019 American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Conference on Clinical Education held on May 4-7, 2019, in San Francisco, California, U.S.A., also sponsored by the TAF.
On October 1-11, 2018, he went on a learning visit to observe the Legal Aid Services of Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and Suffolk University School of Law in the U.S.A., sponsored by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), under the U.S. Department of State. The previous year or on May 6-11, 2017, he attended a study tour on speedy disposition of cases, likewise organized by the INL, at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. and in Virginia, U.S.A.
He also participated in a study visit on Competition Law and Economics held in London, United Kingdom, on February 14-16, 2018. He attended the Regional Colloquium on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property for Judges in Higher Courts on October 17-18, 2017, held in Tokyo, Japan, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in cooperation with the Japan Patent Office (JPO). He participated in the ASEAN-USPTO Colloquium for the Judiciary on Management of Civil and Criminal IP Appellate Cases, held on September 20-22, 2017, in Bangkok, Thailand, organized by the ASEAN/United States Patent and Trademark Office.
On November 15-16, 2016, he participated in the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Launch of a Global Judicial Integrity Network in Bangkok, Thailand, conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). On November 24-28, 2014, he attended the program “Corruption: Detection, Prevention and Suppression” held by the Ecole Nationale De La Magistrature (French National School for the Judiciary) in Paris, France. He also joined the Competition Workshop for Judges, held on October 22-24, 2013, at Gyeongju, Korea, organized by the OECD/Korea Policy Centre. He also completed a summer course on European Criminal Justice at the Academy of European Law (ERA) at Trier, Germany, held on June 27-July 1, 2011.
On April 16-20, 2012, he attended the 17th Executive Course on National Security held at the National Defense College of the Philippines. Under the sponsorship of the PHILJA, he participated in the Partnership Forum on Transnational Organized Crime conducted by the UNODC on January 27-29, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Also under PHILJA’s sponsorship, he joined the seminar on Improvement of Judicial Fairness and Efficient Judicial Administration organized by the Supreme Court of Korea and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), held on April 14-30, 2008, in Seoul, Korea.
Prior to joining government, Chief Justice Gesmundo worked as Research Analyst from 1977 to 1979 with Business Day Corporation, publisher of the business newspaper Business Day and Top 1000 Corporations of the Philippines wherein a few of his articles were published. In 1979-1980, he worked as Market Research Officer at the Office of the Australian Trade Commissioner, Australian Embassy, Manila, and continued as its Marketing Officer from 1980 to 1985.
Chief Justice Gesmundo is the son of Juan A. Gesmundo, a farmer, and Zenaida B. Gahon, a public school teacher. He is married to Lynn Magpantay-Gesmundo, with whom he has a son, Alastair, and twin daughters, Ashley Nicole and Allison Arden.
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