Diosdado Peralta


Diosdado "Dado" Madarang Peralta is a Filipino attorney and jurist who serves as the Chief Justice of the Philippines. He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on October 23, 2019. He previously served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from January 13, 2009 to October 22, 2019. He is the third Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice to be appointed to the High Tribunal.

Personal life and education

Justice Peralta finished his Bachelor of Science degree at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 1974 before pursuing law at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, where he graduated in 1979. He is married to Fernanda Lampas-Peralta, an Associate Justice of the Philippine Court of Appeals.

Career

Legal career

He worked in the private sector before joining government service as an assistant city prosecutor in Laoag City and Manila.

Jurist

On September 22, 1994, he was appointed Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 95, Quezon City, which was designated as Special Criminal Court on Heinous Crimes and, later, Drugs Cases, then named to the Sandiganbayan in 2002 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was designated Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan in March 2008, and served in that capacity until his appointment to the Supreme Court. Justice Peralta is the Chairperson of the High Court's Committee on the Revision of the Benchbook on the Application, Computation, and Graduation of Penalties. He presently sits as a Member of the House of Representative Electoral Tribunal. Justice Peralta was the Chairman of the 2014 Philippine Bar Examination committee.

Awards

He was the recipient of several commendations, two of which were the Special Centennial Awards in the Field of Criminal Law, given by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Supreme Court during its Centennial Celebration on June 6, 2001, and the Judicial Excellence Awards 2002. In recognition of his vast contribution in the field of law, he was also the recipient of the Outstanding Thomasian Alumni Awards for Law on August 2, 2008, which was the highest award bestowed by the University of Santo Tomas to an alumnus.