ARMM guv nominates Moro appellate court justice to Supreme Court

COTABATO CITY - With the Supreme Court Justice Jose Perez set to retire on December 14, 2016, ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman has endorsed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao to occupy a seat in the highest court of the land.Hataman has sent a letter to the Judicial Bar Council to nominate Dimaampao, citing the latter’s achievements and track record as a law practitioner. Justice Dimaampao is publicly known as a highly respected justice especially in the Muslim community. As a Bangsamoro himself, Justice Dimaampao carries with him the aspiration to uplift the lives and pursue the rights of his fellow Muslims, Hataman writes.Sworn in at the age of 40 in 2004, Dimaampao is the youngest magistrate to be appointed to the Appellate Court.A proud Bangsamoro, Dimaampao holds the distinction of being the first and only Muslim senior state prosecutor. He is a known luminary in Shari’a Law in the Philippines, and holds a position as a professional lecturer of the Department of Shari’a Law and Jurisprudence of the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court.Apart from being an associate justice in the Court of Appeals, Dimaampao is also an educator. He teaches Taxation, Commercial Law, and Civil Law in at least three law schools in Metro Manila. He also conducts Bar Review classes all over the country.This isn’t the first time for Dimaampao to be nominated for a place in the Supreme Court bench, with endorsements dating back to 2010. The nomination is in line with the Organic Law for the ARMM, also known as Republic Act No. 9054, which states that it shall be the policy of the central government or national government that, whenever feasible, at least one (1) justice in the Supreme Court and two (2) justices in the Court of Appeals shall come from qualified jurists of the autonomous region.The said law also gives the ARMM Regional Governor recommendatory powers, after consultations with the ARMM Regional Assembly and other concerned sectors, through which he may submit names to the JBC for consideration prior to the nomination a new Supreme Court justice.