Teresita de Castro

Teresita de Castro
24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
In office
August 28, 2018  October 10, 2018
Appointed byRodrigo Duterte
Preceded byMaria Lourdes Sereno (De facto)
Renato Corona (De jure)
Succeeded byLucas Bersamin
160th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
In office
December 3, 2007  August 28, 2018
Appointed byGloria Macapagal Arroyo
Preceded byCancio Garcia
Succeeded byRosmari Carandang
4th Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan
In office
September 8, 1997  December 3, 2007
Appointed byFidel V. Ramos
Preceded byRomulo Quimbo
Succeeded byEdiberto Sandoval (acting)
Personal details
Born
Teresita Jose Leonardo

(1948-10-10) October 10, 1948
Manila, Philippines
SpouseEduardo de Castro
Children3
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines (AB, LLB)

Teresita Leonardo de Castro (born Teresita Jose Leonardo; October 10, 1948) is a Filipina who served as the 24th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines; she was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 28, 2018. She assumed the vacated position once her predecessor, Maria Lourdes Sereno, was removed via a quo warranto petition (by declaring Sereno a de facto chief justice and making her 2012 appointment null and void ab initio); making De Castro the de jure 24th chief justice, and the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court.

De Castro officially retired on October 10, 2018, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70; merely 46 days after serving as Chief Justice, surpassing the record of former Chief Justice Pedro Yap of being the shortest-tenured Chief Justice.

Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, she had been the Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan.