PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has appointed Muntinlupa regional trial court Judge Gener Gito as Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan.
Gito is the judge who acquitted former Sen. Leila de Lima in the third and last drug case filed by the Duterte administration.
Gito’s appointment was conveyed by the Office of the President to the Supreme Court in a letter dated October 8.
“Pursuant to the provisions of existing laws, you are hereby appointed Associate Justice, Sandiganbayan, vice Oscar Herrera Jr.,” Malacañang’s transmittal letter stated.
Herrera retired in May this year.
Aside from acquitting De Lima, Gito is also handling the case against former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag in connection to the killing of Bilibid inmate Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in the 2023 killing of radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
Last year, Gito was among the 27 names submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council to Malacañang for three vacant positions in the Court of Appeals, where his wife Emily Gaspar Gito serves as an Associate Justice.
In 2019, Gito was awarded the Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano Award by the Society for Judicial Excellence for being the most outstanding RTC judge in the country.
A native of Victoria, Mindoro Oriental, Gito graduated with a political science degree from the University of Batangas and completed his law studies at the San Sebastian College-Recoletos.
He earned his Master of Laws at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and is a graduate of the Doctor of Civil Law program of UST.
He taught at several universities and worked at the Senate and several law offices before joining the Judiciary.
Congratulatory messages lauding Gito’s appointment were posted by the San Sebastian College of Law and the University of Sto. Tomas Graduate School of Law.
“Congratulations, Justice Gener M. Gito (SSC-R Law 1997), on your appointment as Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan. Bravo Baste!” said the San Sebastian College of Law.
“Congratulations to Justice Gener M. Gito, DCL, an alumnus of the Doctor of Civil Law program (Class of 2016) and a valued member of our academic staff. We are honored to celebrate his appointment as Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan. The entire GS Law community takes pride in this outstanding accomplishment,” the UST Graduate School of Law also said.
