Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera

Infobox Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice|small

name=Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera
order=
term start= January 17, 1979Reappointed to the Court on April 16, 1986]
term end= May 11, 1992
predecessor= Ruperto Martin
successor= Jose Melo
appointer= Ferdinand Marcos
date of birth= Birth date and age|1922|5|11|mf=y
place of birth= Cabanatuan City
date of death=
place of death=

Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera (born Ameurfina Aguinaldo Melencio on May 11, 1922) served as an Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1979 until 1992. She was the second woman appointed to the High Court, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of the first female Supreme Court Justice, Cecilia Muñoz-Palma

Profile

Born in Cabanatuan City to Jose P. Melencio and Carmen Aguinaldo, Herrera is a granddaughter of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the Philippines. Among the future Justice's baptismal godfathers was Supreme Court Justice George A. Malcolm, who also happened to be the founder of the law school she would later attend, the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Herrera studied law at the University of the Philippines and graduated cum laude in 1947. She topped the bar examinations administered that year. After a brief stint with a New York City law firm, Herrera engaged in private practice for several years until she was appointed to the judiciary.

From 1962 to 1973, Herrera served as a trial court judge assigned in Quezon, then Manila. She was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1973.

Her husband, Dr. Florentino B. Herrera, Jr., served as Chancellor of the University of the Philippines. They have three children: Florentino III, Victoria Lourdes and Milagros Gloria.

upreme Court career

Herrera was elevated to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1979.

When Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the incumbent members of the Supreme Court, all of whom were Marcos appointees, were asked to resign. Herrera, along would Claudio Teehankee, Sr., Vicente Abad Santos, Nestor Alampay, and Hugo Gutierrez, Jr. were the only incumbent justices who retained their seats on the bench. President Aquino however opted to extend new appointments to these justices in lieu of extending their previous appointment by President Marcos. Prior to re-appointing Herrera, Alampay and Gutierrez, Jr. on April 16, 1986, Aquino appointed three new members to the High Court, Jose Feria, Marcelo Fernan and Andres Narvasa. As a result, Herrera, Alampay and Gutierrez, Jr. were supplanted in seniority by the Aquino appointees.

When Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan resigned in 1992 to run for the vice-presidency, Herrera was widely regarded as a leading contender to replace him. However, because she was overtaken in seniority by Narvasa after the 1986 reorganization, it was Narvasa who was named Chief Justice, even though Herrera had served on the Court longer. Herrera retired in May 1992.

Herrera was named as the Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy upon its inception in 1996. The Academy is tasked with the professional training of members of the Philippine judiciary. Herrera continues to serve as Chancellor as of 2007.

References

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* [http://elibrary.supremecourt.gov.ph/index3.php?justicetype=Associate%20Justice&justiceid=a45475a11ec72b843d74959b60fd7bd6456f3047dd40f Supreme Court E-library: The Memorabilia Room]

Notes