Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez (born Ma. Alicia Austria, December 19, 1940, Manila) is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 12, 2002.
Justice Austria-Martinez started working in the government as a clerk in the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (February 1962 - December 1962). Later, she became Legal Officer I in the same Office (January 1963 - October 1964).
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Her brief stint in the Office of the Insurance Commissioner was cut short when she became a legal researcher in the Court of First Instance of Rizal (October 1964 - July 1969), thus, starting her long and illustrious career in the judiciary. From being a researcher, she gradually worked her way up in the ladder of judicial hierarchy and, in the process, held various positions such as Attorney Researcher (July 1969 - December 1975), Senior Attorney (January 1976 - October 20, 1976), and eventually Division Clerk of Court of the Court of Appeals (October 21, 1976 - January 17, 1983).
On January 18, 1983, she was appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court (Branch XXXVI) of Calamba, Laguna. On November 4, 1986, she became the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court (Branch CLIX) of Pasig City. From 1990 to 1992, she concurrently held the position of Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City. She also served in different capacities as an officer of the Philippines Judges' Association and the Philippine Women Judges' Association from 1987 to 1992.
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On March 5, 1992, she went back to the Court of Appeals, this time as an Associate Justice. She served in this capacity until July 27, 2001, when she was appointed as the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals. However, her occupation of the Office of the Presiding Justice proved to be short-lived because on April 12, 2002 she was named Associate Justice of the High Tribunal.
Her curriculum vitae includes: Examiner in Commercial Law in the 1994 Bar Examinations and Examiner in Remedial Law in the 2000 Bar Examinations; member of the Supreme Court's Committee on Formulation of Rules of Procedure in Family Courts which includes the drafting of the Rules on Examination of a Child Witness, on Domestic Adoption, on Commitment of Children, and on Annulment and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage; lecturer and resource person in various programs and seminars conducted under the auspices of the Supreme Court, the Philippine Judicial Academy and the U.P. Law Center.
Justice Austria-Martinez graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1962, earning the degree of Bachelor Laws (LLB). She passed the Bar Examinations given in 1962. She also obtained a Master's degree in National Security Administration in 1980 from the National Defense College of the Philippines where she eventually became the Chairman of the Panel of Examiners for Oral Defense in 1987, 1988 and 1991. She also served as a member of the Board of Admission in the same College for the School Years 1991-1993. Justice Austria-Martinez also attended the 31st Program of Instruction for Lawyers held at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1999.
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Resignation
On September, 2008, Austria-Martinez, citing health reasons, filed a letter to the Supreme Court of the Philippines thru Reynato Puno, tendering her resignation effective April 30, 2009, or 15 months before her compulsory retirement on December 19, 2010. In the October 1 Judicial and Bar Council's en banc deliberations, Reynato Puno ruled: "The court merely noted it. We don't have to approve it... it is her right." During the JBC hearing, a JBC member said "Austria-Martinez had wanted to retire earlier because of health reasons. We were told she had health problems even when she was in the CA."
Retired Chief Justice of the Philippines Artemio Panganiban stated: "I am saddened that Justice Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez has opted to retire early from the Supreme Court due to 'health reasons.' She is not bedridden. Neither is she physically or mentally incapacitated, but she has chosen to retire on April 30, 2009 because she felt she could no longer cope with the heavy caseload." The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides that: "Section 11, Article VIII. The Members of the Supreme Court xxx shall hold office during good behavior until they reach the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office."
Exclusive: SC Justice Alicia Martinez to retire early By ARIES RUFO, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 09/30/2008 Supreme Court (SC) Justice Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, one of the most fiercely independent magistrates in the Tribunal, has opted to make an early retirement due to health reasons. A staff of Austria-Martinez confirmed with abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak that the justice is set to hang her robe on April 30, 2009, or 15 months before her compulsory retirement on Dec. 19, 2010.
Born as Ma. Alicia Austria in Manila on December 19, 1940, Justice Austria-Martinez was introduced early to the intricacies of the law. Both her parents were lawyers. Her father, Retired Colonel Benjamin A. Austria, served in the Philippine Air Force while her mother, Remedios M. Austria, was a Doctor of Civil Law and served as a consultant in the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Justice Austria-Martinez is the widow of Atty. Daniel T. Martinez who once served as the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court. Justice Austria-Martinez has two adopted sons, Michael and Bryan. Michael is married to Ma. Evangeline "Jenny" B. Austria. They have two children, Marianne Nicole and Vince Matthew. Bryan is still single.
Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez (born February 28, 1938) is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2000 to 2008. She was the last appointment to the Court made by President Joseph Estrada.
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Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez earned her law degree from the University of Santo Tomas in 1960. After two years working at the National Bureau of Investigation, Sandoval-Gutierrez joined the Department of Justice in 1965. She later worked as an attorney for the Supreme Court.
In 1983, Sandoval-Gutierrez was appointed as a trial court judge in Manila. She was promoted as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals by President Corazon Aquino in 1991. She served in the appellate court until her appointment to the Supreme Court in 2000.
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In pursuit of post-graduate studies attended Harvard Law School Courses in 1989 and 1994, taking up Constitutional Law, Advanced Constitutional Law, Legal Medicine, Family Law and Federal Courts. She also studied, as a fellow, American and International Law at the Academy of the American and International Law, University of Texas in Dallas. She attended the course on trial techniques at the National Judicial College, University of Nevada at Reno and took up management and delinquency control at the University of Southern California Delinquency Control Institute, Los Angeles.
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Among many various honors, Sandoval-Gutierrez was the first recipient of the prestigious Cayetano Arellano Award as an Outstanding RTC Judge of the Philippines for 1990. She has also the distinction of being the first winner (First Prize Awardee, 1989) in the judicial essay/best written decision contest among Regional Trial Court women judges sponsored by the Philippine Women Judges Association yearly for having written the best "Proposed Innovations in Judicial Management and Procedure."
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Family
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Justice Gutierrez was married to the late NBI Assistant Director Diego H. Gutierrez (who died of LUNG cancer on May 20, 2002). NBI Deputy Director Gutierrez, 64, passes away Manila Bulletin Article date: May 20, 2002 Gutierrez, a veteran NBI agent, joined the bureau as a line agent in December, 1964. He rose from the ranks as NBI agent, senior agent, supervising agent, head agent, regional director (assistant), regional director assigned in various regions in the country, deputy director, and, lastly, NBI assistant director.
They have three children: Aileen is a State Prosecutor in the Department of Justice, whose husband, Robert Victor C. Marcon, is a law practitioner; Francis, an Esquire (attorney-at-law), is a graduate of the American University George Washington College of Law. He works in the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C.; James, also an Esquire, is a graduate of the Boston University. He is connected with the Stroock and Stroock and Lavan Law Firm in New York City.
On May 14, 2000, Sandoval-Gutierrez was bestowed the "Ulirang Ina Award" by the National Mother's Day and Father's Day Foundation.
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