Nimfa Cuesta Vilches was a Senior Deputy Court Administrator (DCA) at the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA),

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

. She was a regional trial court judge in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

until her appointment as Assistant Court Administrator in 2006 and as DCA in 2008. She was a family law expert in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and in the international legal community.

Profile

Born to lawyer-father, Benito R. Cuesta I, and an educator mother, Corazon Go, in

Tacloban City Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a popu ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

on October 6, 1956, Vilches graduated class valedictorian in elementary school and a Gerry Roxas Leadership and Scholarship Awardee in secondary school. She obtained her undergraduate degree in political science at the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Ateneo de Manila University in 1978 and her Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo de Manila Law School in 1982. Vilches was a member of the faculty of the Ateneo de Manila Law School and held the Chief Justice Ramon Avancena Professorial Chair in Civil Law. She joined the Supreme Court after her admission to the practice of law in 1983 as Court Attorney to then-Senior Justices Hermogenes Concepcion, Jr.; Jose Y. Feria; and Teodoro Padilla. Vilches was the second of four daughters. She was married to Salvador C. Vilches, a mediation consultant, with whom she had two children- Steve and Nicole. In 1989, at the age of 32, Vilches was appointed Presiding Judge of the Municipal Trial Court of Barugo,

, and was later designated by the Supreme Court as Acting Judge in the Metropolitan Trial Courts of Manila, Makati and Caloocan to address clogged court dockets until her appointment as Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 48, in 1999. In recognition of her notable performance as a regional trial court judge, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), Supreme Court, nominated her to the post of Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals in 2004. On September 26, 2006, she was awarded Outstanding Regional Trial Court Judge by the Society for Judicial Excellence, Supreme Court, for exceptional performance as a magistrate for 17 years and for advancing the rights of women and children. She was promoted Assistant Court Administrator the following day September 27, 2006. As Vice-Chairperson and chief implementer of the "Justice on Wheels", an access to justice by the marginalized sectors program of the Supreme Court from 2008 to 2010, she organized the conduct of court hearings inside mobile court buses in faraway courts with no judges, and in urban courthouses with high criminal dockets, that lead to the release of 5,157 detained prisoners; and introduced the "mobile court-annexed mediation (MCAM)" initiative that brought about the successful settlement (with 96% success rate) of 6,830 pending civil cases. Vilches, in 2005, ruled on the trailblazing case (Herrera v. Alba and Hon. Nimfa Cuesta Vilches, G.R. No. 148220, June 15, 2005) on the admissibility of DNA evidence in

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

courts. The decision was affirmed in its entirety on appeal and was much quoted by the Supreme Court. That piece of verdict became one of the starting points of the 2007 Supreme Court Rule on DNA Evidence. In 1999, Vilches founded the CASA-GAL Program in the

composed of trained community volunteers for children in court that was chosen by UNICEF in 2005 as one of the innovative initiatives for children in Asia and the Pacific. For her outstanding service to the public, Vilches was conferred the 2009 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award by the Civil Service Commission of the Philippines, the highest recognition given to a government official or employee.

Notable positions and achievements

Deputy Court Administrator Nimfa Cuesta Vilches with Filipino children

Supreme Court committees

* Chairperson, Committee on Legal Fees, Office of the Court Administrator * Chairperson, ''Ad hoc'' Committee for Legal Fees * Chairperson, Grievance Committee, OCA * Chairperson, Personnel Evaluation and Review Committee, OCA * Chairperson, Subcommittee on Justice for Children, Office of the President, Manila * Vice-Chairperson, Justice on Wheels Committee * Vice-Chairperson, Legal Research and Method, Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJA) * Member, Sub-Committee for Family Courts, Committee on Revision of Rules * Member, Committee on the Revision of the Benchbook, PhilJA * Member, Selection and Promotion Board, OCA * Member, Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary * Member, Research Group, PhilJA

Academe

* Professor II, Philippine Judicial Academy,

* Professor, Ateneo de Manila Law School and holder of the Chief Justice

Ramón Avanceña Ramón Avanceña y Quiosay (April 13, 1872 – June 12, 1957) was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He served from 1925 to 1941, when he resigned at the beginning of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World ...

Professorial Chair in Civil Law since 2003 * Lecturer for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

Institute of Judicial Administration;

Integrated Bar of the Philippines The Integrated Bar of the Philippines ( abbreviated as IBP) is the national organization of lawyers in the Philippines. It is the mandatory bar association for Filipino lawyers. History The IBP was established as an official organization for ...

(IBP); Philippine Bar Association (PBA); Department of Justice (DOJ); and the Public Attorneys Office (PAO)

International lectures

* Delegate, Philippine Delegation to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, USA, 2003 * Plenary lecturer, “Trafficking in Women and Children” and Session Chair, “Trafficking in Children,” 4th International Conference on Family Law and Children's Rights,

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 2003 * Lecturer, Asian Conference of Social Work Professionals,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, 2003 * Lecturer, “Making Juvenile Justice Work,” International Conference on Children's Rights, University of

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, 2007 * Lecturer, “Phenomena in Juvenile Delinquency,” International Juvenile Justice Observatory (OIJJ),

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, 2007 * Lecturer, “Family Mediation,”1st Asian Mediation Association,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 2009 * Lecturer, “No-Nonsense Court Management,” International Association of Court Administrators Asia-Pacific Conference, Bogor,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, March 13–16, 2011.

Works published

* B.P. 22: FAQs, Rex Bookstore, 2005 * Are You Ready To Be A CASA/GAL Volunteer? 2001 * DNA and the Courts, 2002 * Trafficking In Women and Children, 2003 * Making Juvenile Justice Work, 2004 * Mediation: Reaching its Potential in Family Law Cases, 2006 * No Nonsense Court Management, 2007 * RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act: Bane or Boon, 2008 * ADR: The Solutionist Approach to Unclog Court Dockets, 2009

Scholarships and training

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Children's Rights: Moving Forward, sponsored by the British Council, 2001 *

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, Violence against Women: Tackling Trafficking, sponsored by the British Council, 2004 * National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Nevada, Role of the Judge in a Family Court, sponsored by UNICEF Manila, 1999 * National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Nevada, Evidence in Family Court, sponsored by the

and City of Manila, 2000 * Legal and Social Systems of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, sponsored by Swedish International Development Aid, 2005 * National Judicial Institute of

, Vancouver and Kelowna, British Columbia, Evidence, sponsored by the Canadian International Development Aid, 2006 * National Center for State Courts,

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

USA, Court Management, sponsored by the USAID and The Asia Foundation, 2007

References

External links

DCA Nimfa C. Vilches: Keeps on RollingThe Casa/Gal Volunteer Program Jurisdiction: Philippines
*
The Asia Foundation : Projects : Search
- 49k
JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN: DETENTION AS A LAST RESORT Innovative Initiatives in the East Asia and Pacific Region

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101130171805/http://up.edu.ph/upnewsletter.php?i=306&archive=yes&yr=2007&mn=1 UP Newsletter - University Of The Philippines System
Gender Equality Rights

International Juvenile Justice Observatory - IJJO

Ateneo Law Journal

About the Author

CRIN - Child Rights Information Network - Resources -

* ttp://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/215733.pdf?tr=y&auid=4129408 NIJ Special Report
Sun.Star Davao - 'Counsels of no choice'

FIRST AUSTRALASIAN JUDICIAL EDUCATORS FORUM

PAO

ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090801143817/http://www.manilacityph.com/court.html lippines* - Mayor Alfredo S. Lim {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilches, Nimfa 1956 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Filipino lawyers People from Tacloban Ateneo de Manila University alumni Academic staff of Ateneo de Manila University 21st-century Filipino lawyers Filipino women judges Justices of the Court of Appeals of the Philippines 21st-century Filipino women lawyers