Rodil Vaquilar Zalameda (born August 2, 1963) is a Filipino judge who has served as an

associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines An associate justice of the Supreme Court () is one of fifteen members of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Supreme Court, the highest court in the Philippines. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, chief justice presid ...

since 2019. He was appointed by President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

, succeeding retiring justice Mariano del Castillo.

Early life and career

Zamaleda was born on August 2, 1963, in

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan (; ), is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines. Caloo ...

. He took his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

at the Ateneo Law School in 1987 and passed the bar exam in 1988. After passing the bar, Zalameda worked in the Makati Regional Trial Court as a clerk for two years. He then practiced privately until returning to government service in 1995 as a prosecutor in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...

. He became the assistant city prosecutor in 1997 and city prosecutor in 2002. He served in the position until his appointment to the

Court of Appeals of the Philippines The Court of Appeals (; previously ''Hukuman ng Paghahabol'') is an appellate collegiate court in the Philippines. The Court of Appeals consists of one presiding justice and sixty-eight associate justices. Pursuant to the Constitution, the Co ...

on September 5, 2008.

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

In August 2019 CA Associate Justice Zalameda was appointed by President

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

to replace

Mariano del Castillo who retired last July 29, 2019. He is the first Supreme Court appointee who took a decision writing exam in addition to interview conducted by the

Judicial and Bar Council The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC; ) of the Philippines is a Constitution of the Philippines, constitutionally-created body that recommends appointees for vacancies that may arise in the composition of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Supr ...

References

1963 births Living people Associate justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Justices of the Court of Appeals of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino lawyers 21st-century Filipino judges Ateneo de Manila University alumni {{Philippines-politician-stub