MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Court of Appeals justice Rodil Zalameda as the new associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC), completing the 15-person tribunal.
Zalameda was expected to fill the position of Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, who has retired effective July 29 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Zalameda was the ninth SC associate justice to be appointed by Duterte after Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr., Alexander Gesmundo, Jose Reyes Jr., Samuel Martirez, Ramon Paul Hernando, Amy Lazaro-Javier and Henri Jean Paul Inting.
However, Martires left the high court last year after Duterte appointed him to the Office of Ombudsman.
The President, meanwhile, appointed Dr. William Dar as secretary of the Department of Agriculture replacing Emmanuel Piñol, who tendered his resignation, moving to the Mindanao Development Authority.
Dar served as Agriculture secretary from 1998 to 1999 under former president Joseph Estrada.
He was the director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, an organization with headquarters in India, conducting agricultural research in rural development./PN
