By Ellson Quismorio  House Minority Bloc members gave props Thursday to the "man of the hour," who just happens to be a woman. Members of the media take images from footage showing Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes arriving at the court for the Maguindanao massacre hearing, inside the capital command headquarters Manila on December 19, 2019.(Photo by Francis MALASIG / POOL / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) Bayan Muna Party-List Reps. Carlos Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite, and ACT-Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro all praised Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes a few hours after handing down a guilty verdict to most of the principal accused in the bloody Maguindanao Massacre trial. "Judges like Judge Reyes should serve at the highest position in the Supreme Court (SC). She's the type of magistrate that we need," Zarate said in Filipino during a press conference. "She looks out for the interest of the people who are searching for justice," added the Davao-based lawmaker. Castro reckoned that Solis-Reyes should be emulated for choosing to handle a high-profile case that took over 10 years to resolve. "She was courageous. She accepted the case even if it endangered her life and that of her family's. This is the kind of courage that we are looking for in judges and defenders of justice," Castro said, again in Filipino. It was learned that Solis-Reyes, a journalism graduate, tried to apply for a vacant position in the Court of Appeals (CA) in 2013. This was rejected by then-SC Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who instructed her to resolve the Maguindanao massacre case first. "If you're going to ask us, why not? We will endorse her to a higher position," Castro said. "In my book, Judge Reyes is a gold medalist," Gaite, who apparently has a Southeast Asian Games hangover. "Despite the threats and possible harassment, we are glad to know that there are still those in the bureaucracy who are brave and willing to take a stand against impunity," he said of the lady magistrate. Zarate, Castro, and Gaite all belong to the militant Makabayan faction, which is part of the larger Minority Bloc headed by Manila 6th district Rep. Benny Abante. The November 23, 2009 carnage saw the deaths of 58 civilians, including 32 media practitioners. The powerful and still influential Ampatuan political clan in Maguindanao carried out the mass killings, which shook the country to its core. The bullet-riddled bodies of the victims were hastily buried using the provincial government's backhoe.