SANDIGANBAYAN Presiding Justice Minita V. Chico Nazario has been sworn in as the newest member of the Supreme Court. In a simple oath taking ceremony held in Malacañang, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo formally installed Justice Nazario as the 14th Associate Justice, filling in the vacancy created with the retirement of Associate Justice Josue N. Bellosillo.
The new Associate Justice is a native of San Miguel, Bulacan, and is married to Rodolfo Nazario with whom she has three children. She was the first woman Justice of the Sandiganbayan, and Chairwoman of the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division since 1997. She was also Chairwoman of the Sandiganbayan’s Special Division that was constituted by the Supreme Court to try the Estrada cases.
Justice Nazario has served for 40 long years in the judiciary, nine of which were at the graft court. She has never been charged criminally or administratively by any party-litigant or lawyer in connection with the performance of her duties.
Prior to her stint at the Sandiganbayan, which tries cases of graft and corruption involving government officials, Nazario was a Regional Trial Court Judge of Biñan, Laguna starting in 1987. Before her appointment as an Associate Justice of the Sandiganbayan in 1993, she served in various positions, notably Senior Judicial Assistant, Office of Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro in 1977-79; Senior Judicial Assistant to the Deputy Court Administrator in 1979-81, Division Clerk of Court, First Division, Sandiganbayan, in 1981-87; and Regional Trial Court Judge, Biñan, Laguna in 1987-93.
She obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines in 1962 and passed the Bar in November of that same year.
With a long career in public service, the appointment of Justice Nazario to the Supreme Court is well deserved.
We congratulate Associate Justice Minita V. Chico Nazario on her appointment to the Highest Court of the Land and wish her success in all her endeavors.
