Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera
| Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 98th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines | |
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In office 17 January 1979 – 11 May 1992 |
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| Appointed by | Ferdinand Marcos |
| Preceded by | Cecilia Muñoz-Palma |
| Succeeded by | Jose Melo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 May 1922 Cabanatuan, Philippine Islands |
Ameurfina Aguinaldo Melencio-Herrera (born 11 May 1922) served as an Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1979-92. She was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of the first female Supreme Court Justice, Cecilia Muñoz-Palma
Born in Cabanatuan City to Jose P. and Carmen (née Aguinaldo) Melencio, Herrera is a granddaughter of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the Philippines. Among the future Justice's baptismal godfathers was Supreme Court Justice George A. Malcolm, who also happened to be the founder of the law school she would later attend, the University of the Philippines College of Law.
Herrera studied law at the University of the Philippines and graduated cum laude in 1947. She topped the bar examinations administered that year with a 93.85% having the highest grade for women. After a brief stint with a New York City law firm, Herrera engaged in private practice for several years until she was appointed to the judiciary. From 1962-73, Herrera served as a trial court judge assigned in Quezon Province, then the City of Manila. She was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1973.
Her husband, Dr. Florentino B. Herrera, Jr., served as Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Manila. They have three children: Florentino III, Victoria Lourdes and Milagros Gloria.
Herrera was elevated to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1979. When Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the incumbent members of the Supreme Court, all of whom were Marcos appointees, were asked to resign. Herrera, along with Claudio Teehankee, Sr., Vicente Abad Santos, Nestor Alampay, and Hugo Gutierrez, Jr. were the only incumbent justices who retained their seats on the bench. Aquino, however, however opted to extend new appointments to these justices in lieu of extending their previous appointment by Marcos. Prior to re-appointing Herrera, Alampay and Gutierrez, Jr. on 16 April 1986, Aquino appointed three new members to the High Court, Jose Feria, Marcelo Fernan and Andres Narvasa. As a result, Herrera, Alampay and Gutierrez, Jr. were supplanted in seniority by the Aquino appointees.
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