Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera

Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera
Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court
In office 17 January 1979[1] – 11 May 1992
Appointed by	Ferdinand Marcos
Preceded by	Cecilia Muñoz-Palma
Succeeded by	Jose Melo
Personal details
Born	(1922-05-11) 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,^[2] filling the vacancy left by the retirement of the first female Supreme Court Justice, Cecilia Muñoz-Palma

Profile

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.

Family

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.

Supreme Court career

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.

When Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan resigned in 1992 to run for the vice-presidency, Herrera was widely regarded as a leading contender to replace him. Because she was overtaken in seniority by Narvasa after the 1986 reorganization, however, it was Narvasa who was named Chief Justice, although Herrera had served on the Court longer.

Herrera retired in May 1992, and was named as the Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy upon its inception in 1996. The Academy is tasked with the professional training of members of the Philippine judiciary. Herrera served as Chancellor until May 2009.

References

• Sevilla, Victor J. (1985). Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Vol III. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers. pp. 149–151. ISBN 971-10-0139-X. 
• Supreme Court E-library: The Memorabilia Room; accessed 27 April 2015.

Notes