Sandigan presiding justice retires
CHIEF Justice Alexander Gesmundo paid tribute to Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang on her retirement from the Judiciary in a Special Sandiganbayan En Banc Session at the Manila Hotel on November 7.
The Chief Justice described PJ Cabotaje-Tang as “a shining example of what it means to serve with integrity, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to excellence: “As PJ, she guided the Sandiganbayan with grace and wisdom; firm yet compassionate, committed to service and excellence.”
He added that PJ Cabotaje-Tang has maintained that in all cases before them, the Sandiganbayan must “render well-reasoned rulings based on the facts, the evidence and the applicable laws and jurisprudential precedents—if not the overriding equities of substantial justice…without fear or favor. Without delaying judgment nor rushing to judgment, without being cowed by the clamor of the crowd or by pressure from the powers that be, and without being swayed by the popularity or notoriety of the personalities or issues involved.”
The Chief Justice has known PJ Cabotaje-Tang for four decades, having previously worked with her at the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) as OSG trial attorneys, together with Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier and Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Presiding Justice Roman del Rosario.
They all became Assistant Solicitors General before they were eventually appointed as Associate Justices in the Judiciary, Chief Justice Gesmundo to the Sandiganbayan in 2006; Justice Lazaro-Javier to the Court of Appeals in 2007, PJ Cabotaje-Tang to the Sandiganbayan in 2012, and PJ Del Rosario to the CTA in 2013.
PJ Cabotaje-Tang has had a distinguished legal career. A graduate of San Beda College of Law in 1979, she passed the Bar exams in the same year. She then worked as a Judicial Assistant at the Supreme Court for two years before joining the OSG where she would eventually be appointed Assistant Solicitor General. She is a law professor at San Beda University and the University of
Santo Tomas, specializing in Criminal Law.
