Serve with dedication, integrity, gov’t workers told
Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo strongly reminded those in government that "public service is demanding but it is rewarding when done with utmost dedication and integrity."
"It is only through this that we will realize that all the long hours we put in, all the sacrifices that we and our family have endured, have all been for a higher meaning and purpose," Gesmundo said.
"No matter what our position, when we do our work well, we do something good for the public," he added.
Gesmundo and the other justices of the SC lauded CA Presiding Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando for exemplary work during her 70th birthday on 1 September, her retirement age.
Gesmundo hailed Salazar-Fernando for her exemplary work in the various institutions she had served in her long and storied career in government.
Joining Gesmundo on the occasion are Supreme Court Associate Justices Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Samuel H. Gaerlan, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Japar B. Dimaampao, Jose Midas P. Marquez and Antonio T. Kho Jr.
PJ Salazar-Fernando, or "PJ Mids" as she is fondly called, began her 50-year service to the public as a law clerk in the Supreme Court.
She went on to serve as a supervising presidential staff in the Presidential Management Staff of the Office of the President. She then returned to the Judiciary with her appointment as Municipal Trial Court Judge of Sta. Rita, Pampanga in 1983 and served as Acting MTC Judge of Lubao the following year.
President Corazon C. Aquino appointed her Chairperson of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in 1987 and served as an Assistant Secretary of the Land Transportation Office in a concurrent capacity in 1991. PJ Mids was appointed Commissioner of the Commission on Elections in 1992.
She returned to the Judiciary again with her appointment as an Associate Justice of the CA on 25 May 1999.
On 25 November 2020, she was appointed Presiding Justice by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
