Justice Mario Lopez retires after 45 years

Supreme Court Associate Justice Mario Lopez has officially retired after reaching the mandatory age of 70, ending a 45-year legal career with a quiet but heartfelt farewell.

In his retirement speech at the Supreme Court, Lopez said being a justice was a huge responsibility. “This job was not easy,” he said. “But in it, I found both challenges and inspiration.”

Lopez was appointed in 2019, beginning his tenure during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made court work even harder. “There were no more working hours,” he said. “We worked anytime, anywhere, even from home.”

He described his time in the Supreme Court as tough but rewarding. Weekly meetings with fellow justices were often intense, and everyone had to be fully prepared. “Some justices could remember every case by number and date,” he noted, “and they would really test your knowledge.”

He shared brief stories about his colleagues — including one justice who always had funny stories to tell and another who liked to challenge others by asking, “So, must it be?” Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, he added, kept his thoughts to himself until the end of a debate, which made him hard to read.

Known for fair decisions, Lopez specialized in criminal and family law. He said he always tried to look at the full picture — not just the rules, but also the people involved. He recalled voting to lower the sentence of a person who stole a small amount but was sentenced to eight years in prison. In another case, he voted to acquit a government worker found guilty of graft involving just P1,000. “Fourteen years in jail for P1,000?” he asked. “That’s not justice.”

Court decisions, he said, should be both correct and understandable. “The law must make sense to people,” he emphasized.

Aside from his work on court cases, Lopez pushed for programs to support judges’ mental health. He helped start a system where judges can check if they’re feeling burned out or too stressed, and he worked to improve the judiciary’s health benefits.

Lopez also cared deeply about legal education. As chair of the 2023 Bar Exams, he said he wanted new lawyers to be not only smart but also honest and responsible. He even compiled a book with QR codes linking to full copies of his major decisions — a first for any justice in the country.

Lopez closed with a lighthearted remark: “Today, I’m the oldest justice. Tomorrow, I’ll be the youngest retiree.”