UE confers honorary doctorate on SC Justice Zalameda

Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from his alma mater, the University of the East, during a ceremony at the UE Theater in Manila on Tuesday.

The conferment formed part of the university’s 80th founding anniversary celebration. Zalameda is the 36th recipient of an honorary doctorate from UE since the institution began awarding the distinction in 1957.

UE president Zosimo M. Battad commended Zalameda for his judicial integrity and long-standing public service, describing the magistrate as a defender of the rule of law who embodies the university's core values.

In his acceptance speech, Zalameda stressed the societal duty of the judiciary and the necessity of judicial restraint, independence, and humility.

"The law must therefore be understood not only as a body of rules, but as an instrument of justice," Zalameda said, citing that judicial authority must always serve ordinary citizens seeking redress.

Zalameda earned his high school diploma from UE Caloocan in 1979 and completed his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at UE Manila in 1983. He later earned his law degree from Ateneo de Manila University in 1987 and passed the Philippine Bar in 1988.

Starting his legal career as a branch clerk of court at the Regional Trial Court of Makati City, Zalameda later served as a public prosecutor in Mandaluyong City, where he became chief city prosecutor in 2002. He served 11 years as an associate justice of the Court of Appeals before his appointment to the Supreme Court in 2019, becoming the first former city prosecutor named to the high tribunal.