PRESIDENT FERDINAND Marcos Jr. has appointed two UST law professors and a Civil Law alumna as associate justices of the Court of Appeals on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
The appointees are Allan Gepty, Leilani Marie Grimares and Pia Cristina Bersamin-Embuscado to the appellate court. Gepty is an academic staff member of the UST Faculty of Civil Law and Graduate School of Law, while Grimares also teaches at Civil Law.
Gepty earned his bachelor’s degree in Commerce, major in Economics, and his Master of Laws degree from UST in 1992 and 2016, respectively.
He obtained his law degree from San Beda College of Law and passed the Bar examinations in 1997.
Before his appointment, he served as Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary for the International Trade Group, overseeing trade policy and negotiations at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. His earlier government posts included being the Philippine Tariff Commission commissioner and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) deputy director general.
In April 2024, IPOPHL conferred the Intellectual Property Champion award on Gepty for his contributions to the country’s intellectual property system during his service as deputy director general and officer-in-charge.
Meanwhile, Grimares graduated from UST Faculty of Civil Law in 1995 and earned her Master of Laws and Doctor of Civil Law from the UST Graduate School of Law in 2018 and 2023, respectively.
She served as presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 294 in Parañaque City and previously headed the Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 87 in the same city. She was also president of the Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines.
Embuscado earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Research from the University of the Philippines and later earned her law degree from UST Faculty of Civil Law.
She served as presiding judge of RTC Branch 198 in Las Piñas City after then-president Rodrigo Duterte appointed her in 2017.
Embuscado also serves as president of the Philippine Judges Association.
Before joining the trial court, she served as judicial staff head in the office of her father, former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin, during his tenure as a Supreme Court associate justice.
The Court of Appeals reviews decisions of regional trial courts and government agencies authorized to settle disputes, except cases assigned by law to other courts. It is composed of one presiding justice and 68 associate justice positions. F
