Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Ma. Cristina G. Cortez-Estrada hung her judicial robe in a special en banc session of the anti-graft court last November 27 after 48 years of government service, more than half of which was spent in the Judiciary.

Besides the distinction of being the first Sandiganbayan presiding justice to retire as such and only the third woman named to the Sandiganbayan’s top judicial post, Justice Cortez-Estrada leaves as her legacy the development of the Sandiganbayan property at Dominican Hill in Baguio City.

Construction of the Sandiganbayan courthouse and housing facilities for its justices, officials, and staff is expected to be completed by summer next year. Justice Cortez-Estrada expects that this will enhance the administration of justice as the “Sandiganbayan will be able to better serve the people residing at the northern region of our country.”

Her advice to her successor as Sandiganbayan presiding justice is to always keep in mind that the Sandiganbayan is an anti-corruption court so that laws and rules should always be followed in the administration thereof.  

During the retirement ceremonies held at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Sandiganbayan Centennial Building, Justice Cortez-Estrada also received two plaques for disposing of all her pending cases and for her gender and development (GAD) work in the Sandiganbayan, respectively.

Her story is as much a personal as it is a professional triumph against the odds. At the young age of 32, the untimely death of her husband, labor lawyer Alfredo V. Estrada (a classmate at the University of the Philippines College of Law), left her a widow with two young children and a third still in her womb. Nearly four decades later, at her retirement, she could not speak of the tragedy without shedding tears at the loss of her husband, whom she described as a self-made man who loved the laborers whom he represented. They in turn would be the ones to personally carry him to his final resting place in the North Cemetery.

Spurred by her late husband’s lament as to the dearth of female judges, she joined the Judiciary as Regional Trial Court judge in 1983. For around three years, Justice Cortez-Estrada had to shuttle between Legaspi City where she was posted and Metro Manila where her three fatherless children were studying, the eldest just in high school and the two boys in their primary grades. She wanted to be a good example to her children by being a good public servant, but it is easy to see how her mother’s heart was wrenched by having to leave them during the workweek and seeing them just on weekends. She admits that during this period, she entertained thoughts of resigning as judge, but the inner strength and faith in God that first saw her through the shock of sudden widowhood made her persevere.

The measure of her (single) parenting skills can be seen in how her children turned out: her eldest Sonia is an obstetrician-gynecologist after finishing medicine at the University of the Philippines; her second child and her husband’s namesake Alfredo (Fred) finished a Masters in Business Administration degree in the Ateneo de Manila University; and her youngest Emiliano (Emil) is a practicing lawyer with a law degree also from the Ateneo.

She has equally been assiduous as to her responsibilities with regard to her official family in the Sandiganbayan where she served for 11 years and 27 days. She describes her last five months in the anti-graft court as the most fulfilling in her years in government. The affection by which she was held there was evident in the accolades of her colleagues and the song tributes rendered by Sandiganbayan officials and employees in the retirement program. To them she bid not good-bye but auf weidersehn (until we meet again).

Family again is foremost in Justice Cortez-Estrada’s mind after her retirement. She plans to devote time to settling the estate of both her mother and her grandparents, which she had not been able to do during her years in government. She also hopes to be in a place where she can put to good use what she has learned from her nearly five decades of service in the government, specially as a judge and as a court administrator.

One of the many awards that Justice Cortez-Estrada has received is the Teresa’s Light Award given by her high school alma mater. In view of how she has overcome adversity and the exemplary way she has conducted her personal and professional life, it is an apt metaphor indeed.