MANILA- President Rodrigo Duterte has named two new associate justices at the Court of Appeals, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Duterte appointed John Zurbito Lee and Eleuterio Larisma Bathan on Wednesday, documents shared by the Supreme Court Public Information Office showed.

Lee will replace Associate Justice Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga, who resigned in November last year, while Bathan will take on the post vacated by Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao, who was appointed as Supreme Court Associate Justice also last year.

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Acting Palace spokesperson Martin Andanar congratulated the new appointees.

"We wish both Associate Justices all the best, and we are confident that they would dispense justice with fairness, impartiality and integrity," said Andanar in a statement.

Bathan was a presiding judge at a Quezon City court, who sentenced an alleged Maute terrorist in 2019 for illegal possession of an explosive device.

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