Secretary of Justice (Philippines)

The secretary of justice (Filipino: kalihim ng katarungan) is the head of the Department of Justice and is a member of the president's Cabinet.^[1]

Secretary of Justice
Kalihim ng Katarungan
Official seal of the Department of Justice
Incumbent Jesus Crispin Remulla since June 30, 2022 (2022-06-30)
Style	The Honorable
Member of	Cabinet, Judicial and Bar Council, National Security Council
Appointer	The President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Severino de las Alas
Formation	April 17, 1851 (174 years ago) (1851-04-17)
Website	www.doj.gov.ph

The current secretary is Jesus Crispin Remulla, who assumed office on June 30, 2022.

List of secretaries of justice

#	Image	Name	Position	Tenure started	Tenure ended	President
1		Severino de las Alas	Secretary of Justice	April 17, 1897	August 31, 1897	Emilio Aguinaldo[2]
2		Gregorio S. Araneta		September 1, 1897	May 19, 1899
3		Florentino Torres	Attorney General	May 29, 1899	June 4, 1901	N/A
4		Henry C. Ide	Secretaries of Finance and Justice	September 1, 1901	June 30, 1908
5		Gregorio S. Araneta		July 1, 1908	October 10, 1913
6		Victorino Mapa		November 1, 1913	August 1916
Act			Secretaries of Justice	August 1916	June 30, 1920
7		Quintín Paredes		July 1, 1920	December 15, 1921
8		José Abad Santos		April 26, 1922	July 17, 1923
9		Luis P. Torres		June 18, 1923	August 31, 1928
10		José Abad Santos		September 1, 1928	June 18, 1932
11		Alexander A. Reyes		June 19, 1932	December 31, 1932
12		Quirico M. Abeto		January 1, 1933	July 5, 1934
13		José Yulo		July 6, 1934	November 14, 1935
				November 15, 1935	November 15, 1938	Manuel L. Quezon[3]
14		José Abad Santos		December 5, 1938	July 16, 1941
15		Teófilo Sisón		July 18, 1941	November 27, 1941
16		José P. Laurel	Commissioners of Justice	December 24, 1941	December 2, 1942[4]	N/A
17		Teófilo Sisón		December 4, 1942	October 14, 1943
18		Quintín Paredes		October 14, 1943	December 25, 1944	José P. Laurel[5]
Act		Mariano A. Eraña	Secretary of Justice, Labor and Welfare	December 25, 1944	February 17, 1945	Sergio Osmeña[6]
19		Delfín Jaranilla	Secretary of Justice, Agriculture and Commerce	February 17, 1945	December 31, 1945
20		Ramon Quisumbing	Secretaries of Justice	January 2, 1946	May 28, 1946
21		Roman Ozaeta		May 29, 1946	July 4, 1946
				July 4, 1946	April 15, 1948	Manuel Roxas[7]
				April 17, 1948	September 17, 1948	Elpidio Quirino[8]
22		Sabino B. Padilla		September 19, 1948	June 30, 1949
23		Ricardo L. Nepomuceno		July 1, 1949	July 25, 1950
24		Jose P. Bengzon		August 29, 1950	September 23, 1951
25		Oscar Castelo		January 1, 1952	August 16, 1953
26		Roberto Gianzon		August 17, 1953	December 30, 1953
27		Pedro Tuason		January 4, 1954	March 17, 1957	Ramon Magsaysay[9]
				March 18, 1957	March 19, 1958	Carlos P. Garcia[10]
28		Jesus Barrera		April 18, 1958	June 4, 1959
29		Enrique Fernandez		June 11, 1959	July 13, 1959
30		Alejo Mabanag		July 14, 1959	December 31, 1961
31		Jose W. Diokno		December 31, 1961	May 19, 1962	Diosdado Macapagal[11]
32		Juan R. Liwag		May 20, 1962	July 7, 1963
33		Salvador L. Marino		July 9, 1963	December 31, 1965
34		José Yulo		January 1, 1966	August 4, 1967	Ferdinand Marcos[12]
35		Claudio Teehankee		August 5, 1967	December 16, 1968
36		Juan Ponce Enrile		December 17, 1968	February 7, 1970
37		Felix Makasiar		February 8, 1970	August 1, 1970
38		Vicente Abad Santos		August 2, 1970	January 17, 1973
Act			Ministers of Justice	January 17, 1973	January 16, 1979
39		Catalino Macaraig, Jr.		January 17, 1979	July 22, 1979
40		Ricardo C. Puno		July 23, 1979	June 1981
				July 1981	June 30, 1984
41		Estelito P. Mendoza		June 30, 1984	February 27, 1986
42		Neptali A. Gonzales		February 28, 1986	March 8, 1987	Corazon Aquino[13]
43		Sedfrey A. Ordoñez	Secretaries of Justice	March 9, 1987	January 2, 1990
44		Franklin M. Drilon		January 4, 1990	July 14, 1991
45		Silvestre H. Bello III		July 15, 1991	February 10, 1992
Act		Eduardo G. Montenegro		February 10, 1992	June 30, 1992
46		Franklin Drilon		July 1, 1992	February 2, 1995	Fidel V. Ramos[14]
47		Demetrio G. Demetria		February 3, 1995	May 19, 1995
48		Teofisto T. Guingona, Jr.		May 20, 1995	January 31, 1998
Act		Silvestre H. Bello III		February 1, 1998	June 30, 1998
49		Serafin R. Cuevas		July 1, 1998	February 15, 2000	Joseph Ejercito Estrada[15]
50		Artemio G. Tuquero		February 16, 2000	January 23, 2001
51		Hernando B. Perez		January 24, 2001	November 26, 2002	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo[16]
52		Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez		November 27, 2002	January 15, 2003
53		Simeon Datumanong		January 16, 2003	December 23, 2003
54		Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez		December 24, 2003	August 31, 2004
55		Raul Gonzalez		September 1, 2004	September 2, 2007
Act		Agnes Devanadera		September 3, 2007	November 15, 2007
Act		Raul Gonzalez		November 16, 2007	January 11, 2010
Act		Agnes Devanadera		January 12, 2010	March 8, 2010
Act		Alberto Agra		March 10, 2010	June 30, 2010
56		Leila de Lima		June 30, 2010	October 12, 2015	Benigno S. Aquino III[17]
Act		Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa[18]		October 12, 2015	January 21, 2016
Act		Emmanuel Caparas[19]		January 22, 2016	June 30, 2016
57		Vitaliano Aguirre II		June 30, 2016	April 5, 2018 (2018-04-05)	Rodrigo Duterte
58		Menardo Guevarra[20]		April 5, 2018 (2018-04-05)	June 30, 2022
59		Jesus Crispin Remulla[21][22]		June 30, 2022	Incumbent	Bongbong Marcos

See also

• Justice ministry
• Politics of the Philippines