Second, she is “green” – not one with a dirty mind, but one who advocates cleaning dirt that pollutes our environment.

Third, she is an active reformist – who thinks out of the box and goes out of her way to make real and meaningful changes in the world around her.

In case you have not met her yet, she is Geraldine Faith A. Econg.

Econg, 42, was presiding judge of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 9 in Cebu City when she applied for the position of Judicial Reform Program Administrator (JRPA). She has been a judge for eight years and has been involved in the judicial reform program since 2005 when she was acting executive judge of the Lapu-Lapu City RTC.

Her stint in the Judiciary was, however, accidental and being a lawyer was not her first ambition in life.

“I wanted to be a teacher,” said Econg. “It was only when I got involved in debating at school that my interest in becoming a lawyer developed.

Econg took up Philosophy in College at University San Carlos in Cebu and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She also obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree (Cum Laude) in the same university. She placed 15th in the bar examinations in 1993.

She had been a practice lawyer for five years when the opportunity to become a judge opened before her unexpectedly at the lobby of a hotel in Cebu City. She was having lunch with a friend when Atty. Luzviminda Puno, then Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court, invited walk-in applicants for judge positions as the interviewees who were supposed to meet the JBC panel that day failed to show up because of a storm.

“I was inappropriately dressed in shorts and plain shirt for the interview but Atty. Puno said she would do the explaining to the JBC members,” said Econg, who eventually was appointed presiding judge of the Municipal Trial Court in Minglanilla, Cebu.  :: read more