Sandiganbayan Justice Diosdado Madarang Peralta is the new  Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo named the 56-year old magistrate to the post on March 28, replacing Supreme Court Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro who was promoted to the High Court in December 2007.

A recipient of the Judicial Excellence Awards in 2002, Justice Peralta was appointed to the Sandiganbayan in July of the same year. He was a member of the Special Division of the Sandiganbayan which convicted former President Joseph Estrada of plunder in September 2007.

Justice Peralta himself penned the first-ever conviction of plunder in 2001 when he sentenced  cashier Dominga Manalili of the Bureau of Internal Revenue two life terms for the said crime.

Justice Peralta joined the Judiciary in September 1994 as Presiding Judge of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 95, a special criminal court tasked to hear and try heinous crimes.

In September 2000, he became Presiding Judge of the Special Criminal Court on Drug Cases in Quezon City, Branch 95. He later served as Second Vice-Executive Judge Regional Trial Court, Quezon City until July 2001.

He was a given a Special Centennial Award in Criminal Law by the Foundation for Judicial Excellence, the Supreme Court, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines during the SC Centenary Celebration in 2001.

Prior to his joining the Judiciary, Justice Peralta was part of the Manila Prosecutors’ Office.

Born to the late Elviro Lazo Peralta, a Manila Court of First Instance (now RTC) Judge; and Catalina Madarang Peralta, a retired public school teacher, in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Justice Peralta worked as Third Assistant City Fiscal there. Subsequently, he served as Assistant City Fiscal in Manila from 1987 to 1988.

Justice Peralta is married to the former Fernanda “Audrey” Lampas. They are blessed with four children – Dorothy, John Christopher, Timothy John, and John Isaac.

Justice Peralta is obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in 1979. He is a professor, reviewer, and lecturer in criminal law and criminal procedure in various law schools such as the UST, Ateneo College of Law, University of the East College of Law, Philippine Christian University, San Sebastian College, Cosmopolitan Review Center, and other bar review centers.