Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Maria Cristina Cornejo died on Sunday afternoon, September 3.
Before she passed away, the 66-year-old associate justice filed an early retirement due to multiple illnesses.
“The Court mourns her passing. She will be remembered as among those magistrates who served this country with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, and who led a truly modest life. She will be surely missed,” Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang confirmed.
On Monday, September 4, the flag in the anti-graft court was flown at half-mast.
According to Inquirer.net, Cornejo served as an associate justice of Sandiganbayan from May 1, 2010, until she filed a sick leave due to an illness in 2016.
On March 2014, 2017, she was granted with an early retirement with full benefits by the Supreme Court despite she was short of four years over the mandatory retirement age of 70 years old.
The Supreme Court said that Cornejo had been diagnosed with acute cerebrovascular disease, controlled hypertension, systemic lupus erythematous, pancytopenia, colon cancer stage 3, and acute kidney injury.