Nagbahagi si Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh ng kanyang laban laban sa cancer sa unang Distinguished Women’s Forum ng Korte Suprema noong Marso 24, 2026. Sinabi niya na sumailalim siya sa chemotherapy at operasyon, at patuloy na umiinom ng oral chemotherapy gamot. Ipinahayag niya ang kahalagahan ng pagtayo muli at pagtupad sa layunin sa buhay.
Sa Manila, Philippines, nagsalita si Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh sa 1st Supreme Court Distinguished Women’s Forum noong Martes, Marso 24, 2026. Ibinahagi niya ang kanyang karanasan sa cancer, na nagsasabing may mga araw na mabigat at ayaw na tumayo, ngunit naiisip niya ang mga taong mas nahihirapan. “But then you think about all the people who are probably having a more difficult time and you tell yourself how can you complain with everything that has been given to you, with everything that you have been blessed with, you have no reason to complain,” ani Singh. “So you get up again and you fight another day,” dagdag niya. Nagsalita rin siya kasama sina retired Chief Justice Teresita de Castro, retired Associate Justice at dating Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, at retired Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval Gutierrez. Tiningnan niya ang kanyang diagnosis bilang paalala na pahalagahan ang bawat araw. “We are where we are because we were meant to do something while we are here,” sabi niya. Itinayo siya bilang ika-194 na associate justice ng Supreme Court ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte noong Mayo 2022. Dating presiding judge siya ng Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 85 at associate justice ng Court of Appeals. Nag-aral siya ng law sa Ateneo de Manila University School of Law na may second honors, at nagkampe ng Master of Laws sa Washington College of Law ng American University sa Washington DC. Kasalukuyang co-chairperson siya ng committee on gender responsiveness in the judiciary, chairperson ng sub-committee para sa Review of the New Code of Judicial Conduct, at iba pa. Pinangunahan niya rin ang Manual and Protocol for Women in Conflict with the Law. Noong 2025, nahirang siyang president ng International Association of Women Judges. “I feel that I am here because I need to do something, and so while I have the time, I will do it,” ani Singh.
