Elisa Sarmiento-Flores
2018 Fellow
Presiding Judge, Supreme Court, Judiciary
Elisa Sarmiento-Flores is the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 71, Pasig City, one of the Philippines’ pilot courts for continuous trial. She is also the Acting Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 69, Taguig City, a Family Court. In both courts, she presides over cases involving murder, human trafficking, domestic violence, and child abuse, among other crimes. Prior to her appointment in the judiciary, Elisa was a prosecutor in the Department of Justice and a public attorney in the Public Attorney’s Office, respectively. In both capacities, she was specially trained to handle cases involving women and children. For her consummate service as a prosecutor, she was awarded Outstanding Prosecutor in September 2009 by the Department of Justice.
Recognizing her staunch advocacy for women and children, the City of Muntinlupa chose Elisa as one of its Outstanding Citizen in December 2015. She is a professorial lecturer at the Philippine Judicial Academy and has delivered lectures internationally and locally on laws concerning women and children. It is her passion to educate people about their rights so they can fully enjoy them, and to deter human trafficking and other crimes.
Elisa was selected as a 2018 Global Freedom Exchange Fellow.