Natividad Almeda-Lopez was the first woman to actively practice law as a profession and subsequently became the first woman Justice in the Philippines.

NATIVIDAD ALMEDA-LOPEZ

Natividad Almeda married Domingo Lopez, the then governor of Tayabas, Quezon and Marinduque. Throughout her married life she lived apart from her husband, an arrangement that was unusual at that time.

She was Acting City Judge of the City Court of Manila for three years until she was appointed permanently to the position in 1934, a position she held for ten years. In 1956 she was appointed to the newly opened Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court as presiding judge. One year from retirement she was elevated to the Court of Appeals in 1961.

8 September 1892

to 22 January 1977