 Among many various honors, Sandoval-Gutierrez was the first recipient of the prestigious Cayetano Arellano Award as an Outstanding RTC Judge of the Philippines for 1990.She has also the distinction of being the first winner (First Prize Awardee, 1989) in the judicial essay/best written decision contest among Regional Trial Court women judges sponsored by the Philippine Women Judges Association yearly for having written the best “Proposed Innovations in Judicial Management and Procedure.”

From 2007 up to present, Sandoval-Gutierrez has served as the Dean of the Graduate School of Law of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.Sandoval-Gutierrez was married to the late National Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director Diego H. Gutierrez, who died in 2002.