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By William B. Depasupil and Angelo S. Samonte, Reporters
Arturo Brion is reassuming the work he loves
most—a magistrate in the judiciary.Malacañang on Monday announced
Brion’s appointment as new associate justice of the Supreme Court
(SC). He filled up the last slot in the 15-man High Tribunal left
vacant by the mandatory retirement of Associate Justice Angelina
Sandoval Gutierrez on February 27.
“Secretary Brion is an expert, a lawyer who
served Foreign Affairs and the Labor departments,” Press Secretary
Ignacio Bunye said. “He’s very qualified to be an SC associate
justice.”
“He has a lot of experience which can help the
SC in deliberating on important issues. It’s one of the important
positions in the government,” the Press secretary added.
Administrator Marianito Roque of the Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will assume Brion’s job as
Labor secretary, Bunye said. He added that Roque will serve in an
acting capacity but later could be appointed as new Labor secretary.
Sworn-in
Around 11:15 a.m. Monday, Brion took his oath
before Chief Justice Reynato Puno. The new associate justice said he
had no inkling of his appointment and never expected that President
Gloria Arroyo would decide so quickly.
Brion becomes the 12th Supreme Court justice
appointed by President Arroyo. Her latest choice bested four
others on the Judicial and Bar Council shortlist—Court of Appeals
Associate Justices Martin Villarama and Portia Aliño-Hormachuelos
and Sandiganbayan Justices Francisco Villaruz and Edilberto
Sandoval.
Brion and Villarama got eight votes each.
Hormachuelos got seven votes, Villaruz six votes, and Sandoval
five votes.
Neri petition
Earlier, Brion said he intends to participate in
deciding the petition filed by Commission on Higher Education
Chairman Romulo Neri against a Senate order for his arrest.
Neri had earlier refused to make a second
appearance before the Senate hearing on the controversial broadband
deal. Senators issued an arrest warrant to force him to testify
again.
Brion said he will be objective if allowed to
participate in deliberations on the Neri case. But it’s up to the
other justices to decide whether their newest member will be allowed
to participate in the deliberations on Neri’s petition.
Dream job
Brion said his appointment to the Supreme Court
is a dream come true. He has been nominated twice before to the High
Court, since becoming Labor secretary two years ago.
Before the Labor department, Brion was associate
justice of the Court of Appeals from June 2003 to June 2006 and was
a senior member of the 15th Division. As a magistrate in the
appellate level, he was also the bar examiner in political and
international law for the 2004 bar examinations.
Last year, Brion was also among those nominated
to replace Associate Justice Romeo Callejo, who retired on April 28,
2007.
The new associate justice was born in Manila on
December 29, 1946, to Edon Brion, a retired trial court judge, and
Laura Dizon. But Brion grew up in San Pablo, Laguna.
He finished Bachelor of Arts, majoring in
Mathematics, at the San Pablo Colleges. He earned his bachelor of
laws degree from the Ateneo de Manila where he graduated cum laude.
He topped the Bar examination in 1974, with a rating of 91.6
percent.
In 1975, Brion joined the Siguion Reyna,
Montecillo, and Ongsiako Law Offices and joined the Ministry of
Labor seven years later, at age 35, as executive director of the
department’s Institute for Labor and Manpower Studies.
Afterwards, he served as an assemblyman of
Laguna, followed by his appointment as Labor’s deputy minister in
charge of legal and legislative liaison efforts.
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