Chief
Justice Artemio V. Panganiban
Prolific Writer. Aside from heading the Supreme Court and the entire Philippine judiciary, Chief Justice Panganiban is the concurrent chairperson of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) and the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJa). Described by a colleague (Justice Antonio T. Carpio) as “undoubtedly the most prolific writer of the Court, bar none,” he has during the last eleven years penned about 1,200 full-length decisions, 100 separate opinions and eleven books plus several thousand minute resolutions disposing of controversies. As Justice Romeo J. Callejo Sr. puts it, “One book a year and no cases left undecided. This is Mr. [Chief] Justice Artemio V. Panganiban’s unsurpassed record. It is also the best summation of judicial reform.” Another colleague (Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez) lauds his “preeminent judicial craftsmanship, social philosophies and literary style . . .” Justice Renato C. Corona calls him a “renaissance man . . . a nobly-souled and gifted jurist.”
Diverse Subjects. Known for his pro-poor opinions, he has nonetheless spoken for the Supreme Court on a wide range of legal controversies touching on diverse subjects, like mathematics, economics, business, accounting, and even canon law. A much sought-after speaker, he has addressed audiences around the world on various subjects, including five lectures on the biosciences in two international fora held in Chile in 2004. Of his “mental dexterity,” former Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr. explains that Chief Justice Panganiban “extricates the possible from the hypothetical, the emerging from the established, the literature in science and the law in art.”
Books. As his way of reporting on his magistracy, Chief Justice Panganiban writes one book a year. As of November 2006, he has authored the following: Love God Serve Man (1994); Justice and Faith (1997); Battles in the Supreme Court (1998); Leadership by Example (1999); Transparency, Unanimity & Diversity (2000); A Centenary of Justice (2001); Reforming the Judiciary (2002); The Bio Age Dawns on the Judiciary (2003); Leveling the Playing Field (2004); Judicial Renaissance (2005); and Liberty and Prosperity (2006)
Awards. He has been the recipient of over 250 awards and citations, including several honorary doctoral degrees. Honorary memberships in the Phi Kappa Phi International Honor Society (University of the Philippines Chapter), the Consular Corps of the Philippines and in the San Beda College Law Alumni Association have likewise been conferred upon him.
Some Past Activities. Since 1995, he had been a member of the Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment to the Court, Chief Justice Panganiban had already distinguished himself as a practicing lawyer, law professor, Catholic lay worker, civic leader, and businessman. After three years as an assistant in the law office of his mentor, former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga, he formed his own law firm (Panganiban, Benitez, Parlade, Africa and Barinaga), which he headed until he joined the Supreme Court in 1995. (The law firm has now been dissolved.) He also taught law in three schools. He has been, among others, vice-president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; governor of the Management Association of the Philippines; president of the Philippine Daily Inquirer; and president of the Rotary Club of Manila. He was the only Filipino appointed by the late Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Council for the Laity for the 1996-2001 term.
Education. In 1959, even prior to his graduation, he was named as the “Most Outstanding Student” of Far Eastern University. After finishing his Bachelor of Laws degree cum laude in 1960, he placed sixth in the bar examinations of that same year. A popular campus figure, he was, among others, founder and past president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, and past president of the FEU Central Student Organization.
Humble Beginnings. Chief Justice Panganiban graduated with honors from Juan Luna Elementary School and Mapa High School, which are both public schools. To support his studies, he hawked newspapers, peddled cigarettes and shined shoes in the streets of Sampaloc in Manila. During his college days, he sold textbooks to his classmates and bibles to his professors and university officials. The youngest of four children, he was born from impoverished parents who died while he was still in school. Despite his humble beginnings, he - - in the words of Justice Reynato S. Puno, “leapfrogged the social and economic barriers of Philippine society . . . [and] in the Supreme Court, best blossomed for God and country.” Justice Puno hails Chief Justice Panganiban’s legal philosophy of Liberty and Prosperity under the Rule of Law as one “with long longevity . . . [one that is] not only right . . . but also ripe in time.”
Family. He is married to Elenita C. Panganiban, former professor and associate dean at the Asian Institute of Management, with whom he has five children who all hold graduate degrees from pedigreed US universities, including Harvard, Stanford, University of California, University of Chicago, University of Michigan and Boston University.
