Life of Reformist Philippines Supreme Court Justice

 In 2007, Emily Green wrote in the Washington Post, “Puno's choice of a role model -- Earl Warren,
chief justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969 -- is not entirely surprising, given Puno's ties to
the United States. After attending law school in the Philippines, Puno won a scholarship for post-
graduate studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and later attended the University of
California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois. [Source: Emily Green, Washington Post, October
1, 2007 *~*]
 “Upon his return to the Philippines, Puno joined his older brother Isaac in private practice as a labor
lawyer. But in 1971, Puno struck out on a career of government service from which he has never
veered. As a lawyer in the office of the solicitor general, he helped open the way in 1973 for the
extension of the Marcos presidency and later the Marcos dictatorship. In 1980, Marcos appointed
Puno, then 40, to the Court of Appeals. Puno was -- and still is -- the youngest person ever
appointed to that court. He served for 14 years as an associate justice on the Supreme Court before
being elevated to chief justice. In the interview, Puno said his connection with the Marcos
administration never affected his independence as a judge. "If you belong to the executive
department, you do your job as an executive official. You get transferred to the judiciary, you forget
about your past connection to the executive." *~*
 “Despite his dispassionate demeanor, there is no doubt that Puno's background now drives his
actions regarding political assassinations. In 1977, Puno's brother was killed by communist
insurgents. When the perpetrators were let free during the mid-1990s under a national amnesty
program, his mother was "particularly disappointed," Puno said. *~*
 Puno's most famous decision, and his most controversial, involved the "resignation" of President
Joseph Estrada in 2001, when public outrage over corruption forced him to flee the presidential
palace. During the turmoil, then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed the presidency
and Estrada went to the Supreme Court, claiming he had never resigned and was still president.
Puno wrote a unanimous decision for the court majority, concluding that based on Estrada's "state of
mind" and other factors, he had "constructively resigned," even if he never officially did so. The
decision legitimized Arroyo's presidency, thereby avoiding a national crisis and the slippery slope of
a judicial rationale authorizing the overthrow of presidents based on popular discontent. "He is a very
shrewd man, very intelligent," former dean Pangalangan said. "For me, that decision encapsulates
it." *~*