Hilario Gelbolingo Davide Jr. is a Filipino lawyer,professor,diplomat,constitutionalist and former politician,who served as the 20th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations. As constitutionalist,Davide led the creation of the Legislative branch,and also wrote the most resolutions and the bulk of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines,becoming its father and primary author.
The Commission on Elections,abbreviated as COMELEC,is one of the three constitutional commissions of the Philippines. Its principal role is to enforce all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of elections in the Philippines.
Franklin Magtunao Drilon is a Filipino lawyer and former politician. He had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines,having served four non-consecutive terms overall:from 1995 to 2007 and 2010 to 2022. He has served thrice as president of the Senate:in 2000,from 2001 to 2006,and from 2013 to 2016.
Artemio Villaseñor Panganiban Jr. is a Filipino jurist. He served as the 21st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2005 to 2007.
The University of the East College of Law or UE Law is the law school of the University of the East,a private,non-sectarian university in Manila,Philippines.
Adolfo Sevilla Azcuna is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. He was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 24,2002. As of November 2019 he was the Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA),having been appointed to that position by the Supreme Court of the Philippines on June 1,2009. The Court granted the title of "Chancellor Emeritus" upon Azcuna who served until May 31,2021. He was succeeded by Arturo Brion who served for 2 years and was replaced by Rosmari Carandang as the fourth Chancellor who took her oath on February 23,2022.
Maria Alicia Austria-Martinez is a Filipino jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on April 12,2002.
Antonio Eduardo Bermejo Nachura was a Filipino jurist who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He took his oath of office as Associate Justice on February 7,2007,and occupied the position until his mandatory retirement on June 13,2011. Previously,Nachura had been Solicitor-General of the Philippines at the time his appointment to the Court was announced on January 31,2007,by then-Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Raul Maravilla Gonzalez was the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and was the Secretary of Justice of the Philippines. He was replaced by Agnes Devanadera in 2009 from the orders of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines is the national organization of lawyers in the Philippines. It is the mandatory bar association for Filipino lawyers.
Arturo Dizon Brion is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He took his oath as a member of the Supreme Court on March 17,2008. From 2006 until his appointment to the Supreme Court,Brion served in the cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment.
Monina Arevalo Zenarosa is a retired Associate Justice of the Philippine Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals is the second highest judicial court in the Philippines,next only to the Philippine Supreme Court. She was appointed as commissioner of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights in March 2023.
Alfredo Logronio Benipayo is the former Dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law,the oldest law school in the Philippines. He is a former magistrate and a respected law professor and bar reviewer in the country.
Teresita Leonardo de Castro is a Filipina who served as the 24th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines;she was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 28,2018. She assumed the vacated position once her predecessor,Maria Lourdes Sereno,was removed via a quo warranto petition;making De Castro the de jure 24th chief justice,and the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Jose Armando R. Melo was a Filipino lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 1992 to 2002. He also served as Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC),and was succeeded by election lawyer Sixto Brillantes.
Diosdado "Dado" Madarang Peralta is a Filipino attorney and jurist who served as the chief justice of the Philippines from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from January 13,2009,to October 22,2019. He is the third Sandiganbayan presiding justice to be appointed to the high tribunal.
Lucas "Luke" Purugganan Bersamin is a Filipino lawyer and jurist who currently serves as the 40th Executive Secretary of the Philippines. Bersamin previously served in the Supreme Court of the Philippines for 10 years,first as an associate justice from 2009 to 2018 and then as the 25th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2018 until his retirement in 2019. He was named by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the high court as an associate justice on April 2,2009. Prior to becoming an associate justice,he was a member of the Court of Appeals.
Lord Allan Jay Quinto Velasco is a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives from October 12,2020 to June 2022. He is concurrently serving as the Representative of Marinduque's lone district since 2016,and previously from 2010 to 2013. He previously served as the Marinduque chapter president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines,and Marinduque provincial administrator under Governor Jose Antonio Carrion.
Noel Gimenez Tijam is a Filipino lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from March 8,2017 to January 5,2019. Prior to his appointment,he was a justice of Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2017.
Bar topnotchers in the Philippines are bar examinees who garnered the highest bar exam grades in a particular year. Every year,the Supreme Court releases the bar top ten list. The list contains the names of bar examinees who obtained the ten highest grades. It is possible for more than ten examinees to place in the top ten because numerical ties in the computation of grades usually occur.
