Who is Justice Renato C. Corona?

Appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 9, 2002 as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the Philippines. Corona had served over thirty years both in private sector and government administration. Renato C. Corona is the 150th member of the highest court.

Alumni from Ateneo de Manila University, where he graduated Bachelor in Arts with honors and continues his study in Bachelor of Law and ranked as the 5th in the class. Corona passed the bar examination in 1974 and ranked as the 25th place with 84.6% grade. He then served 17 years as an Ateneo faculty member, where he taught Corporation Law and other commercial law subjects.

He continued his Masters degree in Business Administration at the Ateneo Professional School and took his Masters in Law from Harvard Law School in 1982 majoring the field of foreign investment policies and the regulation of corporations and financial institutions.

On his early year as a young lawyer, he had served Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) as a consultant. He then became a senior vice president of the General Counsel and a corporate sec. of Commercial Bank of Manila.

Corona also writes for The Manila Chronicle. His column was called “Tax Corner” where he deals with tax and commercial law issues. In 1998, he received the Philippine Legion of Honor Award and was once called one of the Outstanding Manilans.

In 1992, he had served as the Presidential Legal Counsel and Deputy Executive Secretary to President Fidel Ramos. He then became the spokes person and chief of staff of V-President Arroyo in 1998. In 2001, where Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became the president, Renato C. Corona had promoted to Presidential Chief of Staff, Presidential Spokesperson, and afterward, Acting Executive Secretary.

As a member of the Supreme Court, he is the Chairman of the Third Division, Integrated Bar of the Philippines Oversight Committee, Legislative-Executive Relations Committee, House of Representative Electoral Tribunal, a Co-Chairman of the Administrative Concerns Committee of the Supreme Court and a member of the Management Committee of the Judicial Reform Support Project and Committee on Public Information.

On international conferences, corona represented the Supreme Court of the Philippines and submitted numeral papers in bar and judicial congresses abroad. He also writes and teaches International Law at the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas.

To the new Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, congratulations and we wish you all the success in your endeavors.