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Retired SC justice Azcuna ‘selfless gov’t worker’: Palace
Panelo said Azcuna, who also served as Presidential Spokesperson and Presidential Legal Counsel during the time of former President Corazon Aquino, “is best remembered today by championing the landmark writ of amparo that now ensures each and every Filipino’s constitutional right to life, liberty and security.” (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)
MANILA — Malacañang wished retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna the best as he celebrates his 80th birthday on Saturday.
“He (Azcuna) is a selfless worker of the government and a man of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence committed to the effective and efficient delivery of justice to every man, woman, and child,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement Friday.
Panelo said Azcuna, who also served as Presidential Spokesperson and Presidential Legal Counsel during the time of former President Corazon Aquino, “is best remembered today by championing the landmark writ of amparo that now ensures each and every Filipino’s constitutional right to life, liberty and security.”
Azcuna was elected as member of the Constitutional Convention in 1971 and was appointed member of the Constitutional Commission in 1986 tasked to draft the present 1987 Constitution.
He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1959 and 1962, respectively. He placed fourth in the 1962 bar examinations.
He first served in government as Assistant Private Secretary of then Presiding Justice Jose P. Bengzon of the Court of Appeals in 1963 and later as Private Secretary when the latter was appointed to the Supreme Court.
In 2002, he was appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the SC and served as associate justice until his retirement in 2009. He was succeeded in the SC by now Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin.
At present, Azcuna serves as the Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy, the office tasked to conduct judicial and legal education programs for justices, judges, court personnel and lawyers, and officials and lawyers of quasi-judicial bodies.
