ASEAN LAW ASSOCIATION: Office Holders

Chairman, ALA Philippines

Hon. Renato C. Corona
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Philippines

Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, the 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is one of the youngest magistrates ever to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed to the highest tribunal on April 9, 2002 as the 150th member of the Supreme Court. His age notwithstanding, he brings with him depth and perspective gained from many years of experience as a law professor, private law practitioner and member of the Cabinet under two Presidents, Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Chief Justice Corona graduated with gold medal honors from the Ateneo de Manila grade school in 1962 and high school in 1966. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree, also with honors, from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1970. He was the editor-in-chief of The Guidon, the university student newspaper of the Ateneo and was secretary-general of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines from 1968 to 1970. He was also the captain of the overall champion team of the 1970 Annual Debating Tournament of the Ateneo School of Arts and Sciences.

Chief Justice Corona finished his Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo Law School in 1974. After law school, he pursued the Master of Business Administration course (without thesis) at the Ateneo Professional Schools. In 1981, he was accepted to the Master of Laws program in Harvard Law School where he focused on foreign investment policies and the regulation of corporate and financial institutions. He was conferred the LL.M. degree by Harvard Law School in 1982.

At present, he has limited his active participation to three organizations: the Harvard Law School Association of the Philippines (where he sits as Chairman of the Board of Trustees), the Ateneo Law Alumni Association (of which he was once Chairman), and the Asean Law Association of which he is the Chairman of both the ALA Philippines and the ALA Philippine National Committee. More