Hilario Davide Jr.
Hilario Gelbolingo Davide, Jr. was the 20th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
Early life and career
Davide was born on December 20, 1935 in the remote barangay of Colawin, in Argao, Cebu to Hilario P. Davide, Sr., a retired Schools Division Superintendent, and Josefa L. Gelbolingo, a former public school teacher. He completed his primary education at Argao Central Elementary School and secondary education at Abellana Vocational High School. In college, he went to the University of the Philippines where he initially took up Associate in Arts in 1955. In the same year, he entered the U.P. College of Law as an entrance scholar.
From 1959 to 1963, Davide became a private secretary to the vice governor of the province of Cebu, then to its Governor. From 1962 to 1968, he was a faculty member of the College of Law of Southwestern University in Cebu City. This university confer him with a degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) in 1999.
Legislator and Constitutionalist
Davide was later elected as delegate of the 4th district of Cebu to the Constitutional Convention (ConCon) in 1971. In 1978, he was elected assemblyman for Cebu in the Interim Batasang Pambansa (Interim National Legislature) under the opposition. He was its first Minority Floor Leader. He filed the most number of bills of national significance, as well as resolutions to lift martial law, some of which are outnumbered by the dominant party KBL. In February 1986, then President Corazon C. Aquino convened the Constitutional Commission (ConCom), and appointed Davide one of its fifty Commissioners.
COMELEC and the 1989 coup
In February 1988, President Aquino appointed Davide as Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). In December 1, 1989, military rebels attempt to oust President Aquino by a bloody coup attempt. After the rebels retreated, President Aquino appointed Davide as Chairman of the Presidential Fact-finding Commission to conduct an investigation on the rebellion and the involvement in of military, civilian officials and private persons. Congress passed Republic Act No. 6832, enhanced Davide's power through a broader Fact-finding Commission to conduct a thorough investigation.
Supreme Court
Davide was appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on January 24, 1991. From January 2, 1996 to August 30, 1997, in a concurrent position, he sat as a member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal overseeing the protest filed by former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Rodolfo Biazon. The protests were dismissed in 1998 when petitioners gained the Senate seat in the May 11 election but the case against election officials were upheld in 2004. He was also the Working Chairman of the Court’s Third Division from January 2, 1996 to September 7, 1997, and Chairman of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal from September 1, 1997 to November 30, 1998 overseeing protests filed by congressional candidates.
On November 30, 1998, president Joseph Estrada appointed Davide the 20th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He took his oath of office at the Bonifacio Shrine in Manila.
In 2000, Davide served as the presiding officer of the Estrada impeachment trial. Following the EDSA II Revolution that toppled Estrada from power, Davide administered the oath of office to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in front of the massive crowd at the EDSA Shrine.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer named him the 2000 Filipino of the year. In 2003, he was given a Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. As a call of duty and as a Cebuano, he administered the oath of office to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Noli de Castro in the Cebu City capitol.
Davide retired as chief magistrate on December 20, 2005 after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. He was succeeded by Artemio Panganiban.
In January 24, 2006, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Davide as presidential adviser on electoral reforms. He is expected to recommend measures and policies to the president that would help reform the country's electoral system, which is widely perceived by the Filipino public as corrupt. The appointment was announced on a Council of State meeting convened by Arroyo.
Personal life
Jun, as many call him, is married to Virginia Jimenea Perez. They have five children, namely: Hilario III (an incumbent city councilor in Cebu City), Joseph Bryan Hilary, Sheryl Ann, Noreen, and Delster Emmanuel.