Alfredo Benjamin Sabater Caguioa (born September 30, 1959) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

lawyer who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Prior to his appointment as associate justice, he served as acting secretary of the Department of Justice and chief presidential legal counsel under the presidency of

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

Early life and education

Caguioa was born September 30, 1959. He is a son of

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

Justice Eduardo P. Caguioa. He finished elementary in Ateneo in 1973 then high school in 1977. He obtained his Economics degree from

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

in 1981, and obtained a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from

Ateneo Law School , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_affi ...

in 1985 where he ranked 5th in his class. On the same year he ranked 15th on the bar exam and was admitted to the Philippine Bar the following year.

Career

Caguioa joined SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan in 1986 and was a partner there from 1994 until February 2007. Together with five other lawyers from his previous firm, they founded the Caguioa and Gatmaytan and Associates in February 2007. He was a professor at the

and San Sebastian College College of Law. He became a professor of civil law at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...

in 2015. Caguioa was cited as a leading Philippine lawyer in dispute resolution by Chambers & Partners in its 2010 and 2011 Asia-Pacific publications. On January 10, 2013, he was appointed as chief presidential legal counsel of President

, his classmate since grade school. He was part of the official delegation of the country to the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that aris ...

for the South China Sea arbitration. After the resignation of then Secretary Leila de Lima in October 2015, he was appointed as acting Secretary of the Department of Justice. He was appointed as the 174th

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines ( fil, Kasangguning Mahistrado ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas) is one of fifteen members of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the highest court in the Philippines. The Ch ...

replacing the retired Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr.

Awards

In 2016, President

awarded Caguioa the rank of Grand Cross or Bayani of the Order of Lakandula for his outstanding service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caguioa, Alfredo Benjamin 1959 births Living people Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Ateneo de Manila University alumni Benigno Aquino III administration cabinet members Grand Crosses of the Order of Lakandula Secretaries of Justice of the Philippines