Marcelo "Celing" Briones Fernan (October 24, 1927 – July 11, 1999) was a Filipino lawyer and political figure. He is the only Filipino to have served as both Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and as Senate President. He is also the third Filipino to have headed both the judicial and legislative branches of government, after Querube Makalintal who served as Chief Justice and Speaker of the

Batasang Pambansa The Batasang Pambansa Complex, or simply the Batasan (), is the seat of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It is located along the Batasan Road in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The complex was initially the home of the Batasang ...

in the 1970s, and

José Yulo José Yulo Yulo (September 24, 1894 – October 27, 1976) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (May 7, 1942 – July 9, 1945) during the Japanese Occupation and was Speaker of the National Assembly of the Philippines fr ...

, who served as Chief Justice and Speaker of the House of Representatives before 1946.

Early life

Fernan was born in

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

, Cebu in 1927. In 1953, he graduated with a degree in law from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

. He went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in United States to obtain his master's degree. He returned to the Philippines soon after to finally serve his profession as a lawyer, particularly in his home province. Soon, he became a litigator, a trial court lawyer.

Career

Early legislative career

In 1959, he was elected to the

Provincial Board and served until 1961. He was also elected to the 1971 Constitutional Convention as a delegate from his home province and actively participated in its sessions, and committee meetings/hearings for the formulation of a new Constitution for the country then. In 1984, during the Marcos regime, he was elected to the

Regular Batasang Pambansa The Regular Batasang Pambansa (English: Regular National Assembly), or the First Batasang Pambansa, was the meeting of the Batasang Pambansa from the beginning of its session on July 23, 1984 until it was abolished by President Corazon Aquino on ...

, then the country's unicameral parliament with Antonio Cuenco, representing the at-large district of Cebu City under the banner of the opposition UNIDO party and actively scrutinized the bills presented by the administration lawmakers and delivered privilege speeches against the Marcos regime. On 1986, after the snap elections, he was the one of the opposition lawmakers who walked out when the administration lawmakers after a canvassing session that was then filled with debates and tensions, proclaimed then President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his running mate, then former Senator

Arturo Tolentino Arturo "Ka Turing" Modesto Tolentino (September 19, 1910 – August 2, 2004) was a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the Senate president and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He ran as the vice-presidential running mate of Ferdin ...

as the winners of that year's snap presidential and vice presidential polls in which the opposition claimed was marred with fraud.

Judicial

In 1977, he was elected national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the country's national organization of lawyers. After the People Power Revolution and the dissolution of the Batasang Pambansa, he was appointed by President

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...

as an Associate Justice of the

and served until 1988 and acted also as Chairman of the Supreme Court Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court and Chairman of the House Electoral Tribunal. He was then promoted in 1988 as Chief Justice, the highest position of leadership in the Supreme Court and the judiciary and was Chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council, the country's screening body of the potential judges and justices and the Judiciary Planning and Implementation Office. During his term as Chief Justice, several bold judicial reforms were instituted, among them the judicial orientation and career enrichment program, updating of the Code of Judicial Conduct and the continuous trial program.

Presidential bid

He resigned as Chief Justice in 1991 to run as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the country. He later accepted the offer of House Speaker

Ramon Mitra Ramon Villarosa Mitra Jr. (February 4, 1928 – March 20, 2000) was a Filipino statesman, diplomat, and pro-democracy activist. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1987 to 1992. Prior to that, he was ...

as his vice presidential candidate of the LDP Party. In the 1992 elections, however both lost to

Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the List of presidents of the Philippines, 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to ...

and

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...

, respectively.

Senate (As Senator, 1995-99 and Senate President, 1998-99)

In the 1995 elections, Fernan ran for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

under the Lakas- Laban coalition and was elected, his fourth time entrance in politics and was named as the Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights as well as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development for the Tenth Congress (1995-1998) and authored several significant bills that became laws of the country, among these are: Republic Act 8246 or the Court of Appeals Regionalization Act, RA 8493 or the Speedy Trial Act of 1998, RA 8557 of the Philippine Judicial Academy, RA 8525 or the Adopt-a-School Act of 1997 and RA 8558 or the Underground Mine Workers Act. He also sponsored RA 8247 or the Alien Social Integration Act of 1995. RA 8282 or the Social Security Act of 1997, and RA 8369 or the Family Courts Acts of 1997. Fernan was elected Senate President, the top post of leadership in the Senate, and concurrently, the Chairman of the Commission on Appointments, a congressional body tasked to scrutinize and confirm presidential appointments at the opening of the 11th Congress in 1998. Under his leadership as Senate President, the Senate passed the Clean Air Act, the Visiting Force Agreement and the General Appropriations Act of 1999 and other various laws.

Death

Fernan resigned the Senate presidency on June 28, 1999, due to failing health. He was succeeded in his position by Senate President pro tempore,

Blas Ople Blas Fajardo Ople (February 3, 1927 – December 14, 2003) was a Filipino journalist and politician who held several high-ranking positions in the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine government, including as Senate President fr ...

. Fernan became an ordinary senator and attended committee hearings and meetings and plenary sessions even in a wheelchair but died of cancer days later, on July 11 in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

. He was buried in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Ac ...

. The

Marcelo Fernan Bridge Marcelo Fernan Bridge, also known as Second Cebu-Mactan Bridge is an Extradosed bridge, extradosed cable-stayed bridge located in Metro Cebu in the Philippines. It spans across Mactan Channel connecting Mandaue City to Lapu-lapu City, Lapu-Lapu C ...

, the second bridge that connects Mandaue City to

Mactan Island Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova. The island is sep ...

, was named after him.

Personal life

He was married to Eloisa Nolasco in 1955, having 9 children and 18 grandchildren. One daughter, Milagros Fernan-Cayosa became a member of the

Judicial and Bar Council The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC; fil, Sangguniang Panghukuman at Pang-abogasya) of the Philippines is a Constitution of the Philippines, constitutionally-created body that recommends appointees for vacancies that may arise in the composition ...

from 2011 to 2019. He is also closely related to the Manigsaca family in

. He is also a grand-uncle to TV and movie personality

Matteo Guidicelli Gianmatteo Vittorio Fernan Guidicelli (, born March 26, 1990), known professionally as Matteo Guidicelli, is a Filipino actor, model, singer and former kart racer. Early life and career Matteo Guidicelli was born in Cebu City. He is one of ...

Trivia

He is the only Filipino who has headed both the Judiciary as Chief Justice and Legislative Branch as Senate President. For weekends, he loved bringing his family to the beaches in Mactan, Cebu and Bogo to snorkel or to ride a pump boat to visit nearby islands. Marcelo Fernan loved to sing and among his favourite songs were "Feelings" and "Matud Nila".

References

External links