Isagani A. Cruz (October 11, 1924 – March 21, 2013) was a Filipino judge who served as an associate justice of the

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

from 1986 to 1994. He retired from the Supreme Court on October 11, 1994, due to the court's mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

Personal life

Cruz was originally from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. He graduated from Manuel L. Quezon School of Law in 1951. He placed eighth in the 1951

Philippine Bar Examination The Philippine Bar Examinations is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The exam is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee. History ...

with a score of 90.12%. He married his wife, Salvacion, on May 3, 1952. Prior to his appointment to the High Court, Justice Cruz served, among others, as Chair of the Code Commission of the Department of Justice (1966-1972); Senior Partner, Laurel Law Offices; and Dean, College of Law,

Lyceum of the Philippines University Lyceum of the Philippines University (), also referred to by its acronym LPU, is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational higher education institution located at Intramuros in the City of Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1952 by José P ...

(1963-1968). He was also a full professor and/or bar reviewer in Political Law, Constitutional Law and International Law in the University of the East, San Beda College, Ateneo de Manila University,

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

, San Sebastian College, Adamson University, and University of Manila (1975-1986). He wrote a column called
Separate Opinion
for the ''

Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded broad ...

'' from 1995 to 2010 after retiring from the Supreme Court. Isagani A. Cruz died in his sleep on March 21, 2013, at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife of 60 years, Salvacion, and six children - Cesar, Claro, Celso, Carlo, Isagani Jr., and Cynthia.

Notable opinions

''Javier v. Comelec (1986)''
– ''"where the Court effectively ruled in favor of

Evelio Javier Evelio Bellaflor Javier (October 31, 1942 – February 11, 1986) was a Filipino politician. He served as governor of the province of Antique and was an opponent of the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. His assassination on February 11, ...

, a rival of Marcos’ KBL party member Arturo Pacificador, in the Batasan polls in May 1984 in Antique. In 1986, Javier was killed in an ambush during the pendency of the case."''
''People v. Carmina (1991)''
the high court held ''"Even if treachery were not present in this case, the crime would still be murder because of the dismemberment of the dead body. One of the qualifying circumstances of murder under Article 248, par. 6, of the Revised Penal Code is "outraging or scoffing at (the) person or corpse" of the victim." (joined by Justices Narvasa, Gancayco, Griño-Aquino and Medialdea)'' * Ebralinag v School Superintendent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Isagani A. 1924 births 2013 deaths Associate justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Filipino columnists Filipino women columnists Manuel L. Quezon University alumni Lawyers from Manila University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Philippine Daily Inquirer people