Romeo Aliac Brawner (September 17, 1935 – May 29, 2008) was a Filipino public official who served as a Commissioner of the Philippine

Commission on Elections (COMELEC) An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

from 2005 until his death from a heart attack in May 2008. From February to March 2008, he served as the acting chair of the COMELEC, by virtue of his being the most senior Commissioner on the commission, replacing Resurreccion Borra on the February 2, 2008 after the latter had retired.

Biography

Brawner was born in

Solano, Nueva Vizcaya Solano, officially the Municipality of Solano (; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,287 inhabitants.. ...

, the son of Private Lisbon Brawner, an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

soldier who served from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and was part of the Buffalo Soldiers who served during the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

. Brawner earned his

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

from the

University of the Philippines College of Law The University of the Philippines College of Law (often referred to as UP Law) is the law school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Formally established in 1911 in UP Manila, it is the third oldest continually-operating law school ...

in 1959. He entered the Philippine judiciary in 1975 as a trial court judge in

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. In 1995, he was appointed by

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

as a Justice of the

Court of Appeals of the Philippines The Court of Appeals (; previously ''Hukuman ng Paghahabol'') is an appellate collegiate court in the Philippines. The Court of Appeals consists of one presiding justice and sixty-eight associate justices. Pursuant to the Constitution, the Co ...

. In 2005, President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

appointed Brawner as Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals. Immediately upon his retirement from the Court of Appeals, having reached the compulsory retirement age of 70, President Arroyo named Brawner as Commissioner of the COMELEC. Prior to his appointment as a Baguio City Court judge and later, as Regional Trial Court Judge of Branch 10 in La Trinidad,

Benguet Benguet (), officially the Province of Benguet ('';'' ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital cit ...

(January 1987 to August 1995), he served as a public prosecutor for 11 years, and was also a professor of law at the Baguio Colleges Foundation (

University of the Cordilleras The University of the Cordilleras (UC or UC-BCF; ), formerly known as the Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF), is a private coeducational university in Baguio, Philippines. Founded by Benjamin R. Salvosa and his wife Evangelina D. Salvosa in 1946 ...

), from 1971 to 1995. Also a native of

Kiangan Kiangan, officially the Municipality of Kiangan is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Ifugao, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,691 people. It is the oldest ...

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

, he was a Bureau of Internal Revenue collection agent and a Knight of Columbus member. He was conferred the Chief Justice Jose Laurel Judicial Excellence Award as outstanding judge from the Foundation for Judicial Excellence in 1995. newsinfo.inquirer.net, ‘Brawnie’ was epitome of judge’s neutrality
/ref> Brawner grew up in

Members of the Brawner Commission

Assumed office: February 2, 2008 Dissolved: March 25, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brawner, Romeo A. 1935 births 2008 deaths University of the Philippines alumni 20th-century Filipino judges People from Nueva Vizcaya Commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Philippines) Arroyo administration personnel Justices of the Court of Appeals of the Philippines

Biography

Members of the Brawner Commission

See also

References