Roberto A. Abad | |
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Roberto A. Abad
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165th Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court |
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In office August 7, 2009 – May 22, 2014 |
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Appointed by | Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo |
Preceded by | Dante Tinga |
Succeeded by | Francis H. Jardeleza |
Personal details | |
Born | May 22, 1944 |
Spouse(s) | Victoria Martinez |
Alma mater |
Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU) Ateneo de Manila University |
Affiliation | Fraternal Order of Utopia |
Justice Roberto A. Abad (born May 22, 1944) is a lawyer and judge who served as Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice from August 7, 2009 to May 22, 2014.
Abad was a Dean's Lister at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he earned his law degree. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Utopia. Utopia currently has two members who are seated in the highest tribunal of the Philippines, one is Justice Abad, the other is Justice Arturo Brion. He first engaged in private practice at the Jose W. Diokno Law Office in 1968, and then he joined the government, working as Technical Assistant (1969–1973) and Associate Attorney (1974–1975) at the Supreme Court, supervised by then Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro.
In 1975, he joined the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG). In 1985, he was promoted to Assistant Solicitor General, a post he held for about a year before setting up his own law firm.
He has rendered free legal aid for the Free Legal Assistance Group, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Angels of Hope Orphanage, Pulong Bunga, Silang, Cavite. He has conducted weekend training for lay and religious catechists for the Archdiocese of Manila.
From 1988-1990, he worked as legal consultant for the presidential committee on the nuclear power plant under the late Justice Secretary Sedfrey Ordoñez. Later, he worked as counsel for the Equitable Banking Corporation and its officers and branch managers during the impeachment trial of former President Joseph E. Estrada.
Prior to his retirement, he penned the High Court's ruling on the contentious Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, a landmark decision.
The late Chief Justice Roberto C. Concepcion, then University of Santo Tomas (UST) faculty of civil law dean, recruited Abad from the OSG in 1978 to teach political law at the UST. Abad also taught constitutional law, administrative law, election law, law on public corporations, and public international law. He became a bar reviewer in political law.
He also served as Dean at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law.