Appeals court Justice Reyes is Aquino’s 2nd appointee to SC

Court of Appeals Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes. Photo taken from https://ca.judiciary.gov.ph

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes to the Supreme Court.

Reyes’ appointment was confirmed by Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona chairs the Judicial and Bar Council which draws nominees for vacancies in the high tribunal.

Reyes, who chairs the appeals court’s 3rd Division, is President Aquino’s second appointee to the Supreme Court.  He replaced Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, who retired on June 13.

The President signed his appointment paper on Tuesday.

The President has until September 17 to fill up the other seat in the tribunal vacated by retired justice and current Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Reyes was born on July 6, 1947, in Obando, Bulacan. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1967 before taking up law in San Beda College, graduating in 1971.  He passed the bar examinations the next year with a grade of 81.6 percent.

In July 1990, he was appointed presiding judge of the Malabon City Regional Trial Court. He was named Court of Appeals justice on Aug. 8, 2000.

Reyes is said to be a close friend of the President. Reyes served as finance manager of the Best Security Agency, Inc., owned by the Aquino family. He was vice president for legal and corporate affairs of the R.C. Silverio Group of Companies from 1975 to 1981. In 1982, he founded a Makati City-based law firm, Reyes Daway Lim Bernardo Lindo and Rosales.

He was also the board secretary of National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. and board chair of Celebrity Sports Plaza.

Reyes is married to Teresita Jacinta Reyes with whom he has two sons, Dennis Michael and Benson Michael.

In September 2008, Reyes was reprimanded for simple misconduct by a special committee formed by the Supreme Court to investigate allegations of bribery and other irregularities in the case between the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Meralco.

Reyes and then fellow justice Jose Sabio Jr. bickered over the right to take part in the hearings of the GSIS-Meralco case.