Rody to take oath before frat brod

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Supreme Court Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes is set to administer the oath of Rodrigo Duterte as the 16th president of the Philippines in a simple ceremony at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall of Malacañang on June 30.

Duterte and Reyes are products of the San Beda Law School and are fraternity brothers of the Lex Talionis Fraternitas, which Reyes co-established with now fellow Supreme Court Justice Jose Mendoza.

A native of Bulacan, Reyes became a presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court of Malabon in 1999 and became an associate justice of the Court of Appeals in 2000.

President Aquino appointed him to the Supreme Court  in 2011.

The STAR learned that when the late former chief justice Renato Corona was ousted from the top SC post in 2012, the President had offered Reyes to be the next chief justice.

Reyes declined the offer “out of respect to the senior justices.”

He wrote the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to formally decline the nomination, explaining that being one of the most junior justices he had to defer to seniority in the high tribunal.

Aquino’s first appointee to the high court, Ma. Lourdes Sereno, was then appointed chief justice.

A justice in the Court of Appeals for 11 years prior to his promotion to the SC, Reyes received numerous recognitions – including the award for zero backlog in his court docket in 2010.

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

Incoming justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and the late presidential candidate and former ambassador Roy Señeres also belonged to the same fraternity and were batch mates in the so-called Powerhouse 1971 batch.

Limited guests

Because the Rizal Ceremonial Hall can only accommodate 500 guests, none of the invited Cabinet officials and dignitaries would be allowed to bring their spouses and children when Duterte takes his oath of office.

The limited venue also forced the inaugural committee and Duterte to ask vice president-elect Leni Robredo to hold her own separate inauguration. 

Of the 500 guests, the committee gave 150 slots for the incoming president’s family members, relatives and friends and 30 slots for Robredo.

The rest is allotted for the diplomatic corps, Congress, judiciary, military and police officials, members of the Cabinet and other government officers. 

Christopher Go, Duterte’s close aide, explained that Robredo would need to hold her own inauguration since the situation would be unfair to her if she would be restricted from inviting more guests and supporters.

The arrangement was “intended to cause the least disruption in public,” Go said in a statement Wednesday night, referring to an inauguration at the Palace instead of the usual ceremony at the Quirino grandstand in Rizal Park.

He added that the incoming president would take his oath of office in a “simple yet meaningful” inaugural celebration that is “consistent with his principles on austerity.”

Go explained that the limited space at the Rizal Hall calls for a separate inauguration for Robredo.

“We believe that Leni Robredo’s family and supporters who worked hard for her deserve also to be present to celebrate her victory. And this can only be possible through a separate inauguration,” Go said in the statement.

Boyet Dy, head of Robredo’s transition team, has said they respect Duterte’s preference and that the vice-president’s inaugural ceremony would also be “simple and modest.”

Robredo is expected to take her oath before Ronaldo Coner, barangay chairman of Punta Tarawal – the poorest, smallest and farthest village in Camarines Sur.  – With Edu Punay, Robertzon Ramirez, Rhodina Villanueva