Ex-SC Justice Hugo Gutierrez passes away at 86

MANILA, Philippines - Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Hugo Gutierrez, Jr. breathed his last at 1:10 pm Wednesday at St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City. He was 86.

Gutierrez suffered from multiple organ failure due to diabetes and had been under the hospital's critical care unit for the past three weeks.

He has also been admitted several times for the last two years for his condition.

Gutierrez served under the Office of the Solicitor General before he is appointed as a Supreme Court justice.

Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said that Gutierrez dedicated his career in "adherence to civil liberties."

His remains will be brought to the Sanctuarium along Araneta Avenue for viewing on Thursday. His remains will then be brought to a burial site in Pampanga.

Gutierrez gave up his Supreme Court post in 1993 out of "delicadeza" after being accused of not authoring a case involving Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) company.

"I am innocent. My conscience is clear," Gutierrez said in a letter he issued announcing his resignation.