Roberto A. Abad
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Roberto A. Abad (born May 22, 1944) is a lawyer and judge who served as an
associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines ( fil, Kasangguning Mahistrado ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas) is one of fifteen members of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the highest court in the Philippines. The C ...
from August 7, 2009, to May 22, 2014.


Law career

Abad was on the Dean's honor list at the
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...
, where he earned his law degree in 1968. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Utopia. 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 Fred Ruiz Castro (September 2, 1914 – April 19, 1979) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from January 5, 1976, until his death on April 19, 1979, while on an official trip to India. Personal life He was born to Dr. ...
. In 1975, he joined the
Office of the Solicitor General The Office of the Solicitor General of the Philippines ( fil, Tanggapan ng Taga-usig Panlahat), formerly known as the Bureau of Justice, is an independent and autonomous office attached to the Department of Justice. The OSG is headed by Menardo ...
(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 (FLAG) The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) is a nationwide organization of human rights lawyers in the Philippines. It was founded in 1974 by Sen. Jose W. Diokno, Lorenzo Tañada and Joker Arroyo during the martial law era under former Presiden ...
, 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 In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. From 1988 to 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 in ''
Disini v. Secretary of Justice ''Disini v. Secretary of Justice'' (G.R. Nos. 203335, ''et al''.) is a landmark ruling of the Supreme Court of the Philippines handed down on February 18, 2014. When the Congress of the Philippines passed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 t ...
'' on the contentious
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175, is a law in the Philippines that was approved on September 12, 2012. It aims to address legal issues concerning online interactions and the Internet in the Phi ...
, a landmark decision.


Teaching career

The late Chief Justice Roberto C. Concepcion, then
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...
(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 The University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law or "UST Law" (as distinguished from the Faculty of Canon Law) is a law school in Manila, Philippines. It is administered under the jurisdiction of the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest and t ...
.


Writing career

He authored two books: ''Practical Book in Legal Writing'' (2002) and ''Fundamentals of Legal Writing'' (2004). He was a contributing staff editor in the Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA) from 1972 to 1996. He conducted a seminar and workshop in legal writing and research in 2007 for the attorneys and investigators of the Office of the Ombudsman upon the invitation of the Philippine Judicial Academy, the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
, the Rule of Law Effectiveness, and CD Technologies Asia, Inc. He lectured to the research attorneys of the Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals regarding the preparation of judicial memoranda.


Personal life

He was widowed by his first wife Liliabeth Abad, with whom he has four children. He is now married to Victoria Martinez, a lawyer.


Notable opinions


''Disini v. The Secretary of Justice"
(18 February 2014)''] — ''upholding most provisions of the
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act No. 10175, is a law in the Philippines that was approved on September 12, 2012. It aims to address legal issues concerning online interactions and the Internet in the Phi ...
as constitutional''


References


External links


Justice Robert Abad (Official Supreme Court Webpage)
File:Rabadjf.JPG, Judicial chambers of SC Justice Roberto Abad File:Raabadjf2.JPG, The lawyers' offices inside the judicial chambers of SC Justice Roberto Abad {{DEFAULTSORT:Abad, Roberto A. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino lawyers Living people 1944 births Ateneo de Manila University alumni Academic staff of the University of Santo Tomas 21st-century Filipino judges