Presbitero Velasco Jr.

Presbitero Jose Velasco Jr. (born August 8, 1948) is the incumbent Governor of Marinduque and was a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on March 31, 2006.

The Honourable Presbitero J. Velasco Jr.
Governor of Marinduque
Incumbent
Assumed office June 30, 2019
Vice Governor	Romulo Bacorro Jr.
Preceded by	Romulo Bacorro Jr.
157th Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court
In office March 31, 2006 – August 8, 2018
Appointed by	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Preceded by	Artemio V. Panganiban
Succeeded by	Jose Reyes Jr.
Associate Justice of the Philippine Court of Appeals
In office April 22, 1998 – July 7, 2001
Appointed by	Joseph Ejercito-Estrada
Personal details
Born	August 8, 1948 Pasay, Rizal, Philippines
Spouse(s)	Lorna Quinto Velasco
Children	Vincent Michael Lord Allan Tricia Nicole
Alma mater	University of the Philippines
Affiliation	Sigma Rho

Profile

Chambers of Presbitero J. Veslasco Jr. in the new Supreme Court of the Philippines building.

Offices and library in the chambers.

Born on August 8, 1948 in Pasay City, Justice Presbitero J. Velasco Jr. is a product of the public school system. He went to J. Sumulong Elementary School (First Honorable Mention) and the University of the Philippines (UP) Preparatory School, respectively, for elementary and high school.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from UP finishing the course in only three years. He went on to take up his Bachelor of Laws from the same university. At the UP College of Law, Justice Velasco was a member of the Order of the Purple Feather Honor Society and served on the Editorial Board of the Philippine Law Journal. He graduated eighth in the Class of 1971. He placed sixth in the 1971 Philippine Bar Examination with a bar rating of 89.85%.[1]

He engaged in private law practice for 20 years before joining the public sector as a regular member of the JBC in 1993.

Justice Velasco also served as Undersecretary of the Department of Justice from 1995 to April 1998. He was concurrently Commissioner of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board. He was also Chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole, Commissioner of the Commission on Settlement of Land Disputes, and Member of the Committee on Privatization.

In 1998, he was appointed Court of Appeals Justice. He was ranked eighth in disposition of cases when he was named Court Administrator in 2001.

Justice Velasco has also served the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in several capacities: as its National President in 1987, as Commissioner of the IBP Committee on Bar Discipline, and as Honorary Chairman and Past National Co-Chairman of the IBP National Committee on Legal Aid.

He was awarded Most Outstanding Jurist by the Consumers Union of the Philippines in 2000.

In 2018, he filed his candidacy for Governor of Marinduque for the 2019 elections in which he won ending the rule of the Reyes which has ruled Marinduque for almost two decades

Justice Velasco is married to Lorna Quinto-Velasco with whom he has three children: Vincent Michael, Lord Allan Jay, and Tricia Nicole. Tricia (Ateneo Law School, Juris Doctor program) passed the 2008 Philippine Bar Examination.

Some notable opinions

• Manotoc v. Court of Appeals (2006) — on requisites for valid service of summons
• Spouses Algura v. LGU of the City of Naga (2006) — on exemption of indigents from filing fees
• Republic of the Philippines v. SC Chief Justice Sereno (2018) — concurring and dissenting opinion on the Quo warranto petition against Maria Lourdes Sereno

References

1. tan.org.ph, APPLICANTS TO THE SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE POST

External links

• Justice Presbitero J. Velasco Jr. (Official Supreme Court Webpage)