Arturo Brion

Early life and education

Brion was born on December 29, 1946 in the city of Manila, Philippines. He is the son of Edon B. Brion (a retired trial court judge) and Laura S. Dizon. He grew up and undertook his primary, secondary and part of his tertiary studies in San Pablo City, Laguna.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts, major in Mathematics, from San Pablo Colleges in San Pablo City, Laguna, in 1970. He earned his Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo de Manila University Law School in 1974, graduating as cum laude and class valedictorian. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Ateneo Law Journal and a member of the Fraternal Order of Utopia. He took the Philippine Bar Examinations and placed first with a bar general average of 91.65%. Brion thereafter practiced law at the Siguon Reyna, Montecillo, and Ongsiako Law Offices.

He also earned a Master of Laws, with concentration in Labor and Employment Law, from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1994. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws Equivalency Programme from the same law school. He was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada and to the practice of law in the province of Ontario in 1992.

Career

Brion has worked from associate attorney to senior partner levels in various law offices. He was the Director of the Institute of Labor and Manpower Studies from 1982 to 1984. He served as an Assemblyman in the Philippine National Assembly from 1984 to 1986. He was appointed as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Labor and Employment during the same period.

In Canada, he served as Counsel in the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario, Canada, from 1992 to 1995. Later, he was appointed as Associate Justice of the Philippine Court of Appeals. In 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed him as Secretary of Labor and Employment, a cabinet position vacated by Patricia Santo Tomas who was made Chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines.

Brion was among the nominees of the Judicial and Bar Council to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court left by the successive retirements of Associate Justices Romeo Callejo, Sr., Cancio Garcia, and Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez. On March 17, 2008, he was named to the Supreme Court by President Macapagal-Arroyo to succeed Justice Sandoval-Gutierrez.

Academe

Brion has taught law at the Ateneo Law School from 1976 to 1982; from 1986 to 1987; and from 1995 to 1997. He has authored an article entitled The Right to Refuse Unsafe Work in Ontario, which is archived in the libraries of York University.

His specializations lie in the following fields—Labor Laws, Public Law, Occupational Health and Safety.

Organizations

Brion is an active member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). He served as President of the IBP Laguna Chapter from 1981 to 1983. He was a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada from 1992 to 1995.

He is also a member of the Fraternal Order of Utopia, an Ateneo Law School based fraternity established in 1964 which has produced 40 bar topnotchers since 1964, three of which have placed number one in the Philippine Bar Exams, one of which is Brion. Utopia currently has two members who are seated in the highest tribunal of the Philippines, one is Brion, the other is Justice Roberto Abad.

Private life

Brion is married to Antonietta C. Articona. The couple has two children. His wife, Antonietta, is a chemist-lawyer (B.S. Chem, College of the Holy Spirit, and LL.B., Ateneo Law School, Class '82), while his son, Arturo, Jr., is a computer engineer-lawyer (Computer Engineering, McMaster University, Ontario; LL.B., University of New Brunswick School of Law) engaged in Intellectual Property Law practice in Ottawa. His other child, Antonella, is a B.S. History graduate at York University (Toronto), an interior designer (International Academy of Design and Technology) and also a published poet and Toronto-based book designer.

Awards

In the Araw ng Maynila's 437th founding anniversary on June 29, 2008, Brion was named "Outstanding Manilan" in law. He was the master of ceremonies of Reynato Puno's July 1 "Forum on Increasing Access to Justice: Bridging Gaps and Removing Roadblocks."