President Ferdinand Marcos Nominated by Diosdado Macapagal Succeeded by Nicanor Yniguez Preceded by Roberto Concepcion Party Kilusang Bagong Lipunan | Nominated by Ferdinand Marcos Name Querube Makalintal Preceded by Cornelio Villareal President Ramon Magsaysay Date appointed October 31, 1973 | |
Role Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Died November 8, 2002, Manila, Philippines Education University of the Philippines | ||
Querube C. Makalintal (December 22, 1910 – November 8, 2002) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from Oct. 31, 1973 until December 22, 1975 and Speaker of the Interim Batasang Pambansa from June 12, 1978 to June 30, 1984.
Contents
Early life
Makalintal was a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.
Career
Makalintal served as Solicitor General, before being appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962.
After reaching the compulsory retirement age of 65 under the 1973 Constitution, he served as Speaker of the Interim Batasang Pambansa from 1978 to 1984.
The Martial Law Years
Makalintal, together with Justice Fred Ruiz Castro, was the ‘swing vote’ in the Ratification Cases which upheld the 1973 Constitution, which paved the way of extending Marcos’ regime. When the question of whether the petitioners are entitled to relief, the two justices answered ‘No’, thus upholding the 1973 Constitution and made legitimate the rule of Marcos and his power.
In the cases denying Benigno Aquino, Jr. of his privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the decision of the High Court was not a traditional sense of consensus on both the conclusions and the reasons for the conclusions. Makalintal, as Chief Justice, delivered the summary of votes, and explained the reason why there was no collegial opinion by the Court. He said, among others, that the justices of the Supreme Court are conscious of "the future verdict of history" upon their stand.
Benigno Aquino, Jr. warned of such verdict of history, as he aptly said, "Today, you are my judges. Tomorrow, history will judge you."