Vasquez is new CA chief

President Arroyo has appointed Conrado Vasquez Jr. as presiding justice of the Court of Appeals (CA) in place of Ruben Reyes, who was appointed Supreme Court associate justice last August.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Vasquez, who was acting CA presiding justice, was appointed on Thursday.

Vasquez graduated from the Francisco Balagtas Elementary School in 1951 and Arellano High School in 1955. He finished his Associate in Arts degree at the University of the Philippines and Bachelor of Laws at the Manuel L. Quezon University.

Before taking his oath as a lawyer in 1964, he was elected as a councilor in his hometown in Biñan, Laguna, in 1963. He was later elected as vice mayor of the same town from 1968 to 1971.

Vasquez was a practicing lawyer and acted as legal counsel for Fil-Homes Realty Development Corp., until his resignation in 1980.

In 1986, he was appointed presiding judge of Branch 118, Regional Trial Court of Pasay City. Cited as one of the “Most Outstanding Judges of Pasay City” by the local trial lawyers association, he was promoted to associate justice of the CA in 1994.

Born in Paco, Manila, on Jan. 6, 1940, Vasquez is married to Emily Gonzalez with whom he has four children. – Paolo Romero