Ex-SC official passes away

The wife of Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Reynato Puno died yesterday at the St. Luke’s Medical Hospital in Quezon City due to complications from heart surgery.

Lawyer Luzviminda Puno, who retired last June 23 as clerk of court of the SC, passed away at 5:10 am yesterday. She was 66.

Puno is survived by her husband, her children and their spouses, Reynato Jr. and Cheryl Mae Yap, Emmanuel and Rachelle Catherine Fabreo and her only daughter Ruth Puno, her grandchildren, Alessandra Isabelle and Laticia Raquelle.

Her wake is at the mortuary and crematory chapel of the Heritage Park at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City. Her interment will be on Monday, April 16, at noon following necrological services at 10 a.m.

The flags at the Supreme Court offices in Manila and Baguio are now at half mast.

Puno obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree and graduated cum laude in 1961 at the University of the East (UE) and successfully passed the Bar on the same year.

Her 35 years of hard work and selfless service in the judiciary culminated when she was appointed as SC clerk of court on Sept. 11, 1993.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, a close friend, said Puno was a role model for public servants.

"She was very humble and unassuming despite being the wife of Senior Associate Justice Puno," he said. "For those who appeared in the Supreme Court, she will always be remembered for her accomodating, but impartial ways.