Former Chief Justice Renato Corona Passes Away at 67.

Former Chief Justice Renato Corona died Friday morning, the Supreme Court (SC) announced on its Twitter account.

He was 67.

"The PIO has just been informed by the family of former CJ Renato C. Corona that he has passed away this morning. No details available," the high court said.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno "has directed that the flag in the SC and all courts nationwide be flown at half mast to mourn the passing of the former CJ," the SC Public Information Office (PIO) said.

The PIO has just been informed by the family of former CJ Renato C. Corona that he has passed away this morning. No details available. (1/2)

— SC PIO (Official) (@SCPh_PIO) April 28, 2016

Corona served in various capacities. He was in the Cabinet of two presidents, Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, before being appointed to the bench as associate justice and, eventually, chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Corona was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 12, 2011 for failing to disclose certain bank deposits in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN).

On May 29, 2012, the Senate, voting 20-3, found Corona guilty. As a result, he was removed from public office.

After the impeachment trial, Corona lived a life away from the public eye until his untimely death.

Born on October 15, 1948, Corona was survived by his wife, the former Cristina Roco, and three children.
Corona joined the Ramos administration in 1992 as assistant executive secretary for legal affairs. He was promoted to deputy executive secretary. Corona was then appointed as chief presidential legal counsel and member of the Cabinet.

When Ramos' term ended, Corona joined the office of then Vice President Arroyo as her chief of staff. When Arroyo assumed the presidency, Corona served as presidential chief of staff, presidential spokesperson and acting executive secretary.

Corona was appointed to the High Court in 2002 as an associate justice. He was elevated to chief justice in 2010.

His appointment as chief justice was met with criticisms, having been made within two days after the 2010 presidential elections and a month before Arroyo's term ended.

However, the Supreme Court, voting 9-1, upheld Arroyo's right as incumbent president to appoint the chief justice, stating that the 90-day period for the president to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court is a special provision to establish a definite mandate for the president as the appointing power, and that the election ban on appointments does not extend to the Supreme Court.

The former chief justice graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila Grade School and High School. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, where he also served as editor-in-chief of The Guidon, the university student publication.

Corona obtained his law degree from the Ateneo Law School in 1974. After college, Corona worked in the Office of the Executive Secretary while attending night classes in law school. He finished fifth in his class.
In 1982, Corona earned his Masters of Law degree from Harvard University, where he focused on foreign investment policies and the regulation of corporate and financial institutions.

As young lawyer, Corona was a special counsel of government-owned Development Bank of the Philippines. He later became senior vice-president and general counsel of the Commercial Bank of Manila and a senior officer in the tax and corporate counseling group of the tax division of SGV & Co.

(ABS-CBNnews)