Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa


Alfredo Benjamin Sabater Caguioa is a Filipino lawyer who is now an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Prior to his appointment as Associate Justice he had served as acting Secretary of the Department of Justice and Chief Presidential Legal under the presidency of Benigno Aquino III.

Early life and education

Caguioa was born September 30, 1959. He is a son of Court of Appeals Justice Eduardo P. Caguioa. He finished elementary in Ateneo in 1973 then high school in 1977. He obtained his Economics degree from Ateneo de Manila University in 1981, and acquired his Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo Law School in 1985 where he ranked 5th in his class. On the same year he ranked 15th on the Bar Exam and was admitted to the Philippine Bar the following year.

Career

Caguioa joined SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan in 1986 and was a partner there from 1994 until February 2007. Together with five other lawyers from his previous firm, they founded the Caguioa and Gatmaytan and Associates in February 2007. He was a professor at the Ateneo Law School and San Sebastian College College of Law. Since 2015 he's a professor of Civil Law in University of Santo Tomas. Caguioa was cited as a leading Philippine lawyer in dispute resolution by Chambers & Partners in its 2010 and 2011 Asia-Pacific publications.
On January 10, 2013, he was appointed as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of then President Benigno Aquino III, his classmate since grade school. He was part of the official delegation of the country to the Permanent Court of Arbitration for the South China Sea Arbitration. After the resignation of then Secretary Leila de Lima last October 2015, he was appointed as acting Secretary of the Department of Justice. He was appointed as the 174th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines replacing the retired Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr.