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Seldom do we have a Filipino leader who has so much ardor and
commitment
both as a human rights lawyer
and freedom fighter. Senator Joker P.
Arroyo
has a long history of these traits by handling more human rights
cases
than
any other lawyer from 1972-1986. A graduate of the UP College of Law
and
the Ateneo de Manila,
his meteoric rise to national consciousness
started
when he challenged before the Supreme Court of the Philippines
the
constitutionality of Proclamation No. 1081 imposing martial law.
Thereafter, he joined other lawyers in questioning
before the Supreme
Court:
1) the ratification of the Marcos dictated 1973 Constitution; 2)
Amendment 6
that
empowered President Marcos to exercise law making powers alongside
the
Batasang Pambansa; 3) the power of military
tribunals to try civilians.
Senator Arroyo’s brilliant skills as a trial lawyer was demonstrated
when
he
helped defend political detainees such as Ninoy Aquino, Eugenio Lopez,
Jr.,
Serge Osmeņa III, Jose Ma. Sison,
Jovito Salonga, Nene Pimentel, Eva
Kalaw,
Renato Taņada, Eduardo Olaguer and many others.
As a freedom fighter,
Senator Arroyo has had his share of physical and
mental tortures having been incarcerated in a military stockade,
gassed,
injured and hospitalized during protest rallies. During the snap
elections
in 1986, he served as counsel of Mrs.
Corazon Aquino. He, likewise,
co-founded MABINI and FLAG together with other human rights lawyers. He
is
also
a member of the American Bar Association, Senior Lawyers Division.
After EDSA I, he held various post in the government
service first as
Executive Secretary in the Aquino cabinet from 1986 to 1992, then as
Chairman of the Philippine National
Bank and as Executive Director for
the
Philippines in the Asian Development Bank from 1986 to1990.
Senator Arroyo
has received various awards and commendations for his
significant contributions to the law profession and public service.
Among
these are the Philippine Bar Association’s Most Distinguished Award for
Justice as a “man beholden
to no one except to his country” and a
Senate
Resolution No. 100 enacted in the 8th Congress commending him
for his
invaluable services to the Filipino people.
As a three-term congressman for the 1st District of Makati from
1992 to
1998, obtaining 80% of the votes cast in the elections, Senator Arroyo
also
distinguished himself by being
consistently voted by media as
Outstanding
Congressman of the Year. While in Congress, he remained an independent
throughout his term, he never traveled abroad on government money and
was
known to have a perfect attendance record
for nine years from the time
he
was elected up to the end of his term. His Statement of Assets and
Liabilities
has remained the same from the time he entered public
service in
1986 up to the present. As Lead Prosecutor
during the impeachment
trial of
President Joseph Estrada, he was remarkable.
During the 2001 elections, Senator
Arroyo was elected senator. In this
13th
Congress, he chairs the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers
and
Investigations (Blue Ribbon), Committee on Public Services and the
Committee
on Justice and Human Rights.
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