Ex-SC justice tapped flood control probe chair

BIR, AMLC join forces to go after corrupt contractors

- ARGYLL CYRUS GEDUCOS and JUN RAMIREZ

President Marcos has named retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. as chair of the newly created Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which will probe corruption and irregularities in flood control and related government projects.

In a press conference in Malacañan on Monday morning, Sept. 15, Marcos said Reyes' experience in the judiciary made him a natural choice to head the body.

"What we need is somebody like Justice Andy Reyes because he is a former justice. He knows how to conduct those hearings, if they are procedurally correct," he said. "He has been ... for a very, very long time with a very good record of honesty and fairness, and a good record of being able to find justice for those who have been victimized."

Reyes is the third and final member of the ICI, following the appointment of former Public Works secretary Rogelio Singson and SGV & Co. Country managing partner Rossana Fajardo as part of the threeperson panel. Baguio City Benjamin Magalong was tapped as special adviser and investigator for the ICI.

Who is Andres Reyes Jr.?

Reyes, Born on May 11, 1950, is a third-generation justice in his family.

His father is the late Justice Andres Reyes Sr., former presiding justice of the Court of Appeals (CA), while his grandfather was Alex Reyes Sr., a CA justice, and later of the Supreme Court.

He holds an economics degree from St. Mary's College of California, a law degree from Ateneo de Manila University, and a master's degree in public administration from the Philippine Women's University. He completed his early education at La Salle Greenhills.

A career judicial officer, Andres was a trial judge from 1987 until 1999, when he was appointed associate justice of the CA. In February 2010, he was appointed presiding justice of the same court.