Cancio Garcia

The youngest of four children and the only son of Juan Garcia and Benedicta Castillo, both illiterates, Cancio or Cancy to his friends, was born on October 20, 1937 in the remote barrio of Concordia at Alitagtag, Batangas. Starting his education at the P. Gomez Elementary School (Manila), and thereafter at the Arellano (Public) High School (Manila), he qualified for admission into the College of Law of the University of the Philippines. A product of the public school system, he graduated at the UP in 1961. He obtained a post-graduate degree in Public Administration as a government scholar from the University of Santo Tomas in 1967.

Honing his skills in the legal profession by serving as the assistant at the Macapagal Alafriz & Mutuc Law Offices, he went on to serve the government, first as Legal Office, then as Junior Presidential Staff Assistant in the Legal Office of Malacanang, and thereafter, as Solicitor in the Office of the Solicitor General, at that time headed by his former college professor, Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza. Ripe for the judiciary after more than a decade of constant brushes with the law, he first sat at the bench as City Judge of Caloocan. Serving for more than a decade in that capacity, and having won a Judge of the Year award, he rose to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Angeles City and later to the RTC in Caloocan City. Soon, then President Corazon Aquino took him back to Malacanang as Assistant Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs. Aware that he is a Jurist at heart, President Cory appointed him to the Court of Appeals where he served for almost fourteen years until 2004, first as Associate Justice, then as Presiding Justice of that court, a position he held twice – from March 14 to July 29, 2001 and April 11, 2002 to April 8, 2003. In October 2004, Justice Garcia reached the peak when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed him as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the Court's 156th Justice.

• Legal Assistant: 1961 to 1962
• Junior Presidential Staff Assistant: 2/1962 to 6/30/1972
• Solicitor: 7/1/1972 to 2/16/1974
• City Judge for Caloocan: 2/17/1974 to 1/17/1983
• RTC Judge, Angeles City: 1/18/1983 to 11/4/1986
• RTC Judge, Caloocan City: 11/5/1986 to 3/8/1988
• Assistant Executive Secretary: 3/9/1998 to 12/16/1990
• Court of Appeals Justice: 12/17/1990 to 10/14/2004
• Supreme Court Justice: 10/15/2004 to 10/20/2007[1]

• 1976 Most Outstanding Judge, IBP CAMANAVA Chapter, January 29, 1977
• Outstanding Judge, Media Writers Association of the Philippines, October 12, 1985
• Certificate of Appreciation, Angeles City Metropolitan District Command, 1985
• Plaque of Appreciation for Judicious and Expeditious Implementation of the Dangerous Drugs Law, Philippine Constabulary Narcotics Command, February 1, 1986
• Certificate of Merit for Distinguished and Meritorious Service as Presiding Judge, Angeles City Lawyers’ League, January 5, 1989
• Plaque of Recognition as one of the Ten Outstanding Citizens of Alitagtag, Club Alitagtag, Batangas, May 5, 1989
• Plaque of Recognition for his promotion to the Court of Appeals, IBP CAMANAVA Chapter, November 15, 1991
• Certificate of Attendance for participation in the XVth Law Asia Biennial Conference, Law Association for Asia and the Pacific, August 1997
• Certificate of Attendance, Harvard Law School, June 2000
• Plaque of Recognition as Intellectual Giant, True Nationalist and Advocate of the Rights and Welfare of the Marginalized Sectors of Philippine Society, Kapatirang Plebeian Foundation, June 24, 2001
• Certificate of Appreciation, Supreme Court, Centenary Celebrations, July 11, 2001
• Outstanding Jurist Award, Consumers’ Union of the Philippines, 13th Annual National Consumers Award, May 31, 2002
• Ulirang Ama Sectoral Awardee for Law and the Judiciary, National Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Foundation of the Philippines, June 16, 2002
• Caloocan’s Best for Law and Judiciary, Caloocan 41st Foundation Day, February 16, 2003
• Plaque of Merit for Raising the Level of Competence and Integrity in the Dispensation of Justice and Unselfish and Dedicated Service to the Judiciary, Philippine Trial Lawyers Association, Inc., May 9, 2003
• Parangal ng Bayan Award in Law and Judiciary, 18th Annual Parangal ng Bayan Awards, May 24, 2003
• Citation of Distinction, Philippine Judges Association, October 23, 2003
• Plaque of Appreciation as Most Outstanding Plebeian in Government Services for Judiciary, Kapatirang Plebeian Foundation, Inc. (KPFI), June 19, 2004
• Achievement Award as Most Outstanding Alumnus, Arellano High School, January 23, 2005
• Award of Distinction, Court of Appeals, February 1, 2006
• Certificate of Participation in the Conference on Terrorism and Rule of Law, World Jurist Association, May 22–24, 2006
• Plaque of Appreciation as Guest Honor and Speaker on the Induction of the New Officers and Members, Angeles City Lawyers League, September 29, 2006
• The Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Award, Supreme Court of the Philippines, Oct 19, 2007
• The Gawad Anubing Award, Alitagtag, Batangas, May 4, 2011
• Hall of Fame, Philippine Judges Association, October 9, 2013

• Member, Board of Judges, Ramon Ozaeta Awards, Philippine Bar Association, 2003
• Member, Board of Judges, Committee on Judicial Excellence, 2003
• Member, Order of Purple Feather honor Society, University of the Philippines College of Law
• Member, U.P. Law Alumni Association
• Member, Knights of Columbus
• Member, Philippine Bar Association
• Member, Philippine Judges Association
• Member, Third Philippine Judicial Delegation to the Federal Court of Australia, Melbourne, Australia, October 2001
• Director, City Judges Association of the Philippines
• Independent Director, Union Bank of the Philippines, 2008–2012
• Independent Director, San Miguel Purefoods Corporation, 2008–2013
• Independent Director, San Miguel Properties Inc., 2010–2013

• A Study of the Philippine Constitution. By Perfecto V. Fernandez, Jose A.R. Melo, Cancio G. Garcia, Aloysius C. Alday (1974)
• View from the Peak (October 2007)

• Jaka Food Processing v. Pacot (2005) — on notice requirement for dismissals of employees for "authorized causes"
• Yuchengco v. Sandiganbayan (2006) – Dissenting — on the recovery of shares of stock in PLDT as part of the ill-gotten wealth of Ferdinand Marcos (joined by J. Ynares-Santiago & Chico-Nazario)
• City Government of Quezon City v. Bayan Telecommunications — on legislated exemptions from real property taxes
• Nicolas-Lewis v. COMELEC (2006) — on absentee voting by Filipinos with dual citizenship
• Bantay Republic Act 7941 v. COMELEC (2007) — on duty of COMELEC to disclose names of party-list candidates

• SC Justice Garcia Ends 46 Years of Gov’t Service On Oct. 19 (Official Supreme Court Press Release)