View source for Marcelo Fernan

{{Short description|Chief Justice of the Philippines from 1988 to 1991}}
{{Philippine name|Briones|Fernan}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2021}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Marcelo Fernan
| image               = Senator Marcelo B. Fernan.jpg
| image_size          = 200px
| order               = 16th
| office              = President of the Senate of the Philippines
| term_start          = July 27, 1998
| term_end            = June 28, 1999
| predecessor         = [[Neptali Gonzales]]
| successor           = [[Blas Ople]]
| order2              = 18th
| office2             = Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
| term_start2         = July 1, 1988
| term_end2           = December 6, 1991
| predecessor2        = [[Pedro Yap]]
| successor2          = [[Andres Narvasa]]
| nominator2          = [[Corazon Aquino]]
| order3              = 
| office3             = 111th [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines]]
| term_start3         = April 9, 1986
| term_end3           = June 30, 1988
| predecessor3        = [[Lorenzo Relova]]
| successor3          = [[Florenz Regalado]]
| nominator3          = [[Corazon Aquino]]
| office4             = [[Senator of the Philippines]]
| term_start4         = June 30, 1995
| term_end4           = July 11, 1999
| office5             = Member of [[Regular Batasang Pambansa]] from [[Cebu City]]
| term_start5         = June 30, 1984
| term_end5           = March 25, 1986
| alongside5          = [[Antonio Cuenco]]
| office6             = Member of the Cebu Provincial Board
| term_start6         = December 30, 1959
| term_end6           = December 30, 1961
| birth_name          = Marcelo Briones Fernan
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1927|10|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Cebu City|Cebu]], [[Cebu]], [[Insular Government of the Philippine Islands|Philippine Islands]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1999|7|11|1927|10|24|mf=y}}
| death_place         = [[Manila]], Philippines
| party               = [[Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino|LDP]] (1991–1999)<br>[[United Nationalist Democratic Organization|UNIDO]] (until 1986)
| relations           = [[Manuel Briones]]{{small| ([[uncle]])}}<br>[[Matteo Guidicelli]] {{small| ([[grand-nephew]])}}<br>[[Sarah Geronimo]] {{small| (great-niece-in-law)}}
| alma_mater          = [[University of the Philippines Diliman]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B]])<br>[[Harvard University]] ([[Master of Laws|LL.M]])
}}
 
'''Marcelo''' "'''Celing'''" '''Briones Fernan''' (October 24, 1927 &ndash; July 11, 1999) was a Filipino lawyer and political figure. He is the only Filipino to have served as both [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines|Chief Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]] and as Senate President. He is also the third Filipino to have headed both the judicial and legislative branches of government, after [[Querube Makalintal]] who served as [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines|Chief Justice]] and Speaker of the [[Batasang Pambansa]] in the 1970s, and [[José Yulo]], who served as Chief Justice and Speaker of the House of Representatives before 1946.

==Early life==
Fernan was born in [[Cebu City|Cebu]], Cebu in 1927. In 1953, he graduated with a degree in law from the [[University of the Philippines]]. He went to [[Harvard University]] in United States to obtain his master's degree. He returned to the Philippines soon after to finally serve his profession as a lawyer, particularly in his home province. Soon, he became a litigator, a trial court lawyer.

==Career==

===Early legislative career===
In 1959, he was elected to the [[Cebu]] Provincial Board and served until 1961. He was also elected to the 1971 Constitutional Convention as a delegate from his home province and actively participated in its sessions, and committee meetings/hearings for the formulation of a new Constitution for the country then. In 1984, during the Marcos regime, he was elected to the [[Regular Batasang Pambansa]], then the country's unicameral parliament with [[Antonio Cuenco]], representing the at-large district of Cebu City under the banner of the opposition UNIDO party and actively scrutinized the bills presented by the administration lawmakers and delivered privilege speeches against the Marcos regime. On 1986, after the snap elections, he was one of the opposition lawmakers who walked out when the administration lawmakers after a canvassing session that was then filled with debates and tensions, proclaimed then President [[Ferdinand E. Marcos]] and his running mate, then former Senator [[Arturo Tolentino]] as the winners of that year's snap presidential and vice presidential polls in which the opposition claimed was marred with fraud.

===Judicial===
[[File:Marcelo_Fernan.jpg|thumb|left|Official Portrait as Chief Justice]]
In 1977, he was elected national president of the [[Integrated Bar of the Philippines]], the country's national organization of lawyers.

After the People Power Revolution and the dissolution of the Batasang Pambansa, he was appointed by President [[Corazon Aquino]] as an Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]] and served until 1988 and acted also as Chairman of the Supreme Court Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Court and Chairman of the House Electoral Tribunal.

He was then promoted in 1988 as Chief Justice, the highest position of leadership in the Supreme Court and the judiciary and was Chairman of the Judicial and Bar Council, the country's screening body of the potential judges and justices and the Judiciary Planning and Implementation Office.  During his term as Chief Justice, several bold judicial reforms were instituted, among them the judicial orientation and career enrichment program, updating of the Code of Judicial Conduct and the continuous trial program.

===Presidential bid===
He resigned as Chief Justice in 1991 to run as [[President of the Philippines|president]] of the country. He later accepted the offer of House Speaker [[Ramon Mitra Jr.|Ramon Mitra]] as his vice presidential candidate of the [[Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino]]. He was the first former Chief Justice to run for vice president. In the [[1992 Philippine general election|1992 elections]], however both lost to [[Fidel Ramos]] and [[Joseph Estrada]], respectively.

===Senate and Senate Presidency ===

In the [[1995 Philippine general election|1995 elections]], Fernan ran for the [[Senate of the Philippines|Senate]] under the [[Lakas–Laban Coalition|Lakas–Laban]] coalition and was elected, his fourth time entrance in politics and was named as the Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Committee  on Justice and Human Rights as well as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development for the Tenth Congress (1995-1998) and authored several significant bills that became laws of the country, among these are:  Republic Act 8246 or the Court of Appeals Regionalization Act, RA 8493 or the Speedy Trial Act of 1998, RA 8557 or the Philippine Judicial Academy, RA 8525 or the Adopt-a-School Act of 1997 and RA 8558 or the Underground Mine Workers Act.

He also sponsored RA 8247 or the Alien Social Integration Act of 1995. RA 8282 or the Social Security Act of 1997, and RA 8369 or the Family Courts Acts of 1997.

Fernan was elected Senate President, the top post of leadership in the Senate, and concurrently, the Chairman of the Commission on Appointments, a congressional body tasked to scrutinize and confirm presidential appointments at the opening of the [[11th Congress of the Philippines|11th Congress]] in 1998.  Under his leadership as Senate President, the Senate passed the Clean Air Act, the Visiting Force Agreement and the General Appropriations Act of 1999 and other various laws.

==Death==
Fernan resigned the Senate presidency on June 28, 1999, due to failing health.<ref name="Inquirer"/> He was succeeded in his position by Senate President pro tempore, [[Blas Ople]]. Fernan became an ordinary senator and attended committee hearings and meetings and plenary sessions even in a wheelchair but died of cancer days later, on July 11 in [[Manila]]. He was buried in [[Cebu City]]. The [[Marcelo Fernan Bridge]], the second bridge that connects [[Mandaue City]] to [[Mactan Island]], was named after him.

==Personal life==
He was married to Eloisa Nolasco in 1955, having 9 children<ref name="Senate"/> and 18 grandchildren. One daughter, Milagros Fernan-Cayosa became a member of the [[Judicial and Bar Council]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Aquino reappoints Fernan-Cayosa to JBC|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/711529/aquino-reappoints-fernan-cayosa-to-jbc |accessdate=September 28, 2022 |work=Inquirer.net|date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> from 2011 to 2019. He is also a grand-uncle to TV and movie personality [[Matteo Guidicelli]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lim Uy |first=Sasha |date=Feb 22, 2020 |title=Matteo Guidicelli Has A Very Illustrious Family Background |url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/matteo-guidicelli-family-background-a00204-20200222?s=vus74hesp56kkb6gs28tb2350j |work=Esquire}}</ref>

==Trivia==
He is the only Filipino who has headed both the Judiciary as Chief Justice and Legislative Branch as Senate President.   For weekends, he loved bringing his family to the beaches in Mactan, Cebu and Bogo to snorkel or to ride a pump boat to visit nearby islands.  Marcelo Fernan loved to sing and among his favourite songs were "Feelings" and "Matud Nila".

==See also==
* [[List of Philippine legislators who died in office]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Inquirer">{{Cite news |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1140300/did-you-know-20th-death-anniversary-of-marcelo-fernan |title=DID YOU KNOW: 20th death anniversary of Marcelo Fernan |date=July 11, 2019 |website=INQUIRER.net |access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>
<ref name="Senate">{{Cite web |url=https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/senators/senpres/fernan.asp |title=Marcelo B. Fernan |website=Senate of the Philippines|access-date=February 25, 2021}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030423224634/http://www.senate.gov.ph/senpres/fernan.htm Senate of the Philippines - Mercelo Fernán biography]

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|ph-upr}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Neptali Gonzales]] |
  title= [[Senate of the Philippines|President of the Senate]] |
  years= 1998&ndash;1999 |
  after= [[Blas Ople|Blas F. Ople]]
}}
{{s-legal}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Pedro Yap]] |
  title= [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines]] |
  years= 1988&ndash;1991 |
  after= [[Andres Narvasa]]
}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Lorenzo Relova]] |
  title= [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines]] |
  years= 1986–1988 |
  after= [[Florenz D. Regalado]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court}}
{{Philippine Senate Presidents}}
{{navboxes 
|title = Senatorial history of Marcelo Fernan
|list=
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{{10th Congress of the Philippines senators}}
{{11th Congress of the Philippines senators}}
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{{Candidates in the Philippine presidential election, 1992}}
{{Cebu City House Representatives}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernan, Marcelo}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Chief justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Associate justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Senate of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Senators of the 11th Congress of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Senators of the 10th Congress of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Cebu City]]
[[Category:Members of the Cebu Provincial Board]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1992 Philippine vice-presidential election]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Centro Escolar University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Bogo, Cebu]]
[[Category:20th-century Filipino judges]]
[[Category:University of the Philippines alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Batasang Pambansa]]