Justice Antonio T. Carpio (Ret.)

Justice Antonio T. Carpio is a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He served in the Supreme Court for 18 years from 2001 to 2019. He obtained his law degree from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines, where he graduated valedictorian and cum laude in 1975. He earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University in 1970.

Fresh out of law school, Justice Carpio went into private practice and founded the Carpio Villaraza and Cruz Law firm. He was a Professorial Lecturer of the U.P. College of Law from 1983 until 1992 when he was appointed Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, with cabinet rank, by then President Fidel V. Ramos. Justice Carpio was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines from 1993 to 1998. For his "distinguished and exemplary service" to the Republic, Justice Carpio was awarded in 1998 the Presidential Medal of Merit by then President Fidel V. Ramos. In 2015, he was named an Outstanding Alumnus in Public International Law by the UP Alumni Association.

In 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs sponsored Justice Carpio on a world lecture tour on the West Philippine Sea dispute. Justice Carpio presented the Philippines’ perspective on the dispute before think-tanks and universities in 30 cities covering 17 countries. In May 2017, Justice Carpio published the book titled “The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.”

For his adherence to the Rule of Law and defense of Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, both his alma mater, the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University, conferred on him the Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, in December 2020 and May 2021, respectively. Earlier in 2009, his grade school and high school alma mater, the Ateneo de Davao University, conferred on him the Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his adherence to the Rule of Law. In February 2021, the De La Salle University awarded Justice Carpio the Ka Pepe Diokno Award for his defense of Philippine sovereignty and the civil liberties of the Filipino people.

Justice Carpio was the Chair of the Second Division of the Supreme Court and the Chair of the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Justice Carpio retired from the Supreme Court with a zero backlog of cases.