FESTIVAL OF GIANTS

Tourists watch a parade of giants during the Higantes Festival in Angono, Rizal. The event is staged every year in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen.

Court (RTC) judge of Quezon City at the age of 37.

In his stint at the RTC, he became the recipient of the Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro Memorabilia Commission with the coveted distinction of having written the Best Decision in Civil Law and the Best Decision in Criminal Law, topping all RTC judges in 1999.

That was the only time that both awards were won by the same judge in the same year.

Justice Ricardo Puno Sr., the chairman of the commission, described Bersamin’s feat as “unprecedented” because no other trial judge has accomplished or

equaled the feat.

In 2002, Bersamin won the Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Award as Outstanding RTC Judge of that year.

The award was given by the prestigious Foundation for Judicial Excellence.

Bersamin was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on April 2, 2009 by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He was then sitting as a member of the Court of Appeals, to which he was appointed also by Arroyo on March 10, 2003. A Bar topnotcher (9th place), he graduated from the University of

the East College of Law.

Bersamin hails from Bangued, Abra, where he was born on October 18, 1949.

His father, the late Dr. Luis Bersamin Sr., was a World War II veteran and part of the infamous Death March.

Bersamin’s mother was the late Dr. Rosario Purugganan-Bersamin, a pharmacist and educator.

His oldest brother was the late congressman Luis Bersamin Jr., representing the Lone District of Abra.

Another brother, Eustaquio Bersamin, served three terms as provincial governor of Abra.