Florin Hilbay. Screengrab from https://law.upd.edu.ph
MANILA, Philippines 鈥撎齅alacanang听on Wednesday confirmed the designation of lawyer Florin听Hilbay听as acting Solicitor General.
The University of the Philippines professor replaced Francis听Jardeleza听who was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
His appointment papers were signed last August 20 by President听Benigno听Aquino III.
Along with听Jardeleza,听Hilbay听was the senior state solicitor who defended the Reproductive Health Law before the Supreme Court in 2013.
Hilbay听also handled the cases on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and the听Bangsamoro, among others.
He teaches Constitutional Law at the UP College of Law and is an editor of the IBP Law Journal.
He topped the bar exams in 1999.
Before joining the Office of the Solicitor General,听Hilbay听was the director of the Institute of Government and Law Reform of the UP Law Center and was vice-chair of听Bantay听Katarungan, which was led by former Senate President听Jovito听Salonga.
Hilbay听led听Bantay听Katarungan鈥檚听efforts to file criminal complaints against then Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson Benjamin听Abalos听and former President Gloria听Macapagal-Arroyo.
The group was also the first to file an impeachment complaint against former Ombudsman听Merceditas听Gutierrez.
He received his degree in Economics at the University of Santo Tomas in 1995 and his law degree at the UP in 1999.
Hilbay听finished his Master of Laws at the Yale Law School in 2005.
He has written several opinion pieces for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, including 鈥溾�� published last July 31.
The article tackled the Supreme Court decision declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) partly unconstitutional and its effects on the Aquino administration.
鈥淭o be sure, this is not a conflict between good and evil, right and wrong, but an unfortunate though hopefully temporary disagreement over business models for interpreting rules鈥攐ne emphasizes freedom, the other, constraint,鈥� he said in the article.
RELATED STORY
听