Honorific-Prefix: | The Honorable |
César Bengzon | |
Order: | 9th |
Office: | Chief Justice of the Philippines |
Term Start: | April 28, 1961 |
Term End: | May 29, 1966 |
Appointer: | Carlos P. Garcia |
Predecessor: | Ricardo Paras Jr. |
Successor: | Roberto Concepcion |
Office2: | 37thAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines |
Term Start2: | 1945 |
Term End2: | 1961 |
Appointer2: | Sergio Osmeña |
Predecessor2: | Manuel Moran |
Successor2: | Dionisio de Leon |
Birth Name: | César Fernando Bengzon y Cabrera |
Birth Date: | 29 May 1896 |
Birth Place: | Camiling, Tarlac, Captaincy General of the Philippines |
Death Place: | Philippines |
Parents: | Vicente Bengzon Paz Cabrera |
César Fernando Cabrera Bengzon (May 29, 1896 - September 3, 1992) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from April 28, 1961 until May 29, 1966. In November 1966, a few months after his retirement, he became the first Filipino to be appointed to the International Court of Justice.
Bengzon earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ateneo de Manila in 1915. He graduated his Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines in 1919, and placed second in the Bar Examinations that same year.
Starting out as a law clerk, he was promoted to Solicitor General in 1932 and Undersecretary of Justice under Governor-General (later U.S. Supreme Court Justice) Frank Murphy in 1933. He was later appointed in 1936 to the Court of Appeals, and became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1945. He left the Supreme Court in 1948 to become Secretary of Justice under President Elpidio Quirino, but was reinstated a few months later.
In 1966, he became the first Filipino ever to be elected judge of the International Court of Justice. He held this position until 1976.
He died on September 3, 1992 at age 96. Upon to his death, he is the longest-lived former Chief Justice ever recorded.