ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Justice Antonio T. Carpio was sworn in as member of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on October 26, 2001. He served in the Supreme Court for 18 years, retiring on October 25, 2019 upon reaching the compulsory retirement age of 70.
For his “distinguished and exemplary service” to the Republic, Justice Carpio was awarded in 1998 the Presidential Medal of Merit by then President Fidel Ramos. He was conferred a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by the Ateneo de Davao University in 2009, by the University of the Philippines in 2020, and by the Ateneo de Manila University in 2021.
On October 29, 2011, as Guest Speaker at the 50th Founding Anniversary of the Ateneo de Davao College of Law, Justice Carpio launched his advocacy to challenge the validity of China’s nine-dashed line before a tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Ever since, he has been giving lectures all over the country on the invalidity of China’s nine-dashed line.
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.