Court of Appeals (CA) Presiding Justice Conrado M. Vasquez Jr. on Wednesday bowed out of the judiciary after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Justice Portia Aliño Hormachuelos, the most senior among the CA associate justices, will temporarily take his place until President Arroyo appoints the next chief magistrate of the country’s second highest court.

Prior to his retirement, Vasquez Jr. served as CA associate justice for 13 years and as presiding justice for more than two years.

He is a son of the late Justice Conrado Vasquez Sr., the country’s first Ombudsman who later became a member of the Supreme Court (SC).

Born on January 6, 1940 in Paco, Manila, Vasquez Jr. finished his elementary education at the Francisco Balagtas Elementary School in 1951, and his secondary school years at the Arellano High School in 1955.

He obtained his Associate in Arts from the University of the Philippines and pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Manuel L. Quezon University.

Before serving the judiciary, Vasquez Jr. first served in his hometown, Biñan, Laguna, as municipal councilor in 1963 and vice mayor from 1968 to 1971. He also worked as company lawyer of FilHomes Realty Development until 1980.

He began his career as a magistrate in 1986 when he was appointed Presiding Judge of Branch 118, Regional Trial Court of Pasay City. He was promoted to associate justice of the Court of Appeals in 1994.

Vasquez Jr. has been acting CA presiding justice since August 2007, when former presiding justice Ruben Reyes was promoted to the SC, before President Arroyo appointed him in a permanent capacity in November, 2007.

Among the numerous awards he has received are those for the Most Outstanding Judge of Pasay City, by the local trial lawyers association; Most Outstanding Citizen Award, in Biñan, 2007; and Ulirang Ama Award for Law and Judiciary, by the National Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Foundation, Inc., in 2003.

Vasquez is married to Emily Gonzalez.

They have four children.