Justice Reynato S. Puno comes from a family of achievers.  He stood out in his school days where his brilliant mind was already noticed.  It is fitting that he had his secondary education at Arellano High School that was named after Cayetano Arellano, the first chief justice of the Philippines.   He worshipped at Knox from his early childhood until he transferred his membership to Puno Memorial UMC in the mid-eighties. 

He finished his law degree at the University of the Philippines in 1962.  During his college days at UP, he became editor-in-chief of the school’s paper, The Philippine Collegian and Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Law Register, official student newspaper of the College of Law.  He did his graduate studies abroad where he received numerous scholarships and high honors – Master of Comparative Laws at SMU in Dallas, Master of Laws at University of California, in Berkeley, and Doctor of Juridical Science at the University of Illinois.

After passing the bar with flying colors, he practiced law in the private sector, including being a partner in the Puno Law Office until he became a Solicitor in the Office of the Solicitor General in 1971.  This was the start of his unbroken service in the government.  While serving as QC judge, he was appointed Assistant Solicitor General in the Department of Justice in 1974, one of the youngest to serve in this delicate position.  At about this time, he was elected Administrative Board Chairperson of Knox UMC.  It was also during this period that he was chosen one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in the Philippines for 1977 in the field of law out of a total of 163 nominees belonging to the cream of young lawyers in the country.  In 1980, Justice Puno was appointed Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, and would later be appointed Deputy Minister of Justice in 1984.  At that time, he was also serving as grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons in the Philippines.  He went back to the Court of Appeals in 1986 that was to be his preparation for the highest post a lawyer could aspire for.  Justice Puno attained this position when President Fidel V. Ramos appointed him Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in June 1993, to become the second Methodist and youngest to serve in the Supreme Court.  As SC Justice, he also served in the House, Senate, and Presidential Electoral Tribunals.  He has also chaired the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the SC.

Along the road to the top, Justice Puno has maintained  his  reputation  as  a  brilliant,  hardworking, and impeccable judge who does not compromise his Christian  principles and the search for  truth  and  justice.  Some of  his other  awards include: TOYM  in  the field of law in 1977,  Outstanding Jurist Award from the City of Manila in 1987, Most Outstanding Alumnus of Arellano High School in 1995,  Most  Outstanding Law  Alumnus  of  UP in 1997, Most Outstanding Jurist Activist by the Consumers Union of the Philippines in 2004, first Filipino recipient of the Outstanding Global Alumni Award for 2003-2004 by Dedman School of Law, SMU and Ulirang Ama Awardee for 2005 given by the National Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Foundation of the Philippines.

An ardent supporter of the UMC, Justice Puno has consistently contributed to worthy Methodist undertakings, spoken before Methodist gatherings, and currently chairs the Church Council of Puno Memorial UMC. 

He is currently the most senior associate justice in the Supreme Court.  When Chief Justice Hilario Davide retires in 2006, and with the Lord’s will, Senior Associate Justice Reynato S. Puno will assume leadership of the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land.