J. B. L. Reyes - IBP Presidency and Later Activism

IBP Presidency and Later Activism

Shortly after his retirement from the Court, Reyes was elected as the first president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. During his years on the Court, he had been one of the most active proponents of bar integration in the Philippines. He served as IBP President until 1975, and was President emeritus from then on until his death.

Unburdened by his judicial role, Reyes became an active member in the political opposition against the martial law rule of Ferdinand Marcos. Together with Lorenzo Tañada and José Diokno, Reyes helped organize the Anti-Bases Coalition, which sought the removal of the American military bases in Clark and U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay. He was the lead petitioner in the landmark Supreme Court case of Reyes v. Bagatsing, 125 SCRA 553 (1983), where he successfully sought injunctive relief against the mayor of Manila, who had wanted to prohibit demonstrations in front of the United States embassy.

After the ouster of Marcos following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, Reyes was named by President Corazon Aquino as Vice-Chairman of the newly created Commission on Human Rights. However, he resigned from that post in January 1987 in protest of the murder of several unarmed farmers by policemen in Mendiola. Reyes then retired to private life and died aged 92 in 1994. He is buried at the Loyola Memorial Cemetery in Marikina.