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ABOUT Atty. Rufus B. Rodriguez

RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ was born in Cagayan de Oro City on September 13, 1953 to his parents, Maximo G. Rodriguez, Sr. of Patubig, Northern Samar and Martha B. Bautista of Cagayan de Oro City. He studied at Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) and graduated Grade School valedictorian (1967) and High School valedictorian (1971). In 1971, he was chosen as the most outstanding high school student by the Cagayan de Oro Jaycees and No. 1 High School Student of Northern Mindanao by the YMCA Misamis Oriental Chapter. He took up AB Economics at De La Salle University, Manila as a Philippine Packing Corporation scholar, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1975. He worked with the Medium and Small-scale Industry Coordinated Action Program (MASICAP) of the DAP-Ministry of Industry from 1974 to 1975. He entered the UP College of Law in 1976 as an entrance scholar and a UP Alumni Scholar. In 1977, as a sophomore law student, he was elected the Charter President of the World Association of Law Students (WALS) based in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. In such capacity, he was the presiding officer in WALS Assemblies in Khartoum, Sudan (1978); Madrid, Spain (1979) and, honorary chairman in Sao Paulo, Brazil (1981). In 1978, while still a third year law student, he authored a book on the Law on Transportation, followed by the Handbook on Local Government (1979) and the Handbook on Credit Transactions (1979). In the 1980 local elections, he was elected as the number one Board Member of Misamis Oriental while being a senior law student. Being a consistent honor student and member of the Order of the Purple Feather Honor Society, he graduated from the UP College of Law in 1980, ranking 7th in his class. He took the 1981 Bar Exams and placed 17th with an average of 86%. In April 1984, Rodriguez finished his MA in Economics at Xavier University with the highest distinction. He was Vice-Governor of Misamis Oriental from 1984 to 1986 during which time he was also actively practising his law profession and teaching law subjects at Xavier University and Cagayan de Oro College. In 1998, he started teaching at the Institute of Law, San Sebastian College-Recoletos in Manila, becoming its youngest law dean in 1990 at age 37. He established the Sebastinian Office of Legal Aid in 1992 to provide both practical and pro-bono training to his law students. Representing the law school, he attended the Dallas Academy of American & International Law in Texas in 1993. In 1995, he graduated Magna Cum Laude (Harlan Fiske Stone Award) in his Master of Laws studies at Columbia School of Law in New York City. He likewise received a Certificate of Achievement with Honors from the Parker Program on International & Foreign Law at the same law school. In 1998, he was appointed by President Joseph Ejercito Estrada as Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration, serving until January, 2001. He served as the Chief of Staff of Senator Loi Estrada in the Senate from June until September, 2001 when he was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Ambassador to Germany. When he was by-passed twice by the Commission on Appointments, he withdrew from said post out of delicadeza. He is now back to law practice and law teaching and enjoying private life with his wife, Fenina Tiukinhoy and 9 year old daughter, Regine Beatrice.