College and National Judicial College. After a ten-year practice, he was named Assistant Fiscal of Manila winning the 1981 Best Resolution Contest. He became RTC Judge first in Bataan, then in Manila, where he was Outstanding RTC Judge awardee and RTC Judges Association president. He edited the Phil. Judges Association Newsletter and Bench Bulletin.

Promoted to the Court of Appeals in March, 1994, he became its Presiding Justice from Dec. 23, 2005 to July 31, 2007. Former chairman-editor of CA Journal, he was five-time nominee to the Supreme Court until his appointment on August 1, 2007. He was president of Philippine Association of Law Professors, trustee and lecturer of Philippine Judicial Academy, 2002 Bar examiner in Legal Ethics, author of Bar Reviewer on Special Penal Laws, MCLE lecturer on substantive and procedural law, legal writing, ethics and law reforms; co-chair, Supreme Court Sub-committee on MCLE Draft Rules; member, S. C. Committee on Legal Education and bar matters and resource person, criminal and remedial law Bar answers, UP Law Center.

Recognitions for him include the CUP Outstanding Justice of the Court of Appeals, Bulacan Dangal ng Lipi, YMCA and ORAS Presidential awards, two Supreme Court awards on judicial reforms and over a dozen citations as Presiding Justice. He led by example in case disposition, with a vision of “A Court of Appeals that is righteous and reasonable in its decisions and resolutions, responsible and responsive to the challenge of judicial service.” On April 10, 2007, Northwestern University, Laoag City, conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

Born in 1939 in Hagonoy, Bulacan, he is married to Atty. Ellie Cruz-Reyes of Baliuag. They have four children, whose initials spell WRIT: Pastor Winston, Dr. Roselyn, IT consultant Jason Immanuel and lawyer Tammy Ann.