Retired Regional Trial Court judge Meinrado Paredes, a former executive judge of Cebu City and a martial law survivor, died on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at age 79. His family announced his death in a Facebook post on Sunday, July 12, citing complications from interstitial lung disease and pneumonia as the cause.
The wake is being held at Cosmopolitan Memorial Chapels in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, until Friday, July 17. A funeral mass is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Lahug, followed by interment at the Angelicum Garden of Angels in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City.
Judicial career and teaching
Born on January 21, 1947, in Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, Paredes was admitted to the Philippine Bar on June 6, 1975. He spent most of his legal career in Cebu, serving as presiding judge of Cebu City RTC Branch 13. In 1999, the Supreme Court also designated him acting presiding judge of Branch 14 while he continued his duties in Branch 13. He later became executive judge of the Cebu City courts, a position he held for more than two years.
After retiring from the judiciary in 2014, Paredes practiced law and taught at the University of Cebu School of Law, where he handled Remedial Law and Political Law. He remained active in public discussions on the rule of law, human rights, and the Marcos dictatorship.
Martial law detention
Paredes was arrested on September 23, 1972, two days after then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law. He was reviewing for the Bar exams at his apartment on Lopez Jaena Street in Cebu City when soldiers took him first to Camp Sergio Osmeña, now the Police Regional Office 7 headquarters. After three months, he was transferred to Camp Lapu-Lapu in Barangay Apas, Cebu City, and detained for one year without charge.
In a 2022 interview with SunStar Cebu, Paredes said he believed his arrest was due to his activism against the Marcos administration, having been a member of the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan. He continued to speak against historical revisionism and human rights violations after retirement.
Return of IBP award
In October 2025, Paredes returned the Golden Pillar of Law Award conferred on him by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) after learning the same recognition was given to former President Rodrigo Duterte. According to Paredes, he could not share the award with Duterte, whose administration faced accusations of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations. He described returning the award as an expression of “disappointment and disgust” and an act of solidarity with victims and their families. The IBP had recognized Paredes for five decades of service to the legal profession and for upholding justice, integrity, and the rule of law.
