JUNIOR BEDAN LAW CIRCLE (JBLC) marks its 20 years of ‘TATAG: TApang, TAlino, at Galing’ of its Legal Management (LM) students, faculty, and alumni as they commenced the Legal Management Week at the Jonathan Sy Auditorium and Lydia Tan Sy Grounds last May 6.
The week of its celebration is composed of a series of events – The opening ceremony commenced with a JBLC Town Hall and a quiz bee, the mid-week event was boosted through a summit between professionals and the collegians, the 4th day paved the way for LM students to show off their skills in friendly-competition segments, and finally, the Memorandum of Agreement between JBLC, San Beda Economic Society (SBECS), and Manila City Jail has ended the busy week.
Day 1: Opening Ceremony
Initiating things on a “slow start”, the Department chair, Atty. Michael Daguinod, J.D., expressed his dismay at the low turnout of attendees on opening day. In his introductory statements he called for the students to bring back the ‘yabang’ of being part of the LM department, he said “This is the program that produced countless lawyers. This is your program.”
This was then followed by a Quiz bee which challenged the wit and grit of LM Students as they competed against each other in their respective year levels. The champions for the 1st year category included – Julien Lopez; Jayna Tayag; Jazmin Pilpil; Frank Gales; and Angelo Lobo from 1ALM, for the 2nd year category – Nico Delfin; Andrea Cardenas; Rhaen Litan; Kyle Labucay; and Jan Cabrera from 2BLM; and lastly for the combined 3rd and 4th year category – Roel Edradan; Via Clerigo; Steven Vehemente; Marius Fajardo; and Jhuster Dayandante from 3ALM.
The first day of LM Week concluded with students heading for the LM exhibit which featured the 20-year history of the LM department, located on the ground floor of the Lydia Tan Sy building.
Day 3: LM Summit
The Summit began as the LM students filled the seats of Jonathan Sy Auditorium, spearheaded by Atty. Mike Daguinod together with experts in the Legal World who addressed the issues of the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence in the Landscape of Legal Studies and the Practice of Law and Business.
The first speaker, Atty. Noel Guivani Ramiscal, gave an in-depth talk on his presentation of the advantages and disadvantages of AI in the field of Legal Studies, while Atty. Jayr Ipac shared his knowledge on the role of AI in reshaping the professional and industry landscape in business and law.
The third segment was a round table discussion with the Panelists Mr. Vonn Vincent Tanchuan, Associate Digital Director and Unit Digital Lead and Mr. Jeffrey Aborot, Senior Science Research Specialist, DOST-ASTI, interviewed by Atty. Daguinod as they converse about AI as a controversial feature amongst the academe and the workplace.
The discussion ended with a certificate of recognition to those who imparted their knowledge and to the organizational partners of the JBLC who attended the Summit.
Day 4: LM Pasiklaban
A tournament comprising three events fired up the LM’s spirit to showcase their hobbies and talents outside academics – The Extemporaneous Speech Competition, The Case Digest Segment, and the Mobile Legends Battle, last May 9.
Ela Rose Estrada, the JBLC’s Vice President of External Affairs, testified that there were unforeseeable constraints on some activities, “We decided to switch the games from face to face to its online modality.” wherein the Mobile Legends was conducted on a different time schedule from the original plan.
On the other hand, the Extemporaneous Speech to flaunt their vocabulary and speaking skills in front of the LM committee was first held in St. Anselm Building. The Grand Finals were conducted on the last day of the week, the LM Nights, with Samuel Unabia crowned as the champion.
Estrada remarked, “Siguro, it would’ve been a lot better if nag-push through kami sa original plan to conduct it [event] face to face modality pero ayun nga, either way we’re so thankful that we were able to push through the event.” as they were able to pride their activities not just to the enrollees, but also to the LM alumni.
Day 5: MOA Signing
JBLC along with its partners the San Beda Economics Society (SBECS) and Manila City Jail – Female Dormitory formally signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for “Handog Pag-Asa” serving as an extension of JBLC’s Lingkod Laya Project at room 33Q of the St. Anselm Building.
JBLC president Tricia Chandumal on her initial experience with Linkod Laya, she highlighted the importance of furthering the main objectives of the project.
This was followed by the presentation of the “Handog Pag-Asa” food cart design, serving as the Lingkod Laya Project’s means to provide help for PDLs after their release along with a pangkabuhayan package and other employment opportunities.
Creatives Co-Head of JBLC Bethy Joy Poblete shared that the design of the food cart “reflects the organizations and the partnerships of the organizations.” She also shared that JBLC’s creatives committee wanted to express the “life-changing circumstances of the PDLs” rather than the organizations alone.
The program ended with the official signing of the MOA by representatives of JBLC, SBECS, and the Manila City Jail – Female Dormitory. JSUPT Marizen S. Sese expressed her and the Manila City Jail – Female Dormitory’s gratitude for the continued partnership through the Lingkod Laya Project.
“This is a very important partnership because it will be beneficial to our Persons Deprived of Liberty to have [a] sustainable livelihood when they are released. And of course, thank you to San Beda Junior Bedan Law Circle and the San Beda Economics Society, and of course the chairperson of the Lingkod Laya.”
Day 6: LM Night
The last day to conclude the busy week of Legal Management is a party in celebration of the 20th year that only occurs every 5 years of the department’s existence. This brought together the current members and the alumni of the department—highlighting the works and awarding notable people for their contributions to the field.
These grants such as the ‘excellence for academics’ was given to Atty. Jaims Gabriel Orencia, a 10th placer in the 2022 bar examination; the ‘excellence for public service’ award was given to Hon. Judge Alvin Greg Pua and Atty. Maria Liavel Chua Badillo-Crisostomo; the ‘leadership award’ was given to Vice Mayor Aika Sanchez, Vice Mayor of Bukidnon, Bulacan; and the ‘excellence for business and corporate practice’ was awarded to Atty. Jaime Del Rosario, the group head legal counsel and chief regulatory compliance officer for Citicore Power.
Being celebrated in face-to-face modality according to Paolo Ornos, the IVP of the JBLC, has given them a platform where these people can interact, approach, and get to know each other to strengthen their relationship, imparting the culture of Legal Management to the current generation of the department.
“It allows them to build trust and camaraderie in each other and this helps in forming and developing an excellent department… It helps them learn the culture na hindi sila separate, but we’re one and tied together by the mother organization, The Junior Bedan Law Circle and of course their department, the legal management department,” he stated.
(With Dianne Radell Magallon)