IT WAS a day before the conduct of the National Teachers’ Month celebration in Cagayan de Oro City when I had a chance to talk with now full-fledged Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs, Atty. Alberto Escobarte or simply Sir Bert. He made mention of a brainchild training for all the DepEd lawyers that will not only level up their competence but will make them appreciate more the educational system where they are working to serve the Department well.
So it happened as the Department of Education (DepEd), through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs, conducted the First Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Seminar for DepEd Attorneys at BSA Twin Towers Hotel in Mandaluyong City on November 19-22, this year.
According to Asec Bert, the 1st MCLE, which was anchored on the constitutional right to basic education, discussed recent developments in law and jurisprudence and their implications to DepEd’s mandate to respect, protect, fulfill and promote the right to quality and accessible education of every Filipino child.
In her message during the Opening Program, OIC, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Josephine Maribojoc urged DepEd lawyers to continuously hone themselves and cultivate their knowledge, enhance their skills, and maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct to give better service to the country, especially the learners.
Maribojoc underscored that as lawyers in [the] DepEd, they have a special mission to promote the noble cause of education and nurture delicate children as their primary and ultimate clientele. She continued by saying that their work as Deped lawyers must be not only legally right but also educationally correct.
In a press release published in DepEd CO’s official website, it says that the four-day seminar was facilitated by the UP Law Center Institute for the Administration of Justice along with renowned lawyers in the country such as LRA Deputy Administrator Atty. Robert Nomar Leyretana, UP College of Law Professors Atty. Jacqueline Joyce Espenilla and Atty. Dan P. Calica, former MWSS Deputy Administrator Atty. Zoilo Andin Jr., CSC Assistant Commissioner Ariel G. Ronquillo, Retired Quezon Cit RTC Judge Rosalina Pison, Save the Children Philippines CEO Atty. Alberto Muyot, CD Asia Vice President Atty. Maria Theresa Libunao, Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, Supreme Court Deputy Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva, State Solicitor Atty. Leney Layug-Delfin of the Office of the Solicitor General, Atty. Richard Fulleros, CPA, MBA of the Commission on Audit, Atty Kristine Jazz Tamayo of Rainbow Rights PH, and Atty. Cecil Joy Mijares of the Civil Service Commission.
The event focused on the following topics: Land Registration, Administrative Law and Jurisprudence (Substantive and Procedural Law), Civil Service and Regulations relating to Settlement of Administrative Cases (ADR), Alternative Dispute Resolution (Administrative Remedies, Offenses and Penalties and Blacklisting), Evidence Preparation and Appreciation, Public Funds Accountability, Handling a Child Witness, Rules and Decisions of the Civil Service Commission (Legal Ethics), Children’s Rights (Substantive and Procedural Law), and Recent Supreme Court Circulars Affecting Lawyers, International Instruments and Contracts Review (International Law), Legal Research and Writing (Legal Writing/Oral Advocacy), Rewriting the Constitution and Train Act (Legal Writing/Oral Advocacy), and Education Related Laws and Gender Laws was attended by a total of 136 participant-lawyers from the central, regional, and division offices.
In his message, Asec Escobarte conveyed their commitment to provide continuous capacity building to all the legal personnel of the department. He continued by saying that as the educational landscape of the country continues to evolve, so do the complexity of the legal needs of our clientele, and so should our services.
In closing, OIC-Usec Maribojoc said that the first MCLE is mandatory not only because the law requires it, but also because our vocation as DepEd lawyers impels us to continuously hone ourselves and fill our cup of legal knowledge, skills and ethics to the brim so we may have more to give to others, in the service of education, the youth, and our country.
This Corner hopes that our defenders will really see to it the advancing of the rights of their clienteles should be their foremost concern in forum or manner that they will not be able to shell out huge amount from their pockets just to defend themselves from the attacks from all corners hostile to good governance.