By: Chris Siquijor
📷 Paolo Pascual
San Beda College Alabang – School of Law’s (SBCA-SOL) first Juris Doctor Conferment Ceremony was convened last July 15, 2022, at St. Benedict Chapel, SBCA. Graduates of the old LL.B. curriculum were bestowed the additional title Juris Doctor (J.D.), a degree equivalent to a doctoral degree for purposes of appointment, employment, ranking, and compensation (see Resolution No. 2019-406, January 09, 2019, Legal Education Board).
.
Among the attendees were former students of the institution’s pioneer batch from 2011, when the institution produced its very own batch of exceptional Bedans with an alumnus placing 10th in the 2011 Bar Examinations.
.
The actual program was short, but heartfelt. Old classmates and peers were reunited, the passion and love for the legal profession rekindled, memories were reminisced, and undergraduates were inspired by the speeches delivered by Atty. Rodolfo Q. Aquino and Dean Ulpiano “Ulan” Sarmiento III.
.
Atty. Aquino is one of SBCA-SOL’s pioneer lawyers who took hold of the 10th topnotcher seat in the 2011 bar exams. In his speech, he shared his struggles as a former law student in the institution and took pride in the achievements of his fellow classmates in the legal field. Of course, he also reminisced the blissful moments. “For me, the appellation ‘happiest law school’ had not been a mere slogan. I spent some of my happiest years here in the San Beda College Alabang – School of Law, by knowing all these brilliant law professors,”Atty. Aquino stated.
.
Dean Ulan showed great joy in conferring upon these noteworthy individuals the rights and obligations appurtenant to the Juris Doctor title. With pride, he dubbed them as “legends in their own respective right who are not mere lawyers but individuals who have practiced the Benedictine values of humility and magnanimity, who are symbols in the legal profession to suppress the selfish, envious tendencies that govern the lives of most lawyers at this time.”
.