News by: Gian Carla Guido
On 11 May 2021, the San Beda Alabang School of Law Internship and Development Group (SOLID) and SBCA Counseling and Career Development Services conducted the webinar Who Am I? The Pathways of a Bedan Lawyer. The event was also sponsored by Regalo – Touching Lives, a network of volunteers composed mostly of teachers and librarians dedicated in serving various schools and communities. The webinar was hosted by SOL students Margaret Aribon and Nikko Dedicatoria. It featured Atty. Juan Ruffo Chong, one of SOL’s own professors, as its guest speaker.
In the webinar, Atty. Chong talked about his journey as a lawyer. He stated that while law school was difficult, he had never seen it as a chore. “I have always been drawn to the study of law because laws made perfect sense,” he said. After passing the bar exams, he became a litigation lawyer and pursued a Dual Masters of Law program from New York University and National University of Singapore on a scholarship.
However, after earning his Dual Masters of Law, Atty. Chong had difficulty finding work abroad. Back in the Philippines, he was even turned down by a firm for being “overqualified”. This made him return to practicing litigation. It humbled the young brilliant lawyer, who stated, “At that time, I really couldn’t understand where God was leading me to.” In 2013, he met Atty. Jacome who invited him to teach part-time at the SBCA College of Arts and Sciences. It was then that his passion for the academe began. Atty. Chong recounts:
“I was doing my litigation job from Monday to Friday, and then on Saturdays, I would be teaching… What I realized was, from Mondays to Friday, I was actually thinking of my Saturdays. I was writing my pleadings, typing out my motions, doing the motions of my litigation work, doing everything that my litigation job called me to do, but I was actually looking forward to my Saturdays more. It ended up that I was continually thinking about teaching my students more and more and more. At this point, when I was in the law firm, with my boss open-mouthed, I went up to him and then I told him, ‘Sir, I would be tendering my resignation because I will be teaching full time.”
Atty. Chong also discussed the career options of a lawyer. On one hand, he mentioned the option of entering government service, particularly in the judiciary. In addition, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Solicitor General, the Public Attorney’s Office, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and various government owned and controlled corporations are some of the government institutions where lawyers can build their career. On the other hand, he also mentioned the opportunities in the private sector. He specified prominent law firms, corporations, and other business entities both here and abroad. In relation to his decision to pursue the academe, Atty. Chong spoke about his faith and his keeping in accordance with it.
The webinar succeeded in giving students a crash course of what a lawyer goes through, both professionally and personally. More importantly, it depicted that the path of a Bedan lawyer is that of passion, service, and integrity. It gave students a clearer view of the direction which they are ought to follow since entering the School of Law, through the eyes of Atty. Chong, an outstanding Bedan educator who found his calling by grace, through faith. ◾
