UP Law opens classes in UP Iloilo

The University of the Philippines College of Law and the University of the Philippines Visayas are jointly working to bring quality legal education nearer to the Visayas region.

For the first time, the UP College of Law will hold extension classes at UP Iloilo City campus.

UP College of Law offers the Juris Doctor (JD) program in its home campus in UP Diliman. In 2016, the college began offering the JD program at UP Bonifacio Global City campus.

This year, the college will welcome the pioneer batch of JD students in UP Iloilo.

The pioneer batch of 20 JD freshmen in UP Iloilo includes six graduates of UP Visayas (including UP Tacloban City campus), two graduates each from UP Cebu and UP Mindanao, and graduates of the Mindanao State University and the Central Mindanao University.

The pioneer batch also includes students from Iloilo, Aklan, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, and Davao.

UPV Chancellor Clement C. Camposano hailed the partnership to bring quality legal education to Visayas, particularly in Iloilo.

“The opening of extension classes of the UP College of Law at the UPV Iloilo campus is an affirmation of the University’s commitment to lead in the field of legal education. It is also a demonstration of our resolve to embrace the possibilities offered by digital technology and remote learning. This is an important step towards realizing the university of the future,” Dr. Camposano said.

UPV Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Philip Ian P. Padilla welcomed the pioneering batch of UP Law in UPV.

“I would like to welcome the pioneer batch of UP Law in UPV this First Semester A.Y. 2021-2022. We wish you the best of everything in your law studies with UPV as host. This will hopefully lead to the strengthening of UPV’s mandate, as a SUC and the national university for quality higher education in the region in the field of law, with a fisheries flavor and marine affairs as context.  Mabuhay kag padayon!” Dr. Padilla said.

The pioneer batch of faculty members for the UP College of Law extension classes in UP Iloilo is led by retired Supreme Court Justice Francis Jardeleza who will teach constitutional law.

Justice Jardeleza is an alumnus of UP Iloilo where he graduated high school as valedictorian. He was also awarded the Most Outstanding Student upon earning his degree in BA Political Science.

Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, an expert in family law and private international law, will teach family law.

Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan is excited to be among the pioneer law faculty members for UP Iloilo as her late father is from Iloilo City and she considers herself an Ilongga.

The criminal law class will be handled by Assistant Professor Theodore Te, director of the UP College of Law clinic legal education program and an expert in criminal law and procedural law.

The other faculty members are Assistant Professor Andre Palacios, an alumnus of UP Iloilo, who will teach Legal History; Attorney Fina Bernadette De la Cuesta-Tantuico for Legal Bibliography; and Attorney Jose Maria Marella for Legal Method.