Sunflowers, Sablay and the ultimate rites of passage in UP

Sunflowers and sablay – two icons that flooded social media accounts  of graduates of  University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman.

These icons  have become the symbol of the ultimate rites of passage in the university, as graduates hurdled every academic requirement through sleepless and restless days and nights.

It is said that the blossoming of sunflowers were already a tradition since the 1970s. However, I do not have any recollection of sunflowers during my two graduation ceremonies, B.S. Economics in 1991 and Bachelor of Laws in 1998.

I also did not wear a sablay as the university amphitheater was just a sea of traditional black togas.

Sablay, translated from tagumpay, or “triumph”, is just a fitting sash for the students that have completed their studies, which became the official academic costume of UP officially adopted in 2000.

The sablay gets its inspiration from the Muslim malong, a loose garment made from a seamless bolt of cloth. It incorporates various traditional elements found in other Philippine cultures.  Running through the sablay are geometric motifs of indigenous Philippine tribes.  

The university colors of maroon and green frame the initials of the University rendered in yellow gold alibata characters, the ancient Philippine alphabet,  

The sablay is worn initially over the right shoulder.  After the President has conferred the degree, it is moved from the right to the left shoulder without being taken off.

Giving   graduation a new and colorful twist in tradition,  the bright yellow sunflowers lead the way for graduates towards the iconic Oblation statue and behind it the Amphitheater where the commencement exercise is held.

The sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an annual, erect, broadleaf plant with a strong taproot and prolific lateral spread of surface roots.

Sunflowers bloom around the same time the students graduate — formerly, around April. When UP shifted their academic calendar, the people in charge of the sunflowers found a way for these flowers to bloom even during the rainy season around June.

As a parting gift for graduating students, sunflowers become reminders of the various cycles of life and death. As one blossoms inside the campus, there will come a time that one will have to leave.

The growth of Sunflowers is dependent on full sun , just as every Isko cherish  challenges  inside the university as necessary for their personal development.

Sunflowers also always follow the direction of the sunlight, the same  light that calls graduates  to serve the country. 

The tradition for lighting rallies was also expected – a long red banner unfurled with the message “Atin Ang Pinas” during last Sunday’s university graduation.

Towards the end of the program, some graduates also raised placards with messages on various issues, including China, press freedom, political prisoners and LGBT rights.

Speaking at the UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio earlier said Filipinos have the constitutional and civic duty to protect the nation’s territorial integrity in the West Philippine Sea He added that the Constitution mandates that the use and enjoyment of the country’s marine wealth in its exclusive economic zone shall be reserved exclusively for the Filipino people. Carpio pointed out that “only a fool will go to war with China. It is clear that the specter of war is being raised only to intimidate the Filipino people into submitting to China’s encroachment of our EEZ.”

Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, on the other hand, urged the graduates of UP School of Economics to help defend Philippine sovereignty as they continue their quest for excellence in their field and contribute to the betterment of the Filipino people.

A total number of 55 Summa Cum Laude graduates led this year’s Diliman graduates, three of which came from my college School of Economics. This is the highest recorded number of Summa graduates not only in the history of the Diliman campus but also of the entire UP System.

To the new UP graduates, savor the brightness of the sunflowers and be true to the lyrics “Humayo’t itanghal, giting at tapang. Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan!”

 ***

 Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786).

Professor Araceli Baviera:teaching Civil Law in a grand manner.

(note:  article originally published in SED LEX  June 1995 Vol.2 No.1 written by Atty. Grace Navato.)

Professor Araceli Baviera:

Forty Years of Heeding the Siren’s Call

“Students today are just robots.”

Professor Araceli Baviera removes her eyeglasses and places then on her desk which was awash with books and slips of paper. Then she fixes her eyes on me and repeats, “They’re like robots; they’re too dependent on those xerox machines and no longer digest cases.” Leaning back on her chair, she adds, “By the time I was in third year, I could digest a case in five minutes.”

She recalls that, as one of the twenty or so female students in her batch, she had to prove her mettle twice over. “We had to show that we could make it because they [referring to her male professors and classmates] still looked down on women as not the equal of men.”

Law school had never figured in her plans. In fact, her Liberal Arts adviser, upon seeing her grades in Laboratory subjects, recommended that she take up Medicine. But she scotched the idea for three reasons: one, she could not stand the sight of blood; two, there were already too many doctors in her family; and, three, her father wanted one of his children to take up Law. “Since I was getting very good grades,” she says unabashedly, “he thought that I could make it.” Her father’s ambition sustained her for the first year; after that, “Nagustuhan ko na rin.”

Her batch was supposed to graduate in 1942 but they never did climb the stage for their diplomas. War broken out on December 1941, and the College of Law was closed down for three years. To the harassed female students, the event had its positive side. “That last semester, I was promising myself that after finishing school I would not touch a law book anymore.” Her mouth twists into a wry smile as she glimpses the books scattered on her desk. It was only in 1944 when she was able to take and pass the Bar exams.

She first worked as a real estate lawyer. Then, thinking that she might as well learn from the experts, she transferred to Justice de Joya’s law office. It didn’t take her long to realize the truth: “Pareho lang pala kami ng alam!” she laughingly recalls. She concedes, though, that the learned Justice had excellent legal writing skills, and that he taught his associates how to write forcefully. Before long, Atty. Baviera’s motions for summary judgment were earning raves from her colleagues and even from the judges who sat on her various cases.

Dean Vicente Sinco recruited her for the academe in 1955. She has been teaching (“Without interruption,” she stresses) ever since. Her workload consisted of eighteen to twenty-one units per semester, an overload even by today’s standards. Also, some of her classes were located in what she referred to as “the Manila extension” (UP Manila), which meant daily trips to and from both campuses. “I was young then” she says matter-of-factly, without any trace of wistfulness.

Except for a brief teaching stint in Lyceum University a few years ago (“Laurel begged and begged until I gave in.”) Professor Baviera has taught exclusively in UP during her forty-year career as a law professor. The impressive list of subjects that she has handled over the years – Taxation, Labor, Roman Law, Legal History, Torts, Statutory Construction, Property, Succession, Sales, Local Government, Criminal Procedure, Evidence – reads like the UP Law curriculum. At present, she is teaching Civil Law Review. And to think that she supposedly “retired” in 1985.

Despite her busy schedule, she found time to participate in the drafting of proposed codes on various subjects (aviation, transportation, maritime law, election law, to name but a few) which were submitted to President Marcos and his Cabinet for deliberation and enactment. Sadly, only one was signed into law: P.D. 1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree. Along the way, she was able to write a treatise on Sales, which was published by the UP Law Center as part of its Philippine Jurisprudence Project. She was also one of the drafters of the Family Code.

The professor waved away the idea of taking up higher education. “I should be contributing rather than studying.” was her tart rejoinder, implying that she had no need of it. She scoffered, “Iyong mga estudyante ko natapos nga pero hindi naman nag-improve.” So much for the fame of Harvard and the glory of Yale – the professor obviously is not impressed.

She half-complains about her work schedule (she handled mostly evening classes last semester), and recounts how she had advised the Dean to start recruiting and/or training someone else to take her place. Yet every succeeding semester finds her trodding along the College halls, in her way to teach another bunch of seniors their civil law. The fact that the Dean still has to find someone of her caliber bespeaks well of the quality of her teaching. And the amazing fact that she keeps on heeding the siren’s call of the College for her services, despite her poor health and supposed retirement, gives us an inkling of what Araceli Baveira, Professor of Law, is made of.

Taga- UP ako, Dugong Iskolar ng Bayan

Dateline : June 18, 1908 The University of the Philippines (UP)   was established  as an act of the First Philippine Legislature. Act No. 1870, otherwise known as the "University Act", specified the function of the University, which is to provide advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, the sciences, and arts, and to give professional and technical training.

 At present, the University of the Philippines System is composed of seven (7) constituent universities (CU) located in 12 campuses around the country.

Seven (7) of fifteen (15) Philippine Presidents have attended courses in the University either as undergraduates or as postgraduate students, while 12 Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, 36 out of the 57 National Artists and 34 out of the 35 National Scientists are affiliated with the University.

U.P. is partly subsidized by the Philippine government.Students of the university and its graduates are referred to as “[Mga] Iskolar ng Bayan” (“Scholars of the Nation”).This makes admission into the University extremely competitive.

The symbol of U.P. is the Oblation. This is a figure of a naked man, with arms outstretched and face pointed upwards. The Oblation is based on the second stanza of Jose Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios.

From 1987 to 1991, i became one of the so-called "Iskolar ng Bayan" as  part of the UP Diliman studentry when i took BS. Economics.  Basically, I became attached to three main organizations , Economics Society or ECOSOC, Philippine Collegian or KULE, and SAMASA Alliance .My relatives and friends usually asked me "bakit ka ba naging aktibista". Perhaps my answer will be because UP is the perfect place to grow in all aspects, whether it be politically, socially, etc. Yes, I myself became part of UP Activisim movement. And i am proud that it made me a better person. Perhaps, members of the various generation of activism has their own way of reminiscing such so era."Iba nung panahon namin"...My passion for photography likewise developed.

I entered UP College of Law in 1992 and earned  my law degree in 1998. I shifted from the day class to the  evening class to be part of the  "working student" species of lawyers. I write for TODAY as one of their regular reporter as well as international news agencies like Reuters, AFP, AP, UPI and others covering a wide range of topics such as environment, human rights, politics, peace process, agriculture, agrarian reform and many more . Take note: my daily schedule is writing in the morning and the afternoon before going to UP to attend my classes in the evening. Then I go home where I read the assignments for the following day during the almost two hours trip of the bus going to Las Pinas. In between my work and classes, I still go hiking with my friends called the Squakings or SKWAKSIn August23, 1997 i was kidnapped  which i wrote in my piece "Face to Face with Crime"  “SIGE, tumakbo ka na ng mabilis at huwag kang lilingon at baka barilin pa kita (Run, Run fast and don’t turn back or I’ll shoot you).” The words could be apart of a movie script, but these were in fact words of my abductors . To me, words of freedom.

In April 1999, i am officially Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho, the lawyer,  after the Supreme Court posted the successful passers. I chronicled my experience in taking the 1998 bar exams in "Notes in Bar Exams."

 

Presidents of the University of the Philippines

Murray S. Bartlett, 1911-1915

Ignacio B. Villamor, 1915-1921

Guy Potter Wharton Benton, 1921-1925

Rafael V. Palma, 1925-1933

Jorge Bocobo, 1934-1939

Bienvenido Ma. González, 1939–1943, 1945-1951

Antonio Sison, 1943-1945

Vidal A. Tan, 1951-1956

Enrique Virata, 1956-1958

Vicente G. Sinco, 1958-1962

Carlos P. Romulo, 1962-1968

Salvador P. Lopez, 1969-1975

Onofre D. Corpuz, 1975-1979

Emmanuel V. Soriano, 1979-1981

Edgardo J. Angara, 1981-1987

Jose V. Abueva, 1987-1993

Emil Q. Javier, 1993-1999

Francisco Nemenzo, Jr., 1999-2005

Emerlinda R. Roman, 2005–2011

Alfredo E. Pascual, 2011–present

UP LAW : 100 years of Honor, Excellence, and Service.

"The crowning glory of this law school that it has kindled in many hearts an inextinguishable fire. a great law school sets lawyers’ hearts on fire. And not just any fire, but an inextinguishable fire. An unquenchable fire. You become a kind of eternal torch for law and justice, as it were.” thus pronounced Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The country’s premiere law school, the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law,capped  the celebrations of its 100th year with the much-awaited Grand Centennial Homecoming at the PICC Reception Hall on Nov. 11, 2011.  The Class of 1986, this year’s silver jubilarian class, hosted  the event.

prof.labitag

batch 96 with dean raul  pangalangan and prof beth

.

gaby concepcion and leni villareal

senators gordon and angara

prof. disini

Atty. Gilbert and Judge Jing Nolasco with Dean Danny Concepcion

Martin Lacdao

Good friend Honey oliveros

Judge Jing Nolasco as muse

Earlier this year, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III declared 2011 as the “University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law Centennial Year.” In line with that, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has released commemorative P100 bills with the UP College of Law’s logo in it.

  The "most frequent" question i received that night was "Anong Batch ka?". My immediate response was "Motion to Clarify: (a) year i took the entrance exam (b) year i entered UPLAW (c) year graduated and took the bar exams. The answer (a) i took the exam in 91 but have to defer due to deficiency Spanish units so my supposed original batch is 95. (b) I entered in 1992 section C  making 1996 as my ideal graduation year but i took  a leave and returned as an "international student" by joining the evening working class (c) 1998 when i officially finished my LLB and took the bar exam.    I  am lucky that I was able to pass the  during my first attempt. And I proved something to myself that I could do something that is really hard to accomplish. I finished law at UP College of Law in Diliman as a working student. I write for TODAY as one of their regular reporter covering a wide range of topics such as environment, human rights, politics, peace process, agriculture, agrarian reform and many more. I was also a correspondent for international news agencies like Reuters, AFP, AP, UPI etc. The income i derived from these news entities i utilized to finance my law studies. Take note: my daily schedule is writing in the morning and the afternoon before going to UP to attend my classes in the evening. Then I go home where I read the assignments for the following day during the almost two hours trip of the bus going to Las Pinas. In between my work and classes, I still go hiking with my friends called the Squakings.

Perhaps what made my stay in UP Law as memorable was when in August23, 1997 i was kidnapped  after our Moot Court. This experience  i wrote in my piece "Face to Face with Crime"  “SIGE, tumakbo ka na ng mabilis at huwag kang lilingon at baka barilin pa kita (Run, Run fast and don’t turn back or I’ll shoot you).” The words could be apart of a movie script, but these were in fact words of my abductors . To me, words of freedom.



The challenge remains on how to keep UP the great law school as it was envisioned in Justice Holme's  immortal words engraved at the institution's Malcolm Hall lobby: 

THE BUSINESS OF A LAW SCHOOL IS NOT SUFFICIENTLY DESCRIBED WHEN YOU MERELY SAY THAT IT IS TO TEACH LAW OR TO MAKE LAWYERS IT IS TO TEACH LAW IN THE GRAND MANNER, AND TO MAKE GREAT LAWYERS.

 The College first conferred the Juris Doctor (J.D.) on its April 2008 graduates, after a change in degree title was approved by the U.P. administration the previous year. Like the majority of law schools in the country, U.P. used to provide the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), a standard four-year law program covering all subjects in the bar exams, until the change to J.D. was made in order to more accurately reflect the U.P. law program being a "professional as well as a post baccalaureate degree.

The college is noted for having produced the largest number of bar topnotchers and maintaining one of the highest bar passing rates among law schools in the Philippines

Proof of 100 years of excellence: Four Philippine Presidents  ,  four vice presidents, Five senate presidents, five speakers of the House, twelve Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, forty-six (46) bar topnotchers/  In the Philippine Bar's recorded history, the highest grade first recorded was the 92% garnered in 1913 by Manuel A. Roxas of the UP College of Law.

Presidents

VP Jejomar Binay

• Jose P. Laurel, '15, (1943-1945)
• Ferdinand Marcos, '39, (1965-1986)
• Elpidio Quirino, '15, (1948-1953)
• Manuel Roxas, '13, (1945-1948

 

Vice Presidents

• Salvador Laurel, '52, (1986-1992)
• Arturo Tolentino, '34, (1986)
• Jejomar Binay, '67; (2010-present)

Senate Presidents

• Edgardo Angara, '58, (1995)
• Franklin Drilon, '69, (1999-2000, 2004-2006)
• Juan Ponce Enrile, '53, (2008 - present)
• Jovito Salonga, '46, (1987-1992)
• Marcelo Fernan "52", (1998-99) 
• Gil Puyat '28, (1967-72)

Speakers of the House of Representatives

• Arnulfo Fuentebella, '70, (2000-2001); Representative from Camarines Sur
• Jose B. Laurel, Jr., '36, (1953-1957, 1971); Representative from Batangas
• Eugenio Perez, '22, (1946-1953); Representative from Pangasinan
• Daniel Romualdez, '31, (1957-1962); Representative from Leyte
• Nicanor Yñiguez, '39, (1984-1986); M.P. from Leyte

Chief Justices of the Supreme Court

• Ramon Aquino, '39, (1985-1986)
• Cesar Bengzon, '19, (1961-1966)
• Fred Ruiz Castro, '36, (1975-1979)
• Hilario Davide, Jr., '59, (1998 -2005)
• Marcelo Fernan, '52, (1988-1991)
• Enrique Fernando, '38, (1979-1985)
• Querube Makalintal, '33, (1973-1975)
• Felix Makasiar, '39, (1985)
• Ricardo Paras, '13, (1951-1961)
• Reynato Puno, '62, (2006–2010)
• Pedro Yap, '46, (1988)
• Jose Yulo, '14, (1942-1944)

Christine Laman and Tani Acosta

batch 96 Matt David, Anne del Rosario and Grace Navato 

You know you went to UP LAW if....

 For convenience of fellow UP Lawyers, i am reposting edited versions of  "You know you went to UP LAW if". from .http://www.facebook.com/groups/uplaw

My first group of answers belong to the thread " you have heard 1001 ways of classroom humiliation. My favorite quip from my professor is....

• that's bullshit iha."
• Mr. ____, please close the door! Can't you see Mr. ___'s IQ is leaving the door?
• oi, hija, sa panahon ng pentium eh 286 ka lang. :-)
• do that again and i'm going to bang your head on the wall!!!
• What year were you born??? Yes, i remember distinctly. There was an acute shortage of iodine at that time....
• "you have the logic of a balut vendor"
• ‎"Is that how you answer? Cum laude ka pa naman!!!" (not to me, kasi hindi ako cum laude...)
• Prof. Baviera, (after a student read the digest when called to recite the case): You know class, during our time, we had a separate reading class.
• Prof. Baltik (Evidence class): "You are like a Shakesperean actor who had been bugging his director to give him a speaking line. When he was finally given one, instead of saying 'Hark, is that a cannon I hear?' he said "Fuck, is that cannon I hear?' because he was so nervous!"
• Mr. X, have you ever been in a beer house where all the waitresses were nekkid?
• What rules are you reading? The Iraqi rules of court?
• from baltic: ms. panganiban! you giggle better than you recite!
• you know what you should do with your rules of court? you should tear out the pages, boil it, and DRINK IT!
• Baltic: Ang tatanga ninyo! Saan kayo nag-aral ng law? Sagot ng klase: Sir, sa UP!
• From Mam Avena: Hay naku Mr./Ms. ________, Sit down! (Parang ang daming unsaid inaults when you hear it)
• Baltic: Ms. X, when you top the bar and have your picture taken for the newspapers in that exact outfit and in that exact pose, your byline will say, "I topped the bar in my Triumph!"
• Prof. Baviera: Mr. X, lakasan mo pa yung niraradyo mo kay Mr. Y. Hindi niya marinig. Para na tuloy siyang Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• On the last day of classes, "big-boned" Mr. A invites Prof. Baviera to have lunch with the entire block. She retorts, "Kaya ka lumalaki, puro pagkain ang nasa isip mo."
• Prof. Pekto Fernandez: "Your answer is as clear as fog."
• ‎"Houston, we have a problem..."
• Mam Avena: Mr./Ms.___, i'll make sakal u.
• Prof. Ed Labitag: "Ok, class? You understand? Good.....This is just like casting pearls to swine..."
• You bozos!" (Siguro iba yung magiging effect kung tinagalog na lang kasi. Hindi masyadong nakakatawa eh. LOL)
• In Consti I, habang walang nakakasagot kay Prof. VV, kumidlat at nagbrownout: "This darkness reflects the intellectual state of this class!"
• Student: "Ma'am, patingin ng class card ko." Prof. Baviera: "Sigurado ka bang gusto mo makita? Baka himatayin ka!"
• Guess the prof: I always thought UP was the Harvard of the Philippines. But this class! You're not Harvard! You're not Yale! You're not even Michigan! My son who is a high school student in Ateneo is smarter than all of you! Do you hear me? HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE SMARTER THAN YOU!
• Buti pa sumali ka na lang dyan sa concert sa sunken garden. Mas bagay sa iyo mag rock star. -- Jacinto in nego evening class during up fair, to a long haired student
• ‎"Maganda ka naman, Ms. ___. Mag model ka nalang." Danny Con
• Buti pa Mr P, mag-artista ka na lang.
  EP: Sir, artista talaga ako.
  DC: (tahimik)
• ‎"Ito yata ang masamang naidulot ng Nutribun."
• ‎"You also graduated from the high school across the Sunken Garden?" Pekto
• student: ma'am, magtuturo pa po kayo next sem?
  prof baviera: kung buhay pa ko!
• Danny Con: Hoy, Ms. B at Mr. C. Kanina pa kayo nagdadaldalan jan. Tigilan n’yo na ‘yang puchi-puchi n’yo. *footsie-footsie*
• Corpo Law: Professor asks, Ano naman ang kaibahan ng Special sa Regular Meeting? Answers his own question, Yun bang Special may ice cream
  sa ibabaw yung Regular wala?
• , high school ba sinabi niya? I thought it was another law school in Manila. Hahaha! Grabe yun araw na yun, high blood talaga siya. Nag-walk out yata siya that day.
• prof. baviera: o, ano, mr. __________? sagot! sa laki ng ulo mong yan, me laman naman siguro yan, 'no?
• Prof Ambion to student who got the right answer: "Put#%!+^*, where did you learn that?"
• Reeeeally ?!?! - Haydee Yorac
• Balbastro: "Go ahead, if you dare, and ask me another question! Would you like another FIVE?"
• Prof. Yorac to a classmate who was trying to sit down after giving an incorrect answer --"what are you doing? STAND UP! You still have to earn your 5!!!
• ‎"Stupid boy!"
• ‎"To a student reading a Civil Law commentary during recitation in SuccessionWhen you passed the entrance exam for this college, we already knew that you know how to read, so you don't have to demonstrate your reading ability to the class." -- Prof Yorac
• Student (upon getting called): "Sir, can I pass?"
  Prof. Rivera: "Yes, you can. But first, you have to recite."
• ‎"The only illumination in this room are the lights."r Prof Baviera to classmate who was running out of words: "Hay naku. Sige, Tagalugin mo na lang!"
• Prof. Magallona (PRIL): Ah, Mr. Paglinawan, our post-modern philosopher, you look so cheerful tonight. You must know double renvoi by heart... Me: (Fumbling for the outline) Sir I thought we are discussing lex loci celebrationis tonight? PM: The rest of the class will be, after you tell us what double renvoi is all about. Me: (Oh feck.) PM: Go on. Cheerfully, now.
• when you give the wrong answer: "Is that so?"
• In Persons, "Mr.______ was the name of the male child really Jewel? O Bisaya ka lang?"
• Dean Agabin to my friend Bobo before taking the Bar: 'Mr. Amora, we are counting on you!' and upon seeing me he said 'good luck'
• Prof. Jacinto (in his big booming voice): "Ms. ________, pag inatake ako sa puso, kasalanan mooooo!"
• almost all the professors i met while I was reviewing for the bar in 1999 told me - stop reading those damn books, you are wasting your time mr velasco, let us just drink. you will never make it
• then when I passed the bar, they all went back to me and congratulated me and told me that all their encouragement worked! hahahahahahaha, i could not agree more
• She definitely said Ateneo high school. How can I forget? I was her personal punching bag, remember? She called me a myriad of names everyday: weak, stupid, slow. My personal favorite was: "godDAMNIT!" tapos walkout. I still believe I passed the bar because I could hear her voice screaming the provisions at me.Lol
•  Prof. Myrna - - "O ano Mr. ___ ? Nakanganga ka nanaman diyan?"
• Ma'm Beth in the 1st Persons joint class (1st sem, 1st yr of law school) to a pretty girl who just happened to stifle a yawn in class: "You! I could see your tonsils from here! Didn't your parents teach you manners?"
• Dean Marvic, to a student he sent out the previous meeting: "O, Mr. ____, diba pinalabas kita last meeting? What are you doing here?!"
  Student: (flustered) "Sir, I thought...." (Professor cuts him off in midsentence)
  Dean Marvic: "You THOUGHT?!!!! Get out!"
• , do you remember the time that we were both reciting, I got off easy and you were given hell.
• Prof. Barry Gutierrez: "So? So what? What's your basis???"
• Prof. Ambion: "Yah? Yah! Yah! Say Yes! You are not in Russia!"
• Prof. Tony Bautista in Freshman Legal Biblio: "This is the weeding stage. Someday you will thank me for failing you and preventing you from wasting your time in law school."
• After a classmate had been presenting his report for 15 minutes, he dramatically paused to ask the class: "Any question classmates?" Prof. Magallona: "You haven't said anything yet, you already want questions?"
• Prof. Domeng Disini in Labor 2: "Let's see what Izzy Does It has to say...how about Gotta Lobit?" (
• Before there was an Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, sexual harassment was already being committed in the classrooms (forget the nullum poena sine lege thing). Prof. J--in Sales class asked a student a question. Student: Come again, Sir?
  Prof: How do you know I came?
• a classmate in our Crim Law class asked the same question. Our professor's answer was "That might be a little hard to do!"
• Jacinto in Corp: Pu@#$%^&*! Anong rahmeeh? (how the student pronounced ramie) RAMIE!
• Your wonderful professor in the late 70's included one who would come to class sometimes wearing a lt. colonel's uniform under JAGO, the no. l criminal lawyer at that time who wore a suit all the time and would ride only in 8-cylinder lincokn continental and mercedes bens cars, a former lady senator from Bicol, future lady justices of the Supreme Court, renaissance metrosexual ascetic (contradictions?), Harvard genius-eccentric, and a likeable lady exuding the happy blend of ivory tower and la vida loca. Oh la la!
• Prof. Flery Romero to my classmate: "Considering these facts, can you file a case in court?" Answer of my classmate who did not study: " Yes, Ma'am, but it wouldn't prosper". (laughter from the class). Prof. Romero: "And why?". Answer of ignorant classmate: "Because the court will probably deny his prayer based on facts". (Uproarious horselaughter from class ecstatic with unmitigated and purest glee). The glibly ignorant classmate earned a big, unadulterated and fantastic grade of 5.
• "You may keep the questionnaire as a reminder of your brief stay in the College of Law."
• sir, you were the one who put that line in your exam questionnaire, if I remember correctly.
• Prof. Domeng Disini: "Why don't you just sing your answer, Ms Baldrias?"
• Malcolm Hall is no nunnery or seminary. It is a phrenic chambers of tortures designed to mold namby-pambies into the best lawyers in the country.
• "Misterso and so, why be a lawyer when you can be a ___ vendor (fill in the blank with 'sampaguita', cigarette, barb-Q, banana-Q, etc, our class each had one)
• "Ms. ____, nakita kita kanina... lakas ng loob mong mag-kimona. Anong akala mo sa sarili mo, mestiza??? Bagay sa iyo patadyong."
• Prof Baviera: Mr. ________, wala ka pang tamang sagot. Civil law review na ito wala ka pa ring alam. Bobo ka ba? Dapat siguro ibalik ka sa first year.
• Prof. Baviera: Mr. ______, kahit gaano kalakas mo isigaw, mali pa rin ang sagot mo.
• ‎"Mr. _______, niraradyohan ka na nga, mali pa ang sagot mo?!"
• In Crim Law class with Prof. Muyot at the "bat room." Prof. Muyot: What is that smell? Class: Sir, guano. Mr. X: Sir, don't you know that guano costs a fortune? Prof. Muyot: Mr. X, I give you full authority to excavate the guano from the ceiling!!!
• Student: "Sir, I'm confused." Prof. Magallona: "You don't look confused, you look BLANK!"
• After a long harangue on how ignorant and uneducated we were and on how we should read the great literary works, Prof. Balane: "Ms. Vyva, have you read Waiting for Godot?" Vyva: "Yes, sir." Prof. Balane: "In English or in French?" Vyva: "In both sir." Prof. Balane: *tahimik*
• Wow Vyva!
• the late esteban bautista, -to comprehend your answer, I am compelled to drink liquor. Thats a five, sit down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Dean Marvin (to a terrified freshman block): My 11-month old daughter knows more about the Constitution than you do!!!!!!!

 AND MORE......You know You went to UP Law...

when you learned how to appreciate the beauty and humor in collective misery. :)

sinubukan mong mambola ng prof. at least once during recitation,

You check each Ph100 bill if it has the UP Law centennial commemorative logo and to your dismay, the most recent series carries the logo of the other law school.

You saw the most ingenious and creative ways of writing case digests for the digest pool: merong gumawa ng illustrated (komiks) digest; merong gumawa ng tiniest digest (sa wrapper ng juicy fruit gum) itatago ko na lang siya sa pangalang Joel... hahaha! Merong gumawa ng 3 pages na digest kahit 2 pages lang yung original! Merong nagpazerox mismo ng original at inunderline na lang yung facts, issue, ruling at ratio decidendi. At ang pinaka-ma-abilidad sa lahat: ang nakakadilihensiya ng digest sa ibang section!

 you know and can attest that Prof. Sammy Barlongay is one of the best, dedicated, revered and well-loved professors of law... and life. :

one of the most memorable quotes i have ever heard from an alumnus, with all the loyalty he can muster, was one from the late Prof. Perfecto Fernandez. Reflecting on the legal, or rather, in his view, the illegal rationale for martial law, he said in our constitutional law class: "Outside U. P. is.....darkness..."

 

if you heard this story - one time Prof Fernandez was doing something to his chair while sitting down and delivering a lecture, all of sudden, he falls down from his chair and the whole class, gasped in shock and horror, then here comes a finger grasping the table and then a hand and an arm finally to see the great Pekto rising above the table and saying - and you thought I was dead ah.

You know by heart the words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes inscribed at the main lobby wall of Malcolm Hall.

 You came back to Malcolm Hall 20 years after graduation and you are overwhelmed by nostalgia and affection upon seeing the building. Whereas when you were still a student, you hated entering daily the building you considered as an unrelenting chamber of mental tortures.

Hindi ka nakapag-aral ng mabuti para sa exams mo, kaya ang mga sagot mo ay puro "from the heart." Syempre hindi puede ang "from the heart" for the bar exams. Later on, you realize that "from the heart" actually meant stock knowledge, kasi hindi mo naman talaga maaalala lahat para sa bar, pero kahit papaano may alam ka pala!

you wear red or green on exam days! (or some superstitious junk like that. :P )

You look at the forest, and not the trees!

‎...if you know the professor who shows you how wrong you answer is by asking you: "are you JOKENING?" And if you insist on your answer, he will say: "ah, you'll never pass the bar if that's your answer..."

you have grandparents or parents who went to UP Law who were also students of Prof Baviera

Maam Beth corrected the way you said "certiorari" :)

 ...your poker-faced PIL professor made comments such as "What have I said to deserve such an answer?" or "Let's pretend you didn't say that."

you're so proud to have known of the works of Manresa and Sánchez Román and then go to Spain and talk with young lawyers there, and find out that they even haven't heard of those 19th century civili law jurists since Spanish law schools don't use their books anymore, there's a whole new breed of Spanish jurists being taught and quoted in the Spanish legal system today

 Opposing lawyers now check you out on Facebook before they come to your meeting for amicable settlement. (Some of them would even go as far as "Atty. Paglinawan, kayo ba si Ahmedy? Di nyo kamukha yung profile pic nyo.") Bangggggg.