(January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019)
I. Introduction
Officially established on October 27, 2011, the Foundation for Liberty & Prosperity is now on its ninth year of operation. Led by its Board of Trustees — namely Retired Chief Justice (CJ) Artemio V. Panganiban, Edilberto C. De Jesus, Joel Emerson J. Gregorio, Ma. Tanya Karina A. Lat, Elenita C. Panganiban, Retired Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Maria Elena P. Sandejas-Yaptangco, Amando M. Tetangco, Jr., and Evelyn Toledo- Dumdum — the FLP has steadily gained recognition from its stakeholders and partners through its various programs, projects and activities.
The Foundation’s vision is a society that fully appreciates the necessity of “Liberty & Prosperity” and their essential interdependence. It underscores FLP’s core philosophy, that liberty and prosperity are mutually inclusive. The Foundation’s mission is to educate the people regarding this fundamental and essential interrelation between liberty and prosperity by initiating, maintaining, organizing, and supporting projects aimed at promoting, educating, training, developing, assisting and protecting liberty and prosperity under the rule of law. This year, FLP continues to implement its program on legal education with focus on four (4) key areas of development as stated in its Manual of Operations: “value formation,” “legal and scholarly education,” “information dissemination and philosophy propagation” as well as organizing “fora, events, conferences and the like.” The Foundation has also sponsored and undertaken activities that likewise advance a fifth key area of development: “publications and media disseminations.”
FLP Officers
The FLP continues to serve its purpose through its FLP officers, namely CJ Artemio V. Panganiban (Chairman of the Board), Evelyn T. Dumdum (President), Rebecca G. Felix (Treasurer), Joel Emerson J. Gregorio (Corporate Secretary), and Susana N. Gavino (Executive Director). In addition, the chairs of the various standing committees are CJ Artemio V. Panganiban (Executive Committee), Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. (Finance Committee), Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez (Governance Committee), and Edilberto C. De Jesus (Education Committee).
The first batch of officers were CJ Artemio V. Panganiban, Chairman of the Board, Maria Elena P. Yaptangco, President; Evelyn T. Dumdum, Executive Vice President; Elenita C. Panganiban, Treasurer; and Joel Emerson J. Gregorio, Corporate Secretary.
III. Ongoing Programs and Projects
The FLP was founded to perpetuate the core judicial philosophy of then Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban — that jurists and lawyers should not only safeguard the liberty of our people but must also nurture their prosperity under the rule of law. In the first few years since its incorporation, FLP focused on the following activities: (1) FLP’s first project, the “Chief Justice Panganiban Professorial Chairs on Liberty and Prosperity,” (2) the official FLP Website (www.libpros.com), and (3) the “Liberty & Prosperity Journal,” hitherto an e-newsletter. By 2018, the Foundation is implementing two education-centered programs to complement its first project: the FLP Dissertation Writing Contest and FLP Legal Scholarship Program.
Professorial Chairs Program
The “Chief Justice Panganiban Professorial Chairs on Liberty and Prosperity” is being implemented for almost eight (8) years now following its launch on 18 September 2012 at the Metrobank Auditorium, Makati City. This project is in partnership with the Metrobank Foundation, which has so far donated a total of One Million Four Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱ 1,400,000) in co-sponsorship of the program. The total funds for the project, including FLP’s co-sponsorship fund, amounts to Two Million Eight Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱ 2,800,000).
FLP intended its first program, in the format of the professorial chair project, to be educational and implemented in an academic setting. The main objective is to get educational institutions and law schools to research and propagate the philosophy at the level of the academia (including training of students, professors, lawyers, and judges.)
FLP started with the appointment of nine (9) deans of distinguished law schools and the Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJA).[1] The outputs varied in form from traditional lectures, debates, as well as moot court competitions. The written lectures from the chair holders have been uploaded to the FLP website and published in the Liberty & Prosperity e-newsletter. These shall be compiled and will eventually be published in a book form as well as other modes of communications under the information, education and communication projects of FLP.
In 2017 to 2019, six (6) new appointments were made: Dean Melencio S. Sta. Maria, Far Eastern University, Dean Gemy Lito L. Festin, Polytechnic University of the Philippines; Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, University of the Philippines College of Law; Professor Tanya Karina A. Lat, Ateneo de Manila School of Law; Dean Jose Maria Hofileña, Ateneo de Manila School of Law; Dean Fides Cordero-Tan, University of the Philippines College of Law; and Dean Virgilio delos Reyes, De La Salle University – Rufino Campus. This brings the number of chair holders to 16.
The table below shows the output of each chair holder:
Date | Chair Holder | Output | |
1 | 25 November 2019 | Tanya Karina A. Lat
Ateneo Law School |
The Law School as Generative Social Field for Cultivating Liberty, Prosperity, and the Rule of Law |
2 | 28 March 2019 | Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan
University of the Philippines |
Parents and Children: When Law and Technology Unbundle Traditional Identities |
3 | 17 October 2018 | Dean Joan Sarausos-Largo
University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance (Cebu City) |
Writ of Prosperity |
4 | 12 May 2018 | Dean Gemy Lito M. Festin
Polytechnic University of the Philippines |
“Tutelary rules principle” as legal tool for easing economic rights’ access to justice in the Philippines |
5 | 21 April 2018 | Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria
Ateneo de Manila University School of Law |
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Context of the Peace Process with the CPP-NPA-NDFP: Issues and Concerns |
6 | 26 September 2017 | Dean Melencio Sta. Maria
Far Eastern University Institute of Law |
Human Rights, Politics, International Law and Trade Arrangement and Economic Prosperity: A Reading of the Philippine Situation |
7 | 9 December 2016 | Dean Joan Sarausos-Largo
University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance (Cebu City) |
Charting the Patch to a Relevant and Responsive Legal Education in the Philippines: A Draft Law Curriculum for the 21st Century Filipino Lawyer |
8 | 26 November 2014 | Dean Mikhail Lee. L. Maxino
Silliman University College of Law (Dumaguete City) |
Right to life, Liberty, Prosperity: A Seamless Trilogy to Prosperity |
9 | 11 September 2014 | Dean Joan Sarausos-Largo
University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance (Cebu City) |
ASEAN Integration 2015 and the Imperative for Reforms in the Legal Profession and the Legal Education in the Philippines |
10 | 5 March 2014 | Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria
Ateneo de Manila University School of Law |
The 2014 Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban – Liberty & Prosperity Public International Law Moot Court Competition |
11 | 21 February 2014 | Dean Nilo T. Divina
University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law |
The Unpaid Creditor vs The Distressed Debtor: Proposals to Balance their Competing Interests |
12 | 7 February 2014 | Dean Andres D. Bautista
Far Eastern University Institute of Law |
Regulating the Practice of Professions by Foreigners |
13 | 29 November 2013 | Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria
Ateneo de Manila University School of Law |
Comparative Analysis of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) Aspect of the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001 and Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) |
14 | 3 October 2013 | Dean Reynaldo U. Agranzamendez
University of the Cordilleras College of Law (Baguio City) |
The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA): A Vehicle for Liberty and Prosperity |
15 | 20 August 2013 | Dean Joan Sarausos-Largo
University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance (Cebu City) |
LIBRT, The Economic Provisions of the 1987 Constitution be Amended so as to Allow Liberalization of Economic Policies by Congress
• University of Santo Tomas Law Debate Team Position Paper on Charter Change • University of San Carlos Law Debate Team Position Paper on Charter Change |
16 | 18 April 2013 | Chancellor Adolfo S. Azcuna
Philippine Judicial Academy |
Supreme Court Decisions on the Economic Provisions of the Constitution |
17 | 13 March 2013 | Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria
Ateneo de Manila University School of Law |
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban Liberty and Prosperity Debate (Finals)
The Constitutionality of the Aurora Pacific Eco Zone (APECO), per LIBRT R.A. 9490 (as amended by RA 10083) • APECO Position Paper: Affirmative • APECO Position Paper: Negative |
18 | 6 March 2013 | Dean Joan Sarausos-Largo
University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance (Cebu City) |
The Powerful Judiciary and Rule of Law in the Philippines |
19 | 5 November 2012 | Dean Jose Manuel I. Diokno
De La Salle University College of Law |
The Philippine Judiciary: Problems and Prospects |
20 | 19 September 2012 | Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria
Ateneo de Manila University School of Law |
Finance and Law: Understanding the Institutional and Functional Role of the International Monetary Fund During Sovereign Debt Crisis Situations |
FLP Dissertation Writing Contest
The FLP Dissertation Writing Contest is a five-year program which aims to augment the Foundation’s first project by incorporating new, dynamic and perhaps more profound input to the body of works discussing FLP’s core philosophy. The Foundation believes that the fresh insight and unique perspective of law students will provide bold, novel and innovative avenues for the development of the Foundation’s tenets.
Through the contest, FLP looks for the best thesis and/or dissertation – or its equivalent in law schools not offering the Juris Doctor program – that espouses the philosophy of liberty and prosperity under the rule of law. The contest is co-sponsored with the Ayala Group and implemented in cooperation with the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS). The Ayala Corporation has committed to FLP the funding for the entire five-year program.
The contest is open to third year and fourth year law students as well as those taking up Master of Law. Only one (1) entry per student is allowed. Each entry must be a thesis/dissertation or its equivalent that espouses the philosophy of liberty and prosperity under the rule of law. An entry must have gone through the process of a thesis/dissertation or a procedure similar thereto and is of thesis/dissertation type and quality.
The Foundation taps its roster of professorial chair holders, among others, in continuing efforts to improve the quality and relevance of the entries to the Liberty and Prosperity theme of the competition. They may conduct dialogues where the winners shall discuss, argue and debate their submissions, engendering a deeper understanding of the core philosophy of the Foundation. These discourses on their work will foment the kind of analysis that will contribute to the evolution, development and enrichment of the Foundation’s philosophy.
FLP created a Screening Committee to assist the Panel of Judges in choosing the winning entries. The Panel of Judges is composed of a Supreme Court Justice as Chairman and representatives of the PALS, Ayala Corporation, FLP, and professorial chair holders as members.
Up to twenty (20) qualifying entries are chosen by the Screening Committee from all entries submitted. Thereafter, a short list of up to ten (10) entries are chosen from the twenty (20) qualifying entries.
The FLP Panel of Judges chooses the five (5) recipients of the primary awards (first, second and three third places) from the shortlisted entries. Monetary awards are as follows: ₱300,000 to the first-place winner, ₱200,000 to the second-place winner, and ₱100,000 each to three (3) third place winners. These winners also receive plaques of recognition. Each of the twenty (20) qualifying entries chosen by the Screening Committee receives ₱20,000 and a certificate of award.
Activities in AY 2018-2019. The FLP conducted an information campaign regarding the contest in all law schools of the country. Flyers and posters were sent to the law schools throughout the country through their respective deans for dissemination to the law students to encourage them to submit entries to the dissertation writing contest. FLP officials visited law schools in the National Capital Region and in Cebu and discussed the mechanics/guidelines of the contest. Information regarding the contest were posted online on the FLP and some law school websites and through social media – Facebook pages of FLP, PALS, Association of Law School Students of the Philippines, and law schools. FLP also tapped its scholars in disseminating information regarding the contest to their fellow students.
The FLP Education Committee Chairman initiated discussions with some law school deans and Holders of the Chief Justice Panganiban Professorial Chairs to get the views of the Deans on how to improve the number and the quality of the dissertations submitted to the FLP. It was also an opportunity for the Education Committee to understand the research priorities of the country’s best law schools and how the FLP, through the awards competition and its other programs, might be able to help them achieve their objectives.
As a result of these discussions, the FLP Board approved the following changes in the contest guidelines: (a) FLP will allow collaborative/collective dissertations to be considered for the Awards Program, and (b) faculty mentors of winning contestants shall receive monetary awards as follows: Php 100,000 for the faculty mentor of the first-place winner, Php 75,000 for second-place winner, and Php 50,000 each for the 3 third place winners. Deadline for submission of entries was moved to end of April 2019.
FLP organized its Board of Judges with Supreme Court Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe (Chairman), and Retired Supreme Court Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, PALS President Joan Sarausos-Largo, Ayala Corporation Managing Director and General Counsel Solomon Hermosura, and Atty. Joel Emerson J. Gregorio as members.
A total of 21 entries were received by the FLP Secretariat.
Number of Entries by Law School, AY 2018-2019
School | No. of Entries |
1. Arellano University | 1 |
2. Ateneo de Manila University | 3 |
3. Centro Escolar University | 1 |
4. De La Salle Lipa | 1 |
5. De La Salle University | 1 |
6. Far Eastern University | 6 |
7. LUMSA University – Rome | 1 |
8. Lyceum of the Philippines University | 1 |
9. Polytechnic University of the Philippines | 1 |
10. San Beda University | 1 |
11. San Sebastian College – Recoletos | 1 |
12. University of Cebu | 1 |
13. University of the Philippines | 1 |
14. University of San Carlos | 1 |
Total | 21 |
Of the 21 entries, ten were shortlisted as finalists by the Screening Committee headed by Atty. Joel Emerson J. Gregorio. The five primary award winners were chosen by the Board of Judges from the ten shortlisted entries. The primary award-winning entries and other finalists are:
Place | Name | Title | |
1st Place | 1 | Josiah David F. Quising
Far Eastern University Adviser: Atty. Jared Amoroso |
Liberty and Prosperity for Future Generations: Intergenerational Equity as Customary International Law |
2nd Place | 2 | Diana Lou L. Boado
Lyceum of the Philippines University – Makati Adviser: Atty. Rommel Regalado Bagares |
Balancing Liberty and Prosperity in the Market for Big Data: Towards Enforcing the Right to Personal Data Protection |
3rd Place | 3 | Charles O. de Belen
San Beda University (No adviser) |
Elevating the Status of the Right to Information through the Writ of Scientia Omnibus |
3rd Place | 4 | Beverly T. Lumbera
LUMSA University – Rome Adviser: Mr. Matteo Rizzolli |
The Liberty to Locate and the Threat of Crime: A Critical Discourse and Systematic Review of the Impact of Crime on Property Values |
3rd Place | 5 | Clarissa Mae A. Sawali
Far Eastern University Adviser: Atty. Joan Paula Deveraturda |
A Rights-Based Approach to Environmental Protection: The Balance between Police Power and Livelihood Rights |
Other Finalists | 6 | Gwendolyn Ann I. Bañaria
Far Eastern University |
Rise of the Machines As Creators: The Ownership Conundrum of Computer-Generated Works |
7 | Jose Angelo A. Blay
De La Salle Lipa |
Post-Conflict Amnesty Practice Under Contemporary Public International Law and Domestic Law | |
8 | Arvin Paolo D. Cortez
Ateneo de Manila University |
A Critique of Lagman v. Executive Secretary: Analyzing the Justiciability of the President’s Power to Declare Martial Law or to Suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus as Regards its Territorial Scope and to Provide Standards Therefor | |
9 | Justin Ian M. Manjares
Ateneo de Manila University |
There’s Death and There’s Online Death: Exploring Digital Assets as a Legal Concept for the Transmissibility of a Decedent’s (Digital) Assets to His Heirs | |
10 | Marlouize E. Villanueva
University of San Carlos |
Beyond the Minimum: Justiciability of the Question of the Right to a Living Wage in the Philippines |
Awarding of prizes was done during the FLP Convocation at the APS Auditorium, Ateneo de Manila University, Rockwell Drive, Makati City on May 18, 2019.
FLP Scholarship Program
The program is a unique, merit-based scholarship program which is now on its third academic year of implementation. Co-sponsored by the Tan Yan Kee Foundation and also undertaken in cooperation with PALS, it aims to look for the best and the brightest law students in the country.
There are twenty (20) scholars for each academic year, ten slots of which are for third-year law students and the other ten for fourth-year students. The program is open to all law schools that have obtained a passing percentage above the overall passing percentage for the bar exams of the relevant year based on the statistical data from the Supreme Court Office of the Bar Confidant. For AY 2018-2019, these schools are:
- Aemilianum College Inc.
- Angeles University Foundation
- Arellano University
- Ateneo de Davao University
- Ateneo de Manila University
- Centro Escolar University
- Cor Jesu College
- De La Salle University-Manila
- Far Eastern University – Makati
- Father Saturnino Urios University
- Lyceum of the Philippines University
- Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
- Polytechnic University of the Philippines
- Saint Louis University
- San Beda College Alabang
- San Beda University – Manila
- San Sebastian College-Recoletos
- Silliman University
- University of Batangas
- University of Cagayan Valley
- University of Cebu
- University of Pangasinan
- University of Perpetual Help-Rizal
- University of San Agustin
- University of San Carlos
- University of San Jose-Recoletos
- University of Santo Tomas
- University of St. La Salle
- University of the Cordilleras
- University of the Philippines
- Xavier University
No law school shall have more than three (3) new awardees in a year.
Applicants are required to submit an essay of two thousand (2,000) words to 3,000 words on the philosophy of the Foundation, expanding on and espousing the precept: safeguarding of liberty and nurturing of prosperity under the rule of law, and how he/she will apply the same in his/her legal career.
Selection of scholars is done initially by a Screening Committee which determines the shortlist of applicants/candidates qualified to undergo final screening by the FLP Board of Judges. The Board of Judges conducts a panel interview, taking into consideration the candidate’s ability to demonstrate clearly, logically and concisely what he/she has done and intends to do to propagate and espouse the philosophy of liberty and prosperity under the rule of law. Although the scholarship is merit-based, the less privileged shall be preferred in case of a tie between two nominees.
Awardees must agree to the terms and conditions of the FLP Scholarship Program, including but not limited to, the requirement to provide volunteer services for the Foundation as well as giving back to the FLP Scholarship Program to ensure its sustainability such as teaching law subjects that espouse the philosophy of liberty and prosperity, developing a concept/program along the philosophy of the FLP and commitment to mentoring other law students, subject to institutional arrangements with partner law schools. Awardees must likewise agree to enter into a formal commitment agreement with FLP and the pertinent academic institution for this purpose.
Each of the twenty FLP Scholarship is a monetary scholarship award of ₱200,000 of which a maximum of ₱100,000 shall be for tuition fee and ₱20,000 for book allowance. The remaining ₱80,000 shall constitute the scholar’s stipend. For the tuition fee component, only such amount needed shall be given to the awardee. If the tuition fee component of the monetary scholarship award is in excess of the awardee’s tuition, the balance shall be used by FLP for the scholarship program. If the awardee is entitled to another scholarship award, he/she will still receive the monetary scholarship award to be provided by the FLP.
The Tan Yan Kee Foundation has provided a total of Ten Million Four Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱10,400,000) for the first three academic years of the program.
Activities in Academic Year 2018–2019. Similar to the previous academic year, activities in AY 2018-2019 involved meetings with law school deans in Manila; production and dissemination of information materials to all qualified law schools via email and snail mail and requesting their deans to disseminate the information to their students; displaying program posters on their bulletin boards; FLP Scholars posting program materials on law schools’ Facebook pages; and involving incumbent FLP scholars in actively encouraging law students in their respective schools to apply to the program. The academic performance of AY 2017-2018 scholars were evaluated to determine who were able to maintain their scholarship for S/Y 2018-2019.
Third year scholars of FLP in AY 2017-2018 may continue receiving the grant for their fourth year provided that they maintain a GPA not lower than 85% or 2.25 for the immediately preceding school year, with no grade lower than 75% or 3.0 during his or her stay at the law school. They must likewise complete a full load for each semester and must have not dropped any subject nor taken a leave of absence.
AY 2017-2018 Scholars. Based on the GPA requirement, eight (8) of the AY 2017-2018 3rd year scholars qualified to continue their scholarship for the academic year 2018-2019. These scholars are:
Student | School |
1. Abot, Leo Francis F. | Ateneo de Manila University |
2. Almerino, John Anthony F. | University of San Carlos |
3. Cortez, Arvin Paolo D. | Ateneo de Manila University |
4. Ilao, Mikael Gabrielle E. | University of the Cordilleras |
5. Manuel, Kenneth Glenn L. | University of Santo Tomas |
6. Perez, King Anthony Y. | University of Cebu |
7. Rojas, Jun Dexter H. | Polytechnic University of the Philippines |
8. Villarico, Ma. Vida Malaya M. | Polytechnic University of the Philippines |
Applicants. Twelve (12) scholarship awards were announced for the following: 10 scholars for incumbent third year law students, and two (2) scholars for incumbent fourth year law students. The deadline for submission of entries was on September 16, 2018. The Foundation received 13 applications from 3rd year students and 4 applications from 4th year students from the following schools:
- Ateneo de Manila University
- Centro Escolar University
- De La Salle University
- Far Eastern University-Makati
- Saint Louis University
- San Beda University-Manila
- University of San Carlos
- University of Santo Tomas
- University of the Cordilleras
The Board of Judges for the interview and final judging of applicants to the Legal Scholarship Program for AY 2018-2019 was organized with Supreme Court Senior Justice Antonio Carpio as Chairman, and Former Secretary of Education Dr. Edilberto C. De Jesus, PALS President and USC Law School Dean Joan Sarausos-Largo, Tan Yan Kee executive Ms. Elizabeth T. Alba, and Ateneo Law School Professor Tanya Karina A. Lat as members.
The scholars for AY 2018-2019 were:
Name | Law School | |
3rd Year | ||
1 | Abratique, Banoar R. | University of the Cordilleras |
2 | Barredo, Pamela Camille A. | Far Eastern University |
3 | Bulacan, Angelette C. | Far Eastern University |
4 | Domingo, Stephanie Mae B. | University of the Cordilleras |
5 | Guinto, Maria Carissa C. | San Beda University – Manila |
6 | Gutierrez, Patrick Angelo M. | Far Eastern University |
7 | Matsumura, Mayumi G. | Ateneo de Manila University |
8 | Obra, Juralyn Lilian A. | University of the Cordilleras |
9 | Perez, Carmella Gaye D. | University of San Carlos |
10 | Ramirez, Edrea Jean V. | University of Santo Tomas |
4th Year | ||
1 | Abot, Leo Francis F. | Ateneo de Manila University |
2 | Almerino, John Anthony F. | University of San Carlos |
3 | Carpio, Micah Celine S. | De La Salle University |
4 | Cortez, Arvin Paolo D. | Ateneo de Manila University |
5 | Ilao, Mikael Gabrielle E. | University of the Cordilleras |
6 | Malabad, Alimar Mohammad | San Beda University – Manila |
7 | Manuel, Kenneth Glenn L. | University of Santo Tomas |
8 | Perez, King Anthony Y. | University of Cebu |
9 | Rojas, Jun Dexter H. | Polytechnic University of the Philippines |
10 | Villarico, Ma. Vida Malaya M. | Polytechnic University of the Philippines |
Honor Graduates. Six of the 4th-year scholars of AY 2018-2019 graduated with honors or on top of their class. These scholars are:
Name | School | Honors | |
1 | Leo Francis Abot | Ateneo de Manila University | Valedictorian |
2 | John Anthony F. Almerino | University of San Carlos | Valedictorian |
3 | Micah Celine S. Carpio | De La Salle University | Valedictorian |
4 | Kenneth Glenn L. Manuel | University of Santo Tomas | Cum Laude |
5 | King Anthony Y. Perez | University of Cebu | Valedictorian |
6 | Ma. Vida Malaya M. Villarico | Polytechnic University of the Philippines | No. 1 of graduating class |
Bar Exams Topnotchers and Passers. Ten of the eleven 4th-year scholars of AY 2017-2018 took the bar exams in November 2018. All of them passed the bar exams, with Sean James B. Borja and Katrina Monica C. Gaw as Bar Exam Topnotcher No. 1 and No. 5, respectively. Ervin Fredrick H. Dy was in 17th place in the 2018 bar exams. The bar exam passers and topnotchers were recognized during the FLP awards ceremony in May 2019. Atty. Sean B. Borja and Atty. Katrina Monica C. Gaw were given cash awards for placing in the top ten, along with AY 2017-2018 4th-year scholars who graduated with honors: Atty. Sean B. Borja (valedictorian), Atty. Rexlyn Anne M. Evora (No.1 in her class), Atty. Jose Noel B. Hilario (cum laude), Atty. Summerson A. Macasarte (No. 1 in his class), and Atty. Nigel Carmelo Q. Reago (valedictorian).
Applicants for AY 2019-2020. A total of 33 law students (28 3rd year students and five 4th year students) applied for legal scholarship for the academic year AY 2019-2020. Of the 33 applicants, 25 met the qualifications. The Board of Judges, led by Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta as Chairman, was organized to conduct the final judging of applicants.
Awards Ceremony for FLP Programs AY 2018-2019
The awarding for FLP Programs in AY 2018-2019 was held on May 18, 2019 at the APS Auditorium of the Ateneo de Manila University, Rockwell Drive, Makati City. Dr. Raul C. Pangalangan, International Criminal Court Judge, was the special guest of honor. FLP Scholar, Atty. Sean James B. Borja, who was the 2018 Bar Exams Topnotcher No. 1, delivered a message to the FLP Scholars.
Panganiban Educational Assistance Program
The program is a merit-based education assistance program for poor but bright relatives of the FLP Chairman. It is at an experimental stage with nine awardees for AY 2019-2020. It will be rolled out with six (6) slots open in AY 2020-2021. Fund source of the program has been set up with the purchase of a unit at 101 Hotel.
The financial assistance is a monetary award for the awardees which can contribute to their expenses for college/university education and will be given on a year-to-year basis. Awardees must reapply for each year, with priority given to existing awardees, all things being equal.
The six (6) slots will be open to all schools that have obtained in the relevant course’s licensure examination a percentage of passing above the overall percentage of passing for the immediately preceding year based on the statistical data from the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC). Applicants should enroll or be enrolled in priority courses of the Commission on Higher Education and which shall lead to practice of professions regulated by the PRC.
The awardees at this experimental stage are:
FLP Newsletter
FLP has so far released thirteen (13) e-newsletters, with another issue in the finalization stage. Volume VIII Issue 1 features the 2018 Bar Exam Topnotchers, winning entries of the 2018-2019 Dissertation Writing Contest and the awarding of FLP scholars for AY 2018-20198. It also gave an overview of FLP’s 8th Annual Report.
FLP Website
The Foundation has continued to use a simple, neat and uniform design aesthetic for its website (www.libpros.com) that remains consistent whatever device is being used to view or access it – either desktop, tablet or smartphone. It features front and center the three (3) education programs being undertaken by the Foundation: the Chief Justice Panganiban Professorial Chairs on Liberty and Prosperity, FLP Dissertation Writing Contest and the FLP Legal Scholarship Program. The guidelines and forms for the dissertation writing contest and the legal scholarship program have also been uploaded and are ready for download by interested participants and the public. The current composition of the Board of Trustees has also been updated. The FLP Secretariat continues to work with the site’s administrator, Mr. Kristian Jeff C. Agustin, to further improve and enhance the website.
IV. Future Plans and Direction
Project 85th and Beyond
The Foundation will undertake an IEC project that will reinforce current FLP programs by engaging/involving stakeholders and the public in its planning and implementation. The project will promote the FLP vision and mission within its current reach as well as towards the arenas of media and museums. It will translate the scholarly outputs of current programs into more publicly accessible products, such as books and publications, museum interactive exhibitions, and musical performances. The project will focus on information dissemination, media penetration, and access to information by its stakeholders, e.g., government, academe, business sector, and civil society.
Project 85th and Beyond will consist of the following subprojects:
- Curatorial Project
- FLP Museum and Research Center (roving museum)
- Museum of Liberty and Prosperity (main Museum)
- CJAVP Biography
- Coffee Table Book
- With Due Respect Vol 3
- Media Project
- Documentary Film 1 and 2
- FLP Website
- Events
- 10th Anniversary of the Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity
- CJAVP & FLP Book Launches
- Museum opening
- Global Forum on Liberty and Prosperity
- Ageless Passion The Musical
FLP Visual Art Competition
A project proposed by Mr. Kristian Jeff C. Agustin, the Liberty & Prosperity: Images, Figures, Expressions (LIFE) is a visual art competition that aims to make known the Foundation’s philosophy of “liberty and prosperity under the rule of law” in creative ways. It is designed after three well-established and long-running visual art competitions in the Philippines, namely: the DPC-PLDT Visual Art Competition, the Metrobank Art & Design Excellence Competition and the Shell National Students Art Competition.
By launching a new visual art competition, the FLP can make itself more relevant to the country’s art and culture scene, which is very instrumental in capturing or defining the “zeitgeist” of a particular society. For instance, today’s zeitgeist of “Filipino Democracy” has eventually latched on to the consciousness and culture of Filipinos by way of the media’s constant revisiting of the EDSA People Power Revolution and representations of the spirit of “Filipino-ness” (especially by means of evocative images and stories). Hence, to better promote its vision of “a society that safeguards liberty and nurtures prosperity under the rule of law” to the public, the FLP must tap and develop the potential of Filipino artists, designers, and other creative practitioners.
Coffee Table Books on the Professorial Lectures and Speeches of CJ Panganiban
FLP also plans to partner with the Metrobank Foundation regarding the publication of two (2) coffee table books: one, a compilation of the lectures and output delivered under the CJ Panganiban Professorial Chair Program; and two, a compilation of selected speeches of CJ Panganiban. Metrobank Foundation agreed in principle to sponsor said coffee table book projects and offered to assist FLP in undertaking the same considering that they have had several similar projects. The first coffee table book is at the concept development stage.
Support to the Reform Program of the Judiciary and the Ombudsman
In terms of its commitment to reforms, FLP plans to work closely with the SC and the Office of the Ombudsman in establishing a reform program patterned after the SC’s Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR). The Foundation is planning to seek the assistance from the World Bank (which provided the funding for the APJR) and other international funding institutions in this endeavor.
Legal Education Reform Program
Another avenue as regards reform (as well as education) is FLP’s plan to partner with the Legal Education Board in developing a program to reform the legal education in the Philippines.
Teaching Exemplars on the Rule of Law
The Department of Education (DepEd) has adopted the teaching exemplars on the rule of law developed under the Public Education on the Rule of Law Advancement and Support (PERLAS) Project of the Supreme Court and DepEd. The exemplars integrate concepts of the rule of law into the basic education curriculum to educate and inform the public on the functioning of a society anchored on the justice system and to mold the students into becoming responsible and law-abiding citizens. A total of 112 teachers from 82 public schools nationwide have been trained on the use of these exemplars in 2011.
FLP will collaborate with the Department of Education in revisiting these exemplars and enhance these as may be necessary to keep these relevant to the current situation in the country. FLP plans to assist in the roll-out of these exemplars to all public and private schools in the country.
FLP Museum
The Foundation is looking at establishing an FLP Museum where various memorabilia and important items will be kept and made available for viewing of the public. This will be through a possible purchase of the entire floor of a building in FEU Makati at cost which the Chairman has proposed to the Chairman of FEU to be put up in the land purchased by FEU where the old 6-storey Zuellig building is located at the corner of Ayala and Buendia Avenues. The Chairman of FEU said that she will bring this proposal to the Board of FEU and that she agrees in principle to sell one floor to the Foundation.
V. Assets and Financial Position
As reported by then FLP President Maria Elena P. Yaptangco in her First Annual Report (2012), the Foundation was incorporated with a total of two million pesos (P2,000,000.00) as initial funds, contributed by retired Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban. At present, based on the 2019 Audited Financial Report presented before and approved by the Board of Trustees, the Foundation’s total assets is one hundred thirty-seven million two hundred ninety-five thousand seven hundred thirty-five pesos (₱137,295,735) which includes the value of the PCCI property in Makati and the real property donation from Peecee Holdings.
FLP’s depository bank is Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). The funds may be withdrawn only by signature of two of its four authorized signatories, preferably, the President and/or the Treasurer.
Apart from its cash assets, the Foundation is the recipient of copyrights over the “Ageless Passion” musical compositions of Mr. Ryan Cayabyab and lyrics thereto by Mr. Kristian Jeff C. Agustin.
[1] These were—surnames in alphabetical order—(1) Atty. Reynaldo U. Agranzamendez (Dean, University of the Cordilleras College of Law); (2) retired Supreme Court Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna (Chancellor, PhilJA); (3) Atty. Andres D. Bautista (Dean (until 2014), Far Eastern University Institute of Law, now Commission on Elections [COMELEC] Chairman); (4) Atty. Sedfrey M. Candelaria (Dean, Ateneo de Manila School of Law); (5) Atty. Danilo L. Concepcion (Dean, University of the Philippines College of Law, now President of the University of the Philippines System); (6) Atty. Jose Manuel I. Diokno (Dean, De La Salle University College of Law); (7) Atty. Nilo T. Divina (Dean, University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law); (8) Atty. Joan Sarausos-Largo (Dean, University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance); (9) retired Supreme Court Justice Eduardo B. Nachura (Chairman, Arellano University Law Foundation); and (10) Atty. Manuel Quibod (Ateneo de Davao University College of Law). Regrettably, the 10th appointee failed to respond to FLP’s cordial invitation and appointment letter; hence he was eventually and decidedly removed from the list of chair holders.