Senior Partner Roderick R.C. Salazar III was the Commencement Speaker of the San Beda College Alabang School of Law Graduating Class 2024 on June 23, 2024. Dicky Salazar is a Professor at said school.
Following was his Commencement Speech.
Thank you to our most popular and efficient Administrator, Atty. Jun Cadugo, for that very kind introduction.
To our distinguished Father President, Fr. Gerard De Villa; my very good friend, idol, King of the Faculty Room Round Table; and the best and the Dean for Life of the Happiest Law School, Dean Ulpiano Sarmiento; Vice Dean Carlo Busmente; Student Prefect Eliza Yamamoto-Santos; other school officials; my esteemed and beloved, co- faculty members (20 of whom were my Master of Laws classmates); my beautiful former girlfriend, Mades; proud and happy parents and families; and most especially, the incredible Graduating Class 2024; a very good afternoon to you all.
When Dean Ulan sent me a Viber message asking me whether I would be in town on June 23rd, I said I would be, and then I asked him “what’s up?” He then replied “hahaha, ikaw and graduation speaker ng Class 24, ok? My immediate reply was “Ngek! Haha” and in my mind, I thought “Your Honor, hindi ko po alam maging commencement speaker, kasi lumaki po ako sa farm, your Honor”! “Baka naman puedeng ceasefire, Dean!”
But he then turned serious in our banter, and in the Bicol dialect, he basically said – “It is good that you know the graduating students and many of them have you as their idol”.
Thus, I answered “I humbly and anxiously accept. Thank you.”
Then came the official letter of the 2024 Graduation Commission through Chairperson Aily Mabanglo which meant it really wasn’t a joke between Dean Ulan and me. Hence, I officially accepted and I consider it a great and distinct privilege and pleasure to be with you today. Moreover, my acceptance of this honor has a strong emotional effect on me as my recently deceased older brother, the late Fr. Roderick Jr., SVD, former President of the University of San Carlos, was also a commencement speaker for another graduating class of this law school, of Class 2014, exactly 10 years ago.
So, today, as your chosen Speaker, may I congratulate you on this momentous occasion. This is probably your greatest achievement, thus far, because this is a significant completion of four (4) or for some, longer years, of hard work and rigorous studies on your part to pursue your law degree.
I know that when most of you started out in law school just at the start of the pandemic, you probably had the impression that you would still be covered by the usual norms for studying law such as:
- in person classes;
- nerve wracking graded recitations to train you to think on your feet;
- repetitive memory work of codal provisions;
- long and voluminous cases to read and digests to prepare;
- challenging quizzes and exams; and
- exciting extracurricular
TEACHING LAW IN THE GRAND MANNER:
My dear Graduates, in my case, at least, that was my student experience at a time when you weren’t even figments of your parents’ imagination, when I entered the UP College of Law some 41 years ago.
UP Law is a law school whose mantra is that “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,” an iconic quotation from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.1
By this he meant that Law students were made to be inquisitive and to look for the reasons behind the law and jurisprudence so that their knowledge of the law did not become rote and scripted but one with solid foundation, creativity and direction. Students were taught to love and appreciate the value of codal provisions and the jurisprudence explaining and applying the law.
SOCRATIC METHOD OF TEACHING LAW:
I was taught the law using the Socratic Method of Teaching, that comes from the Greek philosopher Socrates, that was first used as a teaching technique at the Harvard Law School in 1870.2 This method, comes with the idea of Socrates “to teach his students by asking question after question, to help them think critically about their ideas and refine their beliefs.” Thus, the questions from our professors came from a wide range of sources, from the law, jurisprudence, case law analysis, current events, history, science, the arts and economics, political controversies, chismis, music, movies, you name it. It was a whole range from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Hence, since 2001 when I started teaching law and until today, 23 years after, I also tried my best to teach law in the grand manner to over 2,000 law students, over 90% of whom are now lawyers.
I am certain that my esteemed and well respected colleagues in our Faculty although mostly trained and educated in the Bedan way also experienced and valued the essential benefits and merits of the Socratic Method in a similar grand fashion but with an added component and advantage of the Benedictine values of Ora et Labora and the edge of learning the law in a Catholic school with the essences of ten (10) core values – love, prayer, stability, conversatio, obedience, discipline, humility, stewardship, hospitality, and community.3
Thus, it has been a very pleasant experience for me teaching in the Happiest Law School since 2013 along with our distinguished Faculty, all experts and specialists in their chosen subjects, my peers with the same desire to teach and make great Bedan lawyers out of the many students who have come to our benevolent institution.
THE NEW NORM OF TEACHING LAW:
In your case, dear Graduates, I would assume that what I earlier mentioned as the usual way of learning and studying law, had changed from a pedantic application of the Socratic method to a less strict one.
You were instead trained under the New Norm with:
- long and arduous hours of synchronous and asynchronous classes;
- recitation of law and cases with eyes closed in front of a computer monitor with your family members wondering what was happening to you as you were struggling to mouth legal provisions and cases;
- inspirational or sometimes boring or sleep inducing lectures and classes that zoned you out (yes, one of my students even unknowingly typed in the Zoom chat na antok na antok na siya) and made you ask your professors for a ceasefire (and I thought this term only meant no recitation and that I will lecture and not that the entire class would be absent when I arrived in the classroom).
Somehow, the Socratic method may have been lessened in its application to you but it does not make you inferior to other law students who came before you or who will come after you. I know it was not an easy journey or a ride in the park as you were all extremely challenged in many aspects, all trying to cope with the travails of the pandemic.
You had more distractions of social media exposure, TikTok reels, cyber bullying, gaslighting, emotional and mental issues, all valid concerns in today’s world. To you, YOLO became a mantra; you TNTL (tried not to laugh) in the face of serious recits; SHOOK when you were shocked or surprised with unannounced assignments; TLDR (too long didn’t read) but IYKYK – if you know, you know the answers because you really studied or these were sent by classmates through texts or chat groups!
Yet, I know that you did not slacken and slow down in your pursuit of knowledge and you strove and yearned to go beyond mediocrity as shown by your presence here today with your completion of your legal studies.
Thus, you should take comfort in the fact that you studied at the best law school in Muntinlupa and were taught by excellent professors in the Benedictine fashion led by an outstanding Dean. You have soldiered on and have successfully hurdled the outstanding Catholic education that this law school provides. So here you are, officially certified by the School of Law as deserving Juris Doctors worthy and ready to face the Bar and the Bench this year or in the very near future. You should therefore give yourselves a round of applause!
GANBATTE FOR YOUR NEXT JOURNEY OF TAKING THE BAR:
Then again, your graduation today is just the beginning of another crucial phase of your quest for a career in law to earn that title of being an Attorney-at-Law and a member of the Philippine Bar. On this note, I am reminded of Dean Ulan’s advice to all of us when we act as law students and as lawyers that we should adhere to the ancient African word “Ubuntu” meaning “humanity to others” which seeks to remind us that “I am what I am because of who we all are”.4
Indeed, Dean Ulan’s call for us to observe ubuntu is both timely and fitting when our world has so much indifference and disregard for the rights and plight of others, our fellow human beings and more importantly, of the less fortunate in our society.
In your continuing journey as you take the Bar in September and when you become full- fledged lawyers, I would like to add to Dean Ulan’s Ubuntu and introduce you to and urge you to consider adhering to this beautiful and inspiring Japanese word – GANBATTE! – which is the Japanese art of Always Moving Forward.5
In his enriching book with this Japanese term as the title, the author Albert Liebermann, promotes this Japanese philosophy of “tenacity and resilience, the art of overcoming adversity.” “Ganbaru” is “a Japanese verb conjugated in the second person form” “ganbatte” that we could translate as “DO YOUR BEST,” “DON’T GIVE UP,” “STAND FIRM,” “WORK AT SOMETHING,” or “PERSEVERE”.
“Ganbatte shows us how to overcome life’s obstacles and to carry on with our dreams and goals, with energy and motivation.” Liebermann maintains that “if you apply the tenacity and resilience of the Japanese to your everyday life, difficult things become easy and the impossible becomes possible.”
In a philosophical sense, “Ganbatte is about doing the best we can with what we have and what we know, finding ways of taking on the difficulties that confront us, and gaining strength from the fact that while we don’t always manage to succeed, we know we have done the best we can and are ready to move forward.”
For the Japanese, when they greet people who are to take exams, they do not say “Good luck” because it appears that the result is in the hands of fate and outside one’s control.” Instead, they say “Ganbatte!, conveying the message that a great deal of what the other person are going to have to face depends on them.” Thus, for the Japanese, “effort is more important than luck.”
So, I say this to you, Ganbatte when you study for and take the Bar. Consider these tips:
- Be Confident. This Law School prepared you well. You have been taught excellently by the Happiest and most competent Faculty who observe GANBATTE in teaching! I was one of your professors, remember!
- Stay Bawal ang Nega (tapos na ang pandemic!)
- As Earth, Wind & Fire would say Remember the month of September! Look at that month as your “Purpose and Meaning”. Ganbatte encourages the pursuit of goals with passion and ”
- Evaluate and assess your present level of preparedness; Systematize your review schedule Reviewing for the Bar requires the concept of kaizen, or continuous improvement; of making small, incremental changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness in all areas of life, from work to personal habits,” including study
- Rest when you need to but not too often – Ganbatte recognizes the value of “Balancing Work and Rest – to ensure long-term sustainability and to prevent ”
- SSS – Study, study and – Ganbatte stresses on Mindfulness or being fully present in the moment and FOCUS on the task at hand and give it your full attention, to achieve better results and reduce stress.”
- Pray regularly – remember Ora et Labora and Benedict’s Ut In Omnibus Glorificetur Deus (UIOGD) – That in All Things God May be Glorified – Remember also today’s Gospel where Jesus tells us not to Fear but to have Faith.
FOR OUR DEAR PARENTS AND FAMILIES OF OUR GRADUATES; THE BAR MENTORS AND THE STUDENT MEMBERS OF THE CBO HERE TODAY, please also remember that Ganbatte requires “Community and Support: In Japan, the spirit of ganbatte is often fostered within a community. People encourage, motivate and support each other to persevere, succeed and stay committed to their goals.”
Thus, from today until the whole month of September and even until the time that the Bar results are announced, please encourage, love and support your son or daughter or mentee in order for them to do their Best and hurdle the Bar! So, please also DO YOUR BEST! DON’T GIVE UP ON THEM! GANBATTE PARENTS AND FAMILY!
GANBATTE FOR LAWYERS:
My message of Ganbatte is, however, not only for purposes of the Bar, dear Graduates but is equally important when (I say when not “IF”) you become members of the Philippine Bar.
When you take that solemn oath now newly enshrined in the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability – the CPRA – remember that as “an Officer of the Court” you should observe and adhere to the Canons, and work towards promoting “the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace.”6 Render legal aid to the underprivileged and the oppressed as you “safeguard the rights and meaningful freedoms of all persons, identities and communities.”7 As Dean said Ubuntu!
GANBATTE as a lawyer means that you should “make the best effort you can”, “give the best of yourself at each and every moment, to the best of your ability”.
To achieve this, choosing the field of law you would wish to practice and excel in and do GANBATTE is quite important. Some young lawyers usually have what I think is the misimpression that being in litigation practice is the be all and end all of lawyering.
Young lawyers should not forget the instructive case of Aguirre vs. Rana, B.M. No. 1036, June 10, 2003, where the Court through Justice Carpio basically told us that we cannot have a traditional view of lawyering. Instead, that case refers us to earlier cases which held that:
The practice of law is not limited to the conduct of cases or litigation
in court; xxx xxx xxx In general, all
advice to clients, and all action taken for them in matters connected
with the law, xxx xxx
xxx where the work done involves the determination by the
trained legal mind of the legal effect of facts and conditions. (5 Am.
Jur. p. 262, 263). (Italics supplied) x x x
In Cayetano v. Monsod, the Court held that “practice of law” means any activity, in or out of court, which requires the application of law, legal procedure, knowledge, training and experience. To engage in the practice of law is to perform acts which are usually performed by members of the legal profession. Generally, to practice law is to render any kind of service which requires the use of legal knowledge or skill.
In my humble view, when you become lawyers, you should instead take and be open to every opportunity to try as many fields of law as you can in order to get the flavor of each area of specialization. Know your own capabilities, interests, passions, limitations and dreams and gain experience and give yourselves, say, 5 years, before you finally concentrate on the field that you think is ideal for you and when you do decide, do your best. GANBATTE! It is only after some years in the practice when a lawyer can find comfort in an area to focus on. But you as young lawyers should nonetheless be ready to shift gears should opportunities arise for a change in one’s career.
The digital age has come heightened by the unfortunate pandemic and this has brought about various niche areas and options for future lawyers to dabble in. Some of these are environmental law, public interest law, fintech law, digital payments, data privacy, cybercrime prevention, anti-money laundering law, sports law, and competition law, all of which would prove interesting to try and specialize in.
FIND A NICHE PRACTICE as I did when I specialized in mining law over 25 years ago and renewable energy very recently. In Fortun Narvasa & Salazar or FNS, we do GANBATTE in our practice of law and we do it with legal FiNeSse.
YOU should expect that the law practice is quite demanding both in terms of time, toughness and talent. As the saying goes, ANG BATAS AY ISANG SELOSANG JOWA! It will not be an easy journey.
There will be a need for you to GANBATTE as you will certainly face the following:
- long hours of work;
- difficult questions of law and complicated contracts;
- tough and demanding bosses, supervisors and clients; and opposing counsels;
- temptations of graft and corruption;
- numerous frustrations; and
- a future in the practice that is dictated to a considerable degree by the amount of focused work and motivated diligence that you will put in, the extent of your
But if you do your BEST and GANBATTE, then there will likewise be countless and numerous –
- Wins and victories;
- Successful deals and transactions;
- Important opportunities, employment and work;
- Accolades, awards, praises and tributes;
- Life and work balance; and
- Cherished moments when you can enjoy the interplay of good coffee or the sweet, savoury, and spicy elements and taste of single malt Scotch Whisky, preferably at The Faculty Room.
“I leave you with this final message — by adopting the principles and philosophies of ora et labora, ubuntu, and now, equally important, of ganbatte, a Bedan Lawyer can develop a more resilient mindset, achieve continuous improvement, and navigate and forge on life’s challenges and move forward in your legal career with greater determination in order to achieve gratifying and rewarding successes.”
Again, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS! THANK YOU! and GANBATTE!
ENDNOTES:
1 J. Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Use of Law Schools. Oration Before the Harvard Law School association, at Cambridge, November 5, 1886, on the 250th Anniversary of Harvard University. Quotation is also inscribed in the marble wall of the entrance to the University of the Philippine College of Law.
2 https://lawpreview.barbri.com/socratic-method/ accessed on June 8, 2024.
3https://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/posts/bmio/282/hallmarks-of-benedictine-education#:~:text=The%20resulting%20collection%20of%20ten,of%20Benedictine%20Colleges%20and%20Universities. – accessed on June 11, 2024
4 “What does ubuntu really mean?” published in The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2006/sep/29/features11.g2 – accessed on June 13, 2024.
5 Published in September 2021. Quotation in re “Ganbatte” are all from the book of Liebermann.
6 Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability. A.M. No. 22-09-01-SC – April 11, 2023
7 Ibid.