PRESIDENT’S OUTBOX

BUCL receives Government Recognition; authority to operate JD program, granted

Today, as I stand before you for the last time as your President, I stand with nothing but a sense of gratitude for the many manifold blessings that are products of our collective steadfastness, patience, perseverance, and resiliency, as one Bicol University community. I stand as an academic leader grateful for the faith we share and the trust you have all unwaveringly given to my Administration, even as we sailed through the many shocks and stresses together as one family and one University. As I look back at my Presidency, I am wrapped in nostalgia and wistfulness; recalling the many trails we have blazed and the countless challenges we have hurdled as one Bicol University family. My dear graduates, go where you are celebrated. Go where your ideas will bear fruit. Go where you can serve better. But never abandon those who reject you or have a different path than you. Build a better world for all – and include them still in your dreams; in your vision, of a better future beyond what we have now. Empower each one with the gift of greater resiliency. Ignore the cancel culture that has been so predominant in the social media, especially in the virtual world. If you believe in a Higher Being or a Higher Purpose, then, you will know deep in your heart; if you truly listen “with the ear of your heart,” – then you will know, that even in diversity, there can be unity – that rejection, and hate is, as you millennials say it – “not cool.” This is part of building a resilient nature – a strong and resilient character.

Having successfully complied with the tedious documentary requirements and submitting to a rigorous evaluation process, the Bicol University College of Law (BUCL) was finally awarded a Certificate of Government Recognition by the Legal Education Board (LEB).

The awarding of the Certificate of Government Recognition was held on July 20, 2022, at the Legal Education Board, Quezon City. The awarding ceremony was graced by no less than LEB Chairperson Anna Marie Melanie B. Trinidad, who handed the Certificate of Recognition to BU President Arnulfo M. Mascariñas. Also present in the said ceremony was Atty. Alex B. Nepomuceno, Atty. Ledilla Lilibeth H. Llagas and Atty. Norly P. Reyes, all faculty members of the BUCL who also constituted the committee that was tasked by President Mascariñas to study and propose the establishment of the now fully recognized BUCL. A Certificate of Government Recognition, pursuant to Article II, Section 31.2 of LEB Memorandum Order No. 1, Series of 2011 “constitutes full mandatory accreditation which allows the law school to graduate its students, to confer upon them their degrees and titles and to endorse them to the

Office of the Bar Confidant for the Bar Examinations.” Prior to the awarding of government recognition, a law school has to undergo first a permit stage wherein a yearly permit has to be secured from the LEB before each academic year to enable the law school to operate in the succeeding academic year.

In retrospect, the establishment of the BUCL was a fruition of the combined efforts, talents, and dedication of many individuals and the support of various partner agencies and institutions of BU. Before its formal establishment in August 2019, President Mascariñas created a committee in 2018 to study the feasibility of offering a law degree at BU. The committee was chaired by Atty. Alex B. Nepomuceno with Atty. Ledilla Lilibeth H Llagas and Atty Norly P. Reyes, as members, with Ms. Ma. Myra C. Austero, as the committee secretary. With full authority from President Mascariñas, the committee undertook benchmarking activities in various top-performing law schools around the country, prepared the feasibility studies, and conducted consultation meetings with various stakeholders.