CJ Gesmundo Graces Inauguration of First Law School in Aurora Province
September 02, 2022
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo poses for a photo with the pioneer batch of students of the Aurora State College of Technology College of Law shortly after speaking as the guest of honor at the law school’s inauguration on Friday, September 2, 2022, in Baler, Aurora.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo welcomed the 41 students of Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT) College of Law, the first ever law school in the province of Aurora, to the beginning of their education, as he graced the inauguration of the law school on Friday, September 2, 2022, in Baler, Aurora.
Speaking as guest of honor, the Chief Justice imbibed in the students in the lesson that lawyering is a service. “It is a service to others in need of justice. It is a service to others in search of truth. Lawyering so often comes with prestige, with power, and with prosperity—but those are not its end. Its ultimate goal has always
been, and will always be, public service and the administration of justice,” said the
Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Gesmundo disclosed that apart from the digital momentum created by the local and digital conduct of the recent 2020/2021 Bar Examinations, more significant developments in the field of legal education are anticipated with the Supreme Court’s recent challenge to law schools to make legal education more attuned to the times and the needs of society.
The Chief Justice further shared that the Court has started re-orienting legal education with the promulgation of the Revised Law Student Practice Rule, which was created to attain the two-fold objective of geographically expanding access to justice and producing competent and practice-ready lawyers. The Chief Justice added that the Legal Education Board has since implemented the Revised Model Curriculum which shifts the focus of legal education from merely passing the Bar exam or being “Bar-centric” to “practice-readiness” or ensuring that law students are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills required of lawyers.
“I am glad to learn that the ASCOT College of Law is ‘also geared towards producing lawyers who will have a heart of service for the Filipino people,” said Chief Justice Gesmundo. “Indeed, this is a propitious time to open a law school. We are at the crossroads of innovation and tradition, of technology and convention. And what better school to open a college of law than one with a good foundation in technology,” he concluded.
The Aurora State College of Technology, the only government-funded state college in the province of Aurora, has been granted by the Legal Education Board a permit to operate the first law school in Aurora.