About the College

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Purpose

The objectives of the College (including the Law Center) have been restated thus:

To discover and transmit knowledge of the law so as to achieve distributive justice for all; To train students for the practice of law, instilling in them the ethical responsibilities of the legal profession and the social responsibility to work for the attainment of a just and humane society; To contribute to the improvement of the legal system and the quality and administration of the system of justice in our society for the full protection of human rights;

To train lawyers for leadership that is innovative and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the Filipino people;

To develop a new level of legal education with a view to enhancing knowledge of the law on the part of citizenry, and as part of general education.

The purpose is to produce lawyers who are not only superior legal craftsmen but also socially conscious leaders who would promote the public interest above that of individual clients and pressure groups. This can be achieved only by viewing the law as part of the social process and by studying it in relation to related social services and disciplines.

History

The Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines formally approved the establishment of the College of Law on January 12, 1911.

The College, however, traces its beginnings to the law courses opened in 1910 by the Educational Department Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), through the efforts of George A. Malcolm who was later become the first permanent dean of the College.

In June 1911, the College was formally opened with first and second year classes. There was a total of 125 students comprising freshmen and sophomores, the latter numbering fifty when they started in the YMCA school. Of this first law class, one became a President of the Philippines, one, a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, while others became legislators and legal luminaries.

The faculty was at first predominantly American, but the faculty profile changed when the American teachers were supplanted by Filipinos. Sherman Moreland, Justice of the Supreme Court, was acting Dean From July 1 to October 11, 1911; George Malcolm was Secretary and subsequently Dean until 1917 when he was elevated to the Supreme Court. Jorge C. Bocobo, a member of the 1911 faculty, succeeded Dean Malcolm and became the first Filipino dean of the College. He held the position until 1934.

In the early years of the College, classes were held after five in the afternoon because most of the student held some employment during the day. The College offered a three-year course for students devoting full time to their studies in thee College and a four-year course for students who were employed. Commencing with the school year 1917-1918, the four-year course was prescribed for all students.

By its twenty-fifth year, the enrollment in the College of Law totaled 547 students; the faculty was composed of eight full-time and nine part-time members. A graduate program leading to the Master of Laws degree had been established; two earned the degree in 1918. Classes were then held in Palma Hall on the Padre Faura campus in Manila and the greater number of students attended day classes. Evening classes were maintained for students who were employed during the day.

Dean Jose A. Espiritu was appointed in 1934 to succeed Dean Bocobo. Upon the outbreak of the war in 1941, the College was closed and classes did not resume until August of 1945. On Dean Espiritu, who returned to the deanship after a brief stint in the Supreme Court, fell the difficult task of rehabilitating the College. The University buildings were in ruins and law classes were first held in the Cancer Institute at Padre Faura, later on at the third floor of the Engineering building. The library of the College, which had the largest law collection in the Philippines before the war, was totally destroyed. With the help of the Association of American Law Schools and different foundations in the United States, law alumni and friends, the library gradually rebuilt.

In December 1948, with the transfer of the main campus of the University of the Philippines to Diliman, Quezon City, the College was assigned first an army hut, and later, a three-storey building named Malcolm Hall after his founder and first permanent dean.

Dean Espiritu retired in 1953 and was succeeded by Dean Vicente G. Sinco. Dean Sinco was appointed President of the University in 1958 and Judge Vicente Abad Santos held the deanship until 1969. Prof. Perfecto V. Fernandez was appointed Officer-In-Charge of the College about a year until Prof. Irene R. Cortes, was appointed dean in 1970. Thus, she became the first woman to hold the position. In April 1978, Prof. Froilan M. Bacungan, then the Director of the U.P. Law Center, succeeded to the deanship. In October 1983, Prof. Bartolome S. Carale was appointed Dean of the College and served until April 1989. The College of Law and the Law Complex subsequently underwent a process of reorganization, and a new dean was not appointed until after its completion. Prof. Pacifico A. Agabin was appointed dean in October 1989. Prof. Agabin was succeeded by Prof. Merlin Magallona, who in turn was succeeded by Dr. Raul Pangalangan and the present Dean Prof. Salvador T. Carlota.

On the 95th anniversary of its founding, the College of Law can point to its alumni in the highest positions in the government. Four became President of the Philippines: Jose P. Laurel, Sr., Elpidio Quirino, Manuel Roxas and Ferdinand E. Marcos; twelve served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ricardo Paras, Jose Yulo, Jose P. Laurel, Cesar Bengzon, Querube Makalintal, Fred Ruiz Castro, Enrique Fernando, Felix Makasiar, Ramon Aquino, Pedro Yap, Marcelo Fernan and Hilario Davide. A sizable percentage of the Senators and members of the House of Representatives are also graduates of the College. Two College of Law alumni became President of the University of the Philippines: Vicente G. Sinco and Edgardo J. Angara. Many more of its graduates are, at present, prominent law practitioners, high officials in the government service, political leaders in private enterprises.

The College of Law has been going through a basic transformation for the past few years so that, in turn, it can be catalyst for change in our legal institutions. The transformation of the College has been from a professional school to a law complex with at triad of functions: 1) instruction, 2) research, and 3) extension service. The change has its bases in that the College is an institution maintained by the people, and it must serve the people by being responsive to the growing legal and other law-related needs of all Filipinos.

Thus, the legal mandate for the Law Complex spells out its role as a resource for the legal development of the nation:

The UP Law Complex as an integrated system of national legal institution within the University of the Philippines, shall be dedicated to teaching, research, training, information and legal extension service to ensure a just society. It shall always be responsive to the challenges of social change, and shall be relevant to the growing legal and other law-related needs of the Filipino people." (1021st Meeting U.P. Board of Regents, May 29, 1989)

The Law Center was integrated into the College in the latest reorganization approved by the Board of Regents in 1989.