Congratulations, Marvic

P-Noy has appointed Chief Government Peace Negotiator Mario Victor “Marvic” Leonen Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.  Today, he should be addressed Justice Leonen. At 49, Leonen may be the youngest ever appointed to the Supreme Court (I have always perceived the SC to be exclusive to Seniors).  This means also that he will be with the Supreme Court for 21 years since the retirement age for justices of the Supreme Court is 70.  That’s a long stint with the SC, but I know that Justice Leonen is up to it.

I had the opportunity to work with Justice Leonen when I was Chancellor of the U.P. Open University and he was Vice President for Legal Affairs of the University of the Philippines.  He helped me greatly regarding the legal requirements of the U.P. Open University, which had somewhat different legal requirements being an open university.  I finished my second term as Chancellor on February 28, 2007 and from January to December 2008 I was a member of the UP Board of Regents having been elected Faculty Regent in November 2007.  By 2008, too, Justice Leonen ran for the Deanship of the U.P. College of Law.   Before the BOR elected the Dean of the College of Law, I was asked about my thoughts regarding the selection of Dean.

I believe I made quite a lengthy statement about the nature of the deanship and why it is important to select one who has very high concern for the welfare of both the faculty and studentry.  I didn’t say who my candidate was, but I knew the other members of the BOR were completely aware of who I was pushing to be Dean of the College of Law.  Yes, it was Atty. Marvic Leonen.  My punch line was, “we in the faculty put very high priority to how accessible the Dean is to the students and the faculty.”  Then I added, “please help me select the best dean we could have now for the College of Law.”  And we did.

Justice Leonen is one who studies very carefully an issue before he makes any pronouncement on it, more so if such pronouncement carries with it decisions that would affect people and institutions.  He is a good negotiator, which he initially demonstrated at UP when he negotiated with UP employees about benefits, with informal settlers in the holdings of UP in Diliman, as well as with students regarding significant issues affecting not only the studentry but UP as an institution and the society within which the institution is part of.     (Picture release published by the Philippine Start.)                                        

Congratulations, again, Marvic.  At a very young age, you’ve achieved what all lawyers want to achieve in their lifetime, becoming Justice of the Supreme Court.

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