| Home | About Us | News | Activities | Resources | Photos | Clippings | Video | Salonga Profile | Links |
A vision with action can truly make a difference. The very reason why I entered law school was because my parents wanted me to. Having a very supportive family, both financially and emotionally, I followed their plans without hesitation. Although studying law is not really easy, the thought of my parents' hard work inspired me to strive hard in my studies. However, things change with time.
For the past two years, I was involved in various endeavors where my knowledge of the law was applied to serve our fellowmen. And the best thing that it gave me was that I now had another motivation to continue studying law--service. Last summer, when I joined the 2006 Alternative Law Group Summer Internship Program, we advocated the rights of the indigenous peoples in Panay Island. The precious smiles and gratitude I earned from the participants made my summer internship fulfilling and heartwarming despite the hardships I encountered in the process. Everything has its own purpose; it just depends on the choices you make. In this regard, I believe that Jesus Christ has set the example of service to us. We see in Him a leader putting service beyond criticism, mission over ambition, and the people's needs over and above His own desires. For me that's true service To become a good professional in the future, one must commit to serve others while still in the process of obtaining one's educational degree. Silliman has paved the way to our attainment of quality education. And such knowledge would truly serve us as our motivation and paradigm in making a difference, in accordance with the Via, Veritas, Vita.
In our country, a lot of laws have been adopted, approved, and published that filled law libraries’ shelves, lawyers’ cabinets, and even law students’ lockers. Laws are already there to improve our legal system towards proper administration of justice--the problem now lies on who will carry out such purpose. I am privileged to experience such commitment undertaken by the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development in pioneering transformative law. With the Salonga Center operating barely six months, it already organized orientations to educate the public on election and other political issues, and conducted workshops on negotiation and mediation techniques with other related topics in Barangays San Antonio and Tubtubon, Sibulan. It also serves
as an avenue for student volunteers towards service learning.
With the supervision of Salonga Center Director Mikhail Maxino,
students reached out to barangays, and explained and construed
to them the basic principles of law necessary for the performance
of their respective duties and responsibilities. As early as this stage, I would like to congratulate all the candidates in the upcoming SUSG election for accepting the call for student leadership. May the desire to uplift students' welfare not just end after the election. It has been said that an organization cannot function effectively without a leader to direct its goals. Servant leadership plays an important role in the management of various organizations. Following the kind of leadership that Jesus Christ had taught us, servant leaders must likewise give highest priority in serving to other people's needs. In the name of service, the heart of a true public servant knows how to sacrifice. As stated by Dr. Otto Octavius to Peter Parker in the movie “Spider-Man 2”, "Intelligence is a gift, so use it for the good of mankind." *this article was written by sophomore SU College of Law student Christy Ann Marie R. Cong, and was published in the February 21, 2007 issue of the Weekly Sillimanian . |
(035) 422-6002
