Dr. Salonga to Speak at UCLEW Celebration, Launch Book
February 1, 2008

      Former Senator Dr. Jovito R. Salonga will be the guest speaker at the launching of the University Christian Life Emphasis Week (UCLEW) celebration on February 3, during the 9:45 morning service at the Silliman University Church.

      The recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2007, Dr. Salonga will speak on the theme “Growing in Christ: Living by the Truth and in Love.”

      This semester’s UCLEW celebration seeks to prepare more the graduating students as they pursue their respective careers. Faith-enriching activities following the theme are lined up for the students and the rest of the Silliman community to take part in from February 2 to 9.In an earlier morning service on February 3, the SU Church will be hosting as speaker Rev. Barton Kelso, who had served as pastor of the First United Presbyterian Church at Cambridge, Massachusetts for 25 years.

      After the 9:45 service, Dr. Salonga will be launching his book, Not by Power or Wealth Alone. The title of the book, as Dr. Salonga wrote in the introduction, “is a takeoff from Deuteronomy 8:3 and from a statement of Jesus Christ, as found in Mathew 4:4 – ‘Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

      Chief Justice Reynato Puno wrote about the book: “Not by Power or Wealth Alone richly and powerfully inspires readers to step back, take a long view and search into their innermost selves to find the strength – which comes not from worldly wealth or power, but from the cross on which hung a most loving God in all his frailty and glory – and wield this strength to fight the evils that grip our beloved country and serve the least of our brethren.”

      On August 26, 2006, recognizing the contributions of Dr. Salonga to the legal profession, Silliman University launched the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development with Dr. Salonga as the guest of honor.

      The Center is guided by three core elements: Legal Education & Training, Legal Advocacy, and Research. It uses an interdisciplinary approach to make these elements operational – combining the faculty, staff, and students from different fields of the academe to study and apply the law in pursuit of a better society. This approach supplements and enriches the teaching of law with an interdisciplinary study and research of law, and legal service to the people through free legal representation and assistance, paralegal training to law enforcers and local community leaders and volunteers. (SU NetNews)