CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 12 Sept)—The Mindanao State University College of Law, its graduates and other personalities in Muslim Mindanao are in uproar over the decision of the Legal Education Board (LEB) to close the law school in all MSU campuses beginning school year 2025 and 2026.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the MSU College of Law said the LEB has no jurisdiction in its system since the state-run university has its own charter, Republic Act No. 1387, passed by Congress in 1955 authorizing the university to establish its college of law among other courses that would be offered.
“LEB’s baseless assertions and intrusions deserve MSU’s well-founded defiance,” the MSU statement released last Sept.
7 said.
It is this kind of defiance that led the LEB to issue Resolution no. 231-18 on Aug. 7, 2024 “classifying the MSU as [a legal education institution] not in good standing” and cancelling the accreditation of the MSU College of Law, ordering it to “cease and desist from continuing its law program in all its campuses effective AY 2025-2026.”
The LEB also issued a permanent cease and desist order that was previously issued against MSU’s extension law programs in its Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, and Sulu campuses that defied a previous closure order.
The LEB ordered the MSU “to facilitate the release of the credentials of its law students for them to transfer to other legal education in good standing.
” The governing body added that
“all units earned by the students of MSU until AY 2024-2025 may be credited by other legal education institutions, subject to their institutional academic freedom,” but not the unit earned after that as it ordered MSU
The regulating board said the reason of the closure of the MSU College of Law was the school’s “continued rejection of the regulatory jurisdiction and supervisory authority of the LEB and its refusal to be bound by the orders, policies, standards and guidelines on legal education.”
“Consequently, MSU is no longer included in the list of Legal Educations in good standing and authorized to offer the basic law program in the country,” LEB Chairperson Jason Barlis said.
The LEB said it was also concerned on the “dismal performance of MSU law graduates in the bar examinations, with passing rates consistently below the national average.
MSU filed a petition for arbitration before the Office of the Solicitor General. The LEB said it has not received any injunction issued by a court against the implementation of Resolution no. 231-18.
The MSU College of Law denied all of these with some of its graduates accusing the LEB of being arbitrary.
“MSU produces lawyers even without the entire concept of LEB in place,” the school said.
“Like the University of the Philippines, MSU also has its own Charter. LEB is acting like a tyrant,” said Judge Arthur Abundiente, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 25 of Cagayan de Oro and a graduate of the MSU law school.
Abundiente reiterated the MSU College of Law’s statement, saying that LEB’s Resolution No. 231-18 is illegal because the MSU charter, created by an act of Congress, authorized the creation of the law school.
Lawyer Rashid V. Pandi, MSU law professor and director of the university’s Presidential Management Staff, said in a Facebook post that “there is no accreditation to cancel, because MSU Law has never been subject to LEB’s jurisdiction.
”
He added that “here is also no recognition to revoke, as it is the Philippine government itself, through the MSU Charter, which mandates the establishment of ‘a College of Law’ in MSU. They will have to amend the MSU Charter in order to effect the closure.”
MSU also received a statement of support from Deputy Chief Minister Aleel Ali Solaiman of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), who said that the law school provided accessible legal education to the people of Mindanao.
“The involvement of MSU graduates in the historic peace talks in Mindanao is undeniable. Many of these graduates were instrumental in providing the legal expertise and advocacy need to secure the rights and aspirations of the Bangsamoro people,” Solaiman said.
The office of Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra likewise issued a statement the LEB’s action, noting the importance of the role of the graduates of the MSU College of Law in “safeguarding and advocating for the rights of marginalized and underserved communities, particularly Muslim Mindanao.” (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
