“Learn to think quickly on your toes,” Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo advised law students from the Negros Oriental State University, Foundation University, and Silliman University.
Mayor Remollo, a renowned lawyer in Manila before he became a politician in Dumaguete, spoke to the Law students in a forum organized by the Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development.
He began his talk by asking the students why they took up Law. Ian Blanco, representing NORSU Law, said while it is true that every citizen is presumed to know the law, “Students of the law are presumed to know how to use such knowledge.” Junior law student Kara Dumasis of the FU College of Law & Jurisprudence said she mainly wanted to fulfill the dream of her father to have a lawyer in the family. “The profession is a privilege that not everyone can attain.” Emmanuel Lopez from Silliman expressed that he believes that being in the profession could open more doors for him.
Mayor Remollo shared his own story why he took up law: “I had always had a penchant for the profession even during my undergraduate days as a Political Science major, and mainly because I aspired to be like my father” [Atty. Orlando Remollo].
He recounted the major litigation proceedings he handled in the “big city,” having gone against lawyers from illustrious law firms all over the country. “Everytime I examined a witness on the witness stand, I would recall the established rules and replayed them at the back of my head.”
One of his favorite rules of thumb is to think swiftly: “Listen to the words of the witness carefully, and use the same against him. The key to winning cases is to pay very careful attention to every word that goes out of the mouth of the person taking the witness stand.” He said that one’s ability to listen and analyze in court can make or break a person’s career in law.
Diorson Baseleres, a sophomore law student at Silliman, asked during the open forum what common mannerisms a lawyer should observe in court. The Mayor replied that there are no other strict rules to be followed aside from those already established. He said he has observed that one of the common mannerisms is the slamming of the table to prove a point or to sway the accounts of the witness.
Edcarl Cagandahan, a sophomore FU Law, served as the forum’s moderator.
The activity by the Salonga Center for Law and Development headed by Atty. Mikhail Lee Maxino was supported by FU Law Dean Jesus Ramon Quevenco, the NORSU College of Law, and SU Law Dean Sheila Lynn Catacutan-Besario. (PR)
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