Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commisioner Rowena Guanzon did an appalling disservice to her profession when she issued a challenge that prejudices against lawyers who are not graduates of the University of the Philippines and Ateneo law schools. Evidently hounded by Netizens scrutinising her points of view, Guanzon issued a challenge to a debate to any lawyer who would come forward but then added that those who respond to her challenge should “be sure [they] graduated from UP Law or Ateneo Law” and that they “are teaching law”.
Interestingly enough, attorney and Dean of Law at the Mindanao State University (MSU), Alizedney Ditucalan responded to Guanzon’s challenge by citing the case ATTY. MANE vs. JUDGE BELEN (A.M. No. RTJ-08-2119), from where he points out how “the Supreme Court reprimanded a judge for bragging her UP law diploma. The Court said ‘An alumnus of a particular law school has no monopoly of knowledge of the law’.”
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Apparently Guanzon does not see the Dean himself of MSU Law as fit to be worth her time of day, a notion made even more shocking by Ditucalan’s revelation that Guanzon blocked him on Twitter shortly after he cited the case.
As if I am enjoying her tweets.
Thank you for blocking my account.
Good thing that you were ahead before I could actually unfollow you. ? pic.twitter.com/1haaKNrQl1
— Alizedney M. Ditucalan (@AlizedneyD) April 26, 2020
Evidently Guanzon had met her match — someone who was armed with a case illustrating the very impropriety of her behaviour as a practitioner of law. Indeed, in the case cited by Ditucalan, no less than the Supreme Court ruled…
An alumnus of a particular law school has no monopoly of knowledge of the law. By hurdling the Bar Examinations which this Court administers, taking of the Lawyer’s oath, and signing of the Roll of Attorneys, a lawyer is presumed to be competent to discharge his functions and duties as, inter alia, an officer of the court, irrespective of where he obtained his law degree. For a judge to determine the fitness or competence of a lawyer primarily on the basis of his alma mater is clearly an engagement in an argumentum ad hominem.
Guanzon is not as badass as she makes herself out to be after all. Faced with a compelling challenge to the arrogant position she takes, she does what people of weak character who had taken a dishonest position on a matter are inclined to do — block dissent. Commissioner Rowena Guanzon should be ashamed of herself. She is not fit to be a top officer of the COMELEC and devalues her esteemed agency by her personal conduct. Guanzon should resign to redeem herself and her office.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
the tweet was tongue in cheek. just like saying “if you are dilawan or if you are dutertard dont bother debating me.” the bigger question is why you continue to be silent about a policeman executing a civilian and ex-soldier who served in war at that in the street. just another one of the undesirables eliminated in this administration.
Tongue in cheek my ass. Why not throw in that “jokes are half meant” copout too while you’re at it? As for the shooting, you’re at liberty to opine about that in your own blog since you’re too eager to talk about it.
Guanzon’s remark should have been marked as discriminatory, because exalting UP and Ateneo (where I graduated from college) discriminates against the other schools.
And if tongue-in-cheek, what irresponsible tongue-in-cheekness.
so youre from ateneo. it doesnt show hihi
This, coming from someone who can’t write.
i am a proud graduate of the mlqu hehehe
@greengrin: mlqu what? never heard… never wanted to know where, lols.
Must be a school in the world of green’s imagination (me thinks greengrin has PTSD and it shows, mwehehehe).
Atty. Guanzon has her Ego pricked, when she was tormented by graduates from UP an Ateneo de Manila Univ….How about we, who graduated from the : “University of Hard Knocks” ?
Colleges and universities where you graduated, do not guarantee, that you are a smart person. They are just some sort of “decorations” on you, that once upon a time, you attended and graduated from such and such university.
It is what you have done to your degree , to yourself , to others and to your country, as a whole that matters. ..Pnoy Aquino, attended the Ateneo de Manila… and he is as “dumb as a carabao”, in his presidency…How about those crooked , corrupt politicians and incompetent politicians who graduated from such universities ? How about the former COMELEC chief, Andres Bautista ? Where did he graduate ?
Did these universities taught these people, good manners and right conduct, and righteousness ?
Next time, if someone will look down on you, because you did not graduate from Ateneo de Manila Univ. or University of the Philippines…Just say to them : “Get Lost, idiot” !
dont be obtuse. of course there is a lot of value to an ateneo degree why do you think people pay a lot for it? theyre all just idiots? ateneo degree predicts larger income over a lifetime than degrees of other schools its just a fact. of course “credentialing” is wrong but to suggest that an ateneo degree has no effect is stupid and naive. i say that as an mlqu grad and proud of it but do you think if i had a chance to go to admu i decline? hehehe
if youre really confident in your competence why would you seek validation from the comelec commissioner? why does a simple tweet suddenly shake your confidence in yourself? the dutertards of course acted predictably hehehe theyre so emo. i am surprised benigno took guanzon’s bait, now hes left slaying windmills he thinks are dragons hihihi
Ateneo degree? Heck it’s not even in the top universities in Asia. Students there can’t go toe-to-toe against the very best here even in Singapore.
Having such a degree is synonymous to having nothing worthwhile to prove really, and it shows. BS Aquino is such a product, ewww. Ex-president is the idol of greengrin, ewww, get away from us virus, lols.
surely, you sound one who has an idea of ateneo. yes there are benefits to being an atenean but that isnt what our university stresses but to be men and women for others not some braggart. there are those that are but isnt what an atean shouls be. thank you for your interest.
The butiki told the ipis: “just look at these humongous biceps of mine!”… while the 800-pound gorillas in the jungle looked on, shaking their heads in dismay… “tsk tsk tsk”
If there’s anything to be proud of with both sides of Katipunan Ave., it’s got to be the big acacia trees in those sprawling campuses.
Other than that, people should probably learn to be a bit more discreet unless they can do something about the country’s dismal rankings:
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2020
UP #356, Ateneo #601-650, …
Ah yes the most credibLe reference topuniversities.com hehehehehe do you get your nutrition facts from topfoods.com? idiot
Up and ateneo degreeS predict much large income over a lifespan than the rest of universities in my beloved country. its a fact and will remain so no mater how much we bash guanzon
No it’s not. Get real, lols. You’re not even part of the two and you just name drop these schools to feel good about yourself. Fact is fact, these two are not in the same league as the top universities in Asia, lels.
Since you like to say “falsehood” facts, why not we say it’s also a fact that it doesn’t matter if you’re a UP or Ateneo graduate because it means nothing in the long run (or even your entire lifespan, lols). Results are more important than just having a degree.
Again, it’s a fact, so… Guanzon who? Sounds like “guano” (seabird and bat turd), lols.
With this article, the author and GRP community, apparently, failed to recognize and universally ignore to discuss more on the ideas of the more pressing issues in the shooting incident of former soldier Winston Ragos in a time of pandemic – where effective balance of systematic critical measures of management of services and control ought to be in place – but choose instead, contently, to discuss more about the personality of Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, focusing on her arrogant attitude, discriminatory-laden challenge to the internet trolls and her political links to the opposition.
(BTW, GRP is not so innocent also when it comes to its brand of discriminatory remarks of the poor. Hence, the term “perks of the poor” and its put down of enterprising Taho vendors just to name a few.)
It would have been more interesting to know what’s the community’s position to the points raised by Guanzon.
That rather amateurish response and ill-preparedness of the PNP personnel in the ground shown in its narrow decision to solve everything instantly with power of their guns in handling a delicate situation like that of their fellow comrade with a war-shocked state of mind, deserves our notice.
What could have we possibly learn? Had they seized the window of opportunity when it presented itself in the few critical seconds, wherein the mentally-unstable Ragos was in his back and with his arms raised up in the air, its end might have been different. Had they not refused to listen and allowed the relatives to communicate with the agitated Ragos tensions would have cooled down. The problem with people when handed with power is they want to flex their muscles more in their enforcement.
Well indeed it’s the bloggers who choose, for their own ends, what to write. After all, GRP subscribes to their belief that life is cheap in this country… incidentally a country from where they all came from.
dont forget grp also called jeepney drivers and passengers parasites
And you didn’t use your brains upon reading that jeepney article.
They will remain as parasites if they refuse jeepney modernization. What’s so bad about giving us a smoke-free, more comfy and more environment-friendly form of transportation?
It says, it starts with the imagining, but, who exactly and ultimately holds the real solution? Whining is not a solution!
When someone decided to become a permanent OFW and continues to depend on a foreign country, the solution’s intended only for the self but not for everyone else. It’s improper for a parasite to call others parasites just because someone seemed to have left and escaped the third world experience.
I digress…
I submit to the objective, but, in the absence of a viable replacement, the existence of jeepneys serve their purpose.
Though much concerned but not involved and yet deny others who need them? Feel ok about the take and then “bahala na sila”?
Instead of perpetually whining about the existence of a public transport, which, up to this day, continue to serve and provide actual solution in transporting a greater percentage of the philippine population who depend on it, benigno should rationally step up his thinking with a better proposal, a workable alternative that is not only acceptably modern but cost-efficient and financially viable for all.
Instead of whining about the jeepneys, he should rally instead the national government to nationalize the auto industry and to come up with an actual program concerning mass transportation system which should bring about a natural retirement for these iconic filipino vehicles.
The irony is not lost. The 2019 Bar exam results just came out today (April 29, 2020) and not a single Atenean or UP law student made it to the top 10.
Truly, UP and Ateneo do not have a monopoly on brains in this country.