USC to represent PH in int’l moot event

Lawyer Joan Largo, (right) USC dean of Law, introduces the winning student team (from left) Rashid Pandi, Vincent Joseph Cesista, Rheland Servacio ( in checkered polo) and Kay Beverly Go.
(CDN Photo/Lito Tecson)

For the first time in five years, a law school outside Metro Manila will represent the Philippines in the world’s largest moot court competition in Washington D.C.

The University of San Carlos’ (USC) College of Law made history last Saturday when it defeated the finest law schools in Manila en route to qualifying for the Jessup International Moot Court Competition next month.

“This international competition is akin to the Olympics. It is like the holy grail of mooting. We expect the brightest of all law students to come and converge in Washington D.C. And so, we expect to clash with the brightest and hopefully emerge to be the brighest,” lawyer Joan Largo, dean of the USC College of Law, told Cebu Daily News yesterday.

USC’s moot court team is  composed of Rashid Vedra Pandi, Vincent Joseph Cesista, Rheland Servacio, Kay Berverly Go, and Lenie Rocel Rocha.

Competition
USC is the largest university in Cebu City and one of the oldest in the country.

Named after Philip C. Jessup—the US representative to the International Court of Justice—the Jessup International Moot Court Competition has been an advocacy competition for law students since 1950.

Teams of law students compete against each other through the presentation of oral and written pleadings to address timely issues of public international law in the context of a hypothetical legal dispute between nations.

The last time the Philippines won the competition was in 2004 when the Ateneo de Manila University bested the National University of Singapore.

The University of the Philippines also bagged the prestigious award in 1995.

“Ever since the Philippines, took part in the Jessup competition, it’s always either Ateneo de Manila or UP. No other university broke that cycle until USC did it,” Largo said.

Qualifiers

She said USC’s victory last Saturday proved that a law school outside Manila can make it.

“In fact, an organizer of Jessup Philippines said ‘San Beda tried it, UST (University of Sto. Tomas) tried it, as well as many other schools. But it was always between Ateneo and UP,” Largo said.

Law schools in UP, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Far Eastern University-De La Salle University (FEU-DLSU) consortium and USC competed in the qualifiers.

Rashid Pandi, a second year law student, was also named the best oralist in the championship round.

Prestigious  
“We absolutely made history. It was a proof that a law school outside Manila can win,” said Largo, who along with her husband lawyer Daryl Bretch Largo and another lawyer Edmar Lerios, will accompany the USC moot court team to the U.S.

The Jessup International Moot Court Competition is set on April 5 to 11 in Washington D.C.

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