LAW students of the University of Cebu (UC) won in a recent moot court competition in Manila, besting students from 16 other law schools in the country.
The team, composed of two oralists, eight researchers and one coach, was declared champion of the National Moot Court Competition on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), held in the Ateneo de Manila University from Sept. 28 to 30.
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Virgil Vallecera and Manuel Elijah Sarausad, the team’s oralists, were also named the best mooter and second best mooter, respectively.
The UC team became the first in the competition’s history to win all the major awards, having won also the role-play challenge, where they simulated practical applications of the IHL, and the best memorial award.
They will represent the Philippines in the Asia-Pacific regional finals in Hong Kong next year.
Vallecera, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, said their success was a result of having very good researchers, their excellent training in UC and having “a lot of prayer groups.”
“We have a very good support team. Without them, we couldn’t have bagged the championship,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.
“I guess our edge was the great support team we have—from the researchers to our great coach and supportive faculty,” Sarausad said.
“Also, in our daily classes in UC, students are trained to think on their feet, answering hard questions from professors. So in a way, facing judges in a moot court competition is not an entirely new thing for UC students,” he said.
Vallecera and Sara-usad faced tough grilling from a panel composed of Associate Justice Lourdes Sereno, lawyers Harry Roque and Lorna Kapunan, Dr. Mario Aguja of Mindanao State University-General Santos and Fork Leong Yow, legal officer of the International Committee on Red Cross (ICRC) in Kuala Lumpur.
“It was tough from the eliminations to the final round. The judges gave us a hard time with all their questions,” Sarausad said.
Simulated
In a moot court competition, participants take part in simulated court proceedings, draft memorials or briefs and participate in oral argument.
Lawyer Cheryl Cabutihan, the team’s coach, said it was UC’s third time to participate in the competition. The first time they joined, they reached the semifinals.
“Our research team is very good and our oralists are equally competent,” Cabutihan said in a phone interview.
Members of the research team are Kara Mae Noveda, Gibran Abu Bakar, Kristine Monsanto, John Menguito, Joana de Suyo, Fellain Marquez, Merachelle Boraccho and Monique Paloma, who is also an alternate to the oralists.
Noveda said they read and research a lot to prepare for the competition. She said they also watched videos of moot court debates on YouTube.com.
“We studied ahead as a group,” she told Sun.Star Cebu. She said that during the contest, the judges asked questions that “tested their mastery of the law” “It really required skill and intelligence,” added Noveda.
The competition, which started in 2005, aims to promote awareness on the International Humanitarian Law, a body of law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict.
It is organized every year by the ICRC, the Philippine Red Cross, the Philippine Association of Law Schools, and the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
“It was really a learning experience. Not all law students get the chance to compete in a moot court,” Sarausad said.
“During the finals, it was overwhelming to be in the Supreme Court and speak before the highest court. It’s a dream come true,” he said.
source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2011/10/03/uc-law-students-win-moot-court-contest-182814
http://cebulive.wordpress.com/tag/virgil-vallecera/
http://www.redcross.org.ph/feature/ihl-mootcourtcomp2011-rules.pdf
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