INTRODUCTION
Although I am only a doctor of laws — honoris causa — not a lawyer, I am delighted to join you in celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of this great institution of learning — being an Atenean myself from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

I did, however, try to become a lawyer once, in my younger days. That was cut abruptly by a higher calling — I do not mean the military or the political arena, but the entry of someone named “Ming” into my life.

And even today, especially when I see how disputatious and miserable the lawyers around me often get, i congratulate myself for the wisdom of that choice. At the same time, I realize just how indispensable those lawyer-friends and associates have become to me.

Many of them are Ateneans, and that has been no accident. They offer splendid proof of the signal contributions this law school has been making not only to legal education, but to the task of nation building as well.

I have appointed many graduates from this law school to sensitive positions in the government. Among them, two of the highest-ranking officials in the executive department — occupying positions that must be filled by lawyers: Justice Secretary Teofisto Guingona and Solicitor General Raul Goco.

In the foreign service, at least five ambassadors are among your alumni: Jaime Bautista, Eloy Bello, Jose Brillantes, Franklyn Ebdalyn and Raul Rabe, our Ambassador to the United States. In other high offices, there are Deputy Executive Secretary Rene corona, Undersecretary Ben-hur Salcedo of Energy, and Commissioner Ramon Ereneta of the Civil Service Commission. Two of the Comelec commissioners are from the Ateneo Law School: Commissioner Regalado Maambong and Commissioner Remedios Salazar-Fernando.

Just to show you how much confidence I have in Ateneo, I may perhaps be the only president in the world who has appointed a lawyer to be the head of the nation’s Central Bank — Governor Gabriel c. Singson.

I also note from those before us that our law school is more than adequately represented in congress. I am told that at least thirty congressmen and senators who are your alumni.

I know that this number is enough to make the alumni of any other law school green with envy — and i suspect that there may perhaps be more legislators here this evening than on the floor of the senate and the house of representatives on any given session day.

However, what strikes me is the way all of our solons here seem to be getting along with each other regardless of party affiliation and ideology. I would certainly want to know what enables men from diverse political parties to gather under Ateneo’s roof and enjoy each other’s company, such as Senator Maceda and Congressmen Nani Perez, Tony Cerilles, Ding Tanjuatco, Lee Verceles, Nonoy Garcia, Dags Dilangalen, Willy Enverga and Pol San Buenaventura and many others — whereas, elsewhere they would be freely swinging at each other with verbal blows.

Finally, we have the judiciary, in which you are also well represented. I am aware that three of your alumni are former justices of the supreme court: Leo Medialdea, Lorenzo Relova and, of course, the late Chief Justice, Claudio Teehankee.

At present, you have two active justices, Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena and Justice Sabino de Leon of the Sandiganbayan, and Justice Jorge Imperial and Hector Hofilena in the Court of Appeals.

This is a most impressive roster of alumni by any standard, whether here or abroad. Along with the Ateneo’s many other contributions to our political, economic and cultural history, your law graduates have done this institution and our country proud.
THE CHRISTIAN IDEAL:
YOUR CONTINUING COMMITMENT
When we celebrate the centennial of our independence in 1998, we shall be celebrating as well the sterling accomplishments of the Ateneo, of its law school, and of its most illustrious graduates.

But most of all, I think, we shall be celebrating the continuing vitality of an ideal that the Ateneo best represents: the Christian practice of one’s profession, and personal excellence and virtue for the public good. The Atenean holds the standard of that ideal — the Christian lawyer who cares not only for the means but for the ends of law.

I know, for example, of the excellent and invaluable work that has been done by the Ateneo Human Rights Center. Established in October 1986, this center has been staffed by volunteer professors, students, and alumni, and has become a major resource for workers and activists, as well as a champion advocate in this area of human concerns.

I suppose that there is hardly anything new that anyone — not even a president — can tell a group of people who have made it their profession to cogitate upon the issues of the day, whether philosophically, litigiously, or concretely, as only lawyers can manage.

I am pleased, indeed, that I can presume upon your familiarity with my program of government, and with my resolve to build, during my tenure, a broad and stable foundation for enduring peace, steady growth and social reform.

All I must seek from you today, therefore, is your continuing support for and your commitment to what we have begun. Again, I realize that we may have here a variety of political opinions. But the fact that you can still feel bound by the formative ideals of our great alma mater, the Ateneo, is basis enough for higher unities of principle and of common action.

I ask you to exemplify that quality of solidarity and resolve I ask of all our people. As we approach our independence centennial in 1998 and the 21st century, it would do us well to pause and to ask ourselves if that first century has not been long enough for us to agree on what we want for our beloved Philippines.

I believe that, to a great extent, we have come to that agreement. Some flaws may remain in our electoral, judicial, legislative and bureaucratic processes — but, by and large, we have agreed upon a course of democratic development, of growth with freedom arising out of a corresponding growth in our political maturity, of economic progress balanced by social equity.
MATURING INTO OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
Economically, politically, and socially, the Filipino people are maturing into their roles and responsibilities as freepersons in a world that will demand of them much more than it ever did under four centuries of colonial vassalage.

And we will rise to that challenge, because we did not gain our freedom — we did not learn to value democracy — only to yield them to irresolution and inaction.

But we will do so by rightful means — governed by the most steadfast of humanistic values. We will encourage enterprise, but not exploitation; growth, but not greed.

The interests of the many must prevail over those of the few. But we must respect and value the human rights of every citizen, whatever be his or her station.

The Ateneo’s most illustrious alumnus, Dr. Jose Rizal, must have profited best by his Jesuit education in his affirmation of this ideal. Years before he died, he wrote:

“We should win our freedom by deserving it, by enlightening the mind and raising the dignity of the individual; by loving the just, the good, the great, to the point of being ready to die for it.”

In Rizal, as in the men and women of the Ateneo today, I find the best confluence of those intellectual traditions which have most strongly and richly informed the mind of the modern Filipino.
PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT
And we shall uphold peace over war or violence, for only peace can be the stoutest shelter of democratic development.

We must be worthy of our freedom, by assuming the burdens of peace as gallantly and as patiently as the burdens of war.

The economic growth we are now experiencing could not have been possible without a stable political foundation, based on the bed-rock principles of democracy. The Philippines is proving to the world that economic progress and social cohesion can indeed be achieved without curtailing people’s freedoms.

Filipinos too have had to fight their own battles to protect and maintain democracy in this country. We honor the heroism and vision of Filipino leaders who fought to build an independent nation based on the universal ideals of representative democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.

In this manner also was forged the agreement regarding a transitional arrangement called the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD), between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which, as your president, I see as an important step leading to the comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the long-standing problems of Mindanao.

The SPCPD is intended to be a transitory body that will oversee peace and development efforts in Mindanao. It will, however, be just that. It is not and will not become a substitute for governance in place of local government units whose exercise of authority and autonomy is guaranteed by the local government code of 1991.

I realize that it is natural for people to be apprehensive when trying something new. Let us cast aside our fears. The times we are living in are rapidly changing, and they call for innovative ways to deal with conflicts and problems.

It is time for us to abandon our parochial and insular way of looking at things. We can no longer look at Zamboanga, Cotabato, Basilan and other areas in Mindanao in isolation. We have to give priority to the greater welfare of the majority who are already tired of confrontation and conflict, and who wish to embrace the sweeter fruits of peace and development. Definitely, all Filipinos, not just Mindanaoans, will benefit from such a comprehensive, just and enduring peace that is accompanied by sustainable development.

Let me say that the gains of our nation over the past four years are based on the dividends of peace and development arising from our greater political stability and social cohesion — now, as compared to previous periods. All this has been built up from our unity in diversity, our solidarity behind our common vision of “Philippines 2000!!!”, and our teamwork in facing the challenges of the future.
SERVING AS GOD’S OWN ADVOCATE
From the legal luminaries of the Ateneo, I seek your continuing advocacy of peace, justice, human rights, and progress for all. Be the conscience of our people, be god’s own advocate in our courts, in our legislature, in the many arenas of our political, economic and social life.

Your training has vested you with the intellectual and moral capacity to assume that burden. What remains is the need to preserve one’s personal commitment and one’s integrity, to contribute one’s willingness to the formation of a critical mass of morality within the legal profession and within government itself.

I need your help in many spheres of action. I need your help in ferreting out and eradicating graft and corruption. I need your help in educating our citizens — indeed, even some of our own law enforcers — on the supremacy — and yet also the practical workings — of the law.

The time has come for us to recover and to burnish our national image back to the heroic luster of the past; to keep our society along the path of what Rizal called the just, the good, and the great; to purge ourselves of the evils that taint our public and private lives; and to build for our nation — and for your profession — a fresh reputation for excellence, honesty, competitiveness and dedication in pursuing our national interest and public welfare.

I know that we have it well within us to achieve these ends. The reserves of moral courage and patriotism that have sustained our nation through every crisis in our national experience remain as inexhaustible as ever.
CLOSING
Finally, i ask you, fellow alumni of Ateneo, to help me in this mission of moral regeneration by setting an example for others to emulate. To a school committed to the development of good Christian lawyers, the emphasis on integrity and service embodies the spirit of God and country that has long been the hallmark of this institution.

With its tradition of excellence, I know that the Ateneo college of law can look forward to a new century of even more remarkable growth and service. Sixty years of solid contributions to the nation is, by any standard, an eminent distinction.

Once more, I congratulate you on your 60th anniversary, and challenge you to attain even greater heights of excellence for our people’s well-being.

Thank you and good night.