Officials from the US Embassy, US DOJ-OPDAT, UM, and MYVC join the delegates from UM College of Law and ADDU College of Law.[/caption]"Stop kidding around," intoned Atty. Neil Y. Pacamalan, Cultural Affairs Specialist for Mindanao, Public Affairs Section, of U.S. Embassy. "This is not for the US Embassy, but for Mindanawons."
Atty. Pacamalan was referring to the two-day Basic Orientation Seminar (BOS) on Legal Aid, which was organized by the U.S. Embassy, Manila and the Mindanao Youth Volunteer Corps. The BOS is attended by 31 law students, 21 of which come from University of Mindanao, and 10 are from Ateneo de Davao University.
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Atty. Neil Pacamalan, Cultural Affairs Specialist for Mindanao, Public Affairs Section, US Embassy, Manila.[/caption]According to Atty. Pacamalan, who gave an introduction on what the purpose of the BOS is, Mindanao has a lot of problems, legal problems at that. Law students, he said, should lend their knowledge of the law to address these problems.
Acknowledging the heavy workload of a law student, Atty. Pacamalan nevertheless encouraged the students to get involved, and disabuse themselves from worrying over their petty problems.
"If you continue to stick to your selfishness," he said, "if you always think that you have no time to help others because you have to study first, then nothing will happen to Mindanao."
One way of helping the community in which law students are a part of, he said, is through establishing a Legal Aid Office, which is primarily run by law students, and working on it seriously.
"Tell us if you need our help," he said. "We will help you. But if you don't, we are not forcing you. But we are knocking on your door. Help Mindanao."
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