Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu congratulates the DENR employees who passed the 2017 Bar examinations. In photo are (from left) lawyers Wendell Caoagas, Andrea Victoria Amog, Jiana Joselle de Guzman, Fatima Angeli Tan and Lovely Grazette Quiben. Contibuted photo
Young, fresh and very dynamic.
These are the traits of the nine fresh law graduates when they ventured into the world of government service, dispensing their duties as legal researchers at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Now, they are reporting at the DENR鈥檚 legal affairs service with a new feather in their cap鈥攖he title 鈥渁ttorney鈥� attached to their names.
The DENR鈥檚 new lawyers are Attys. Wendell Caoagas, Andrea Victoria Amog, Jiana Joselle de Guzman, Fatima Angeli Tan, Lovely Grazette Quiben, Minette Sioson, Edna Francisco, Joseph Christopher Torralba and Kris Rajiani Nagera.
Caoagas and Amog were from the University of Santo Tomas; Sioson, Torralba, Tan and Nagera were from San Beda College-Mendiola; De Guzman was from Far Eastern University; Quiben was from Saint Louis University-Baguio; while Francisco was from University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi.
They are among the 25.5% who passed the 2017 Bar examinations.
READ: FULL LIST: 2017 Bar examination passers
Organic officials at the DENR said the hiring of fresh talents is what makes the DENR relevant up to this day, thus, remaining to be in tip-top shape to face the daily challenges confronting the environment sector.
The DENR was established in 1917 and had been responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, development, utilization, and conservation of the country鈥檚 natural resources.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu led the awarding of recognition to the nine new lawyers in a simple ceremony at the DENR Central Office in Quezon City on Monday.
The DENR also acknowledge the work of the four other legal counsels of the DENR legal affairs service for their outstanding academic achievements.
鈥淲e have a very high batting average, imagine nine of our very own鈥� passed the Bar,鈥� Cimatu said, noting that the nine legal researchers were hired by the DENR before they passed the Bar, just like the four of their colleagues in the legal affairs service.
鈥淚t only means that we have the best people here in DENR,鈥� Cimatu said.
The DENR secretary also noted that the success of his programs regarding the acceleration of resolving environment-related cases now clogging up the DENR鈥檚 legal office is now more assured now that the nine law graduates are now to become full-fledged lawyers.
The four other lawyers were recognized for their outstanding academic achievement in their post-graduate programs. Cimatu stressed that their achievements are widely regarded by the Department as 鈥渁 significant push鈥� to raise the quality of professionalism and competence being cultivated by the DENR management for its 16,000-strong workforce.
The four lawyers who were recognized were Atty. Amiel Ian Valdez (Summa Cum Laude), Atty. Ronnel Sopsop (Class Valedictorian), Atty. Arlyn Buduhan (Best Paper), Atty. Ismael Manaligod (With Honors) and Atty. Amiel Ian Valdez (Summa Cum Laude).
Valdez, who is with the Claims and Conflicts Division of Legal Affairs Service at the DENR-Central Office, finished his Master of Environmental Law this year with 鈥淔irst Class Honors鈥� (equivalent to Summa Cum Laude) at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia.
Part of Valdez鈥檚 academic achievement was a paper he wrote titled 鈥淓xamining the extent and limits of the Philippine Writ of Kalikasan as tool to compel the government to fulfill its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.鈥�
Valdez鈥檚 paper garnered the gold award during the 鈥�23rd Conference of the Parties sa United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change鈥� (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany.
Sopsop came out as 鈥淐lass Valedictorian鈥� from this year鈥檚 batch of DENR scholars under the Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Management Course at the DENR鈥檚 Environment and Natural Resources Academy in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija. He was also given the 鈥淟eadership Award鈥� by the EBR Academy.
Buduhan, chief of Enforcement Office in DENR Region 1, finished her Masters Degree in Development Management at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) with a paper she authored 鈥淪ystem of Monitoring and Regulating Sources of Raw Materials of Small-Scale Wood Processing Industries,鈥� which received the 鈥淏est Smart Regulation Re-Entry Project鈥� prize.
Manaligod, head of the Legal Office, DENR-Region 2 in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan finished his Senior Executive Class in Public Management Development Program also at DAP with a special award 鈥淥utstanding Capstone Paper鈥� for his paper 鈥淕rill or No Grill: Exploring Policy Alternatives on Wood Charcoal Value Chain in the Philippines.鈥�
DENR executives said the Department will be in good hands with these new honest and talented people on board handling sensitive posts at the agency.