A Faculty of Civil Law sophomore landed third in the Supreme Court (SC) Centennary Essay Writing Contest sponsored by the SC and the Philippine Association of Law Schools last June 26.
A former Managing editor of the Varsitarian, Adrian Montemayor was a Journalism cum laude graduate of the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
The contest, with the theme “The Role of the Supreme Court in a Democratic Society,” was held to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the SC.
In his essay titled “The Supreme Court, Simplified,” Montemayor adapted with some modifications a featurized story of a 59-year-old woman accused of possession of illegal drugs. She was later acquitted by the SC as findings showed that she was a victim of a police set-up. The essay discussed how the SC reversed the decision of the lower court to send the woman to her death.
“It entails several weeks of research and review, of painstaking scrutiny of evidence previously turned inside-out by the lower court, and of reversing its own decisions if need be to prevent a miscarriage of justice,” he wrote.
The champion and the second place winner in the contest were fourth-year law students of the Far Eastern University (FEU).
The contest was divided into three categories, debate, oratorical contest, and essay writing. Participating law schools included University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila, Xavier University, and FEU.
However, the University only joined in the debate and the essay writing contest. The UST debaters, led by veteran debater and Central Student Council president Arlene Maneja, failed to reach in the finals. Marie Carisa U. Ordinario
