UST CIVIL Law professor Rafaelito Garayblas, a former top official of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) and aide to ex-mayor Alfredo Lim, died last Jan. 21. He was 77 years old.
Aside from UST and PLM, Garayblas had taught in the University of the East, City College of Manila, Philippine Christian University, and the University of Manila.
Garayblas served as chief of staff to Lim when the latter was senator from 2004-2007, and secretary to the mayor when Lim occupied city hall from 2007 to 2013. He was undersecretary when Lim was interior chief in 2000 to 2001.
Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said Garayblas had “consistent outstanding performance as gathered from students’ evaluation results.”
“While competent law professors abound, his loss leaves a void which will be difficult to fill,” Divina told the Varsitarian.
Former UST economics department chairman Emmanuel Lopez, a close friend of Garayblas, described him as an astute and knowledgeable man in the academe.
“Attorney Garayblas was [a] man of few words. He was firm but kind-hearted. He was willing to help those who asked for it,” Lopez, now dean of the Letran-Manila Graduate School, told the Varsitarian.
Garayblas earned his bachelor’s degree in English at the University in 1962.
He obtained his Bachelor of Laws in the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1966 and passed the Bar examinations in 1967.
In 1992, he started teaching at the UST College of Commerce, and in 2003, at the Faculty of Civil Law.
Ellize Gonzales, a former student of Garayblas, said he was the “saving grace” of Thomasian law students in distress.
“You (Garayblas) have this calm way of handling your classes; both ensuring that the student is learning and enjoying at the same time,” she said on her Facebook post.
“Rest in peace, Atty. Garayblas. One of the most ‘human’ profs I had in UST. Humble yet accomplished,” Nats Magbalon, a Civil Law graduate.
His remains will be interred at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina on Jan. 25.
