ROCKWELL, MAKATI CITY.- The Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS) moved a notch higher yesterday by creating a special committee on accreditation chaired by retired Justice Hilarion Aquino, who is now the dean of Cagayan State University College of Law.

The move came after PALS noted that despite the passage of Republic Act 7662, the Supreme Court did not act on it on the basis of the perceived unconstitutionality of some of its provisions.

The law created the Legal Education Board which would serve as the governing body for all law schools in the country. It was authored by then Cong. Dante Tinga who is now one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court.

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With Tinga at the Supreme Court, he pushed for the appointment of the LEB members through the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) which submitted a list of nominees to the Office of the President.

However, no one was appointed to the LEB as it has no budget. This year, Congress allocated P10 million for LEB but PALS believe that only few would be interested because under the law, members of the LEB would be considered full time with a very meager salary and there is even no retirement pay.

PALS perception is that the Supreme Court does not want to have an added burden of governing the law schools while the Commission on Higher Education is also hesitant to exercise authority over law schools in particular.

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Beset with this predicament plus the sprouting of law schools all over the country, PALS took the cudgel of self-governance by proposing to accredit law schools in the country like what PAASCU and other accrediting bodies are doing.

For starters, representatives from the American Bar Association (ABA) will meet PALS this summer in order to give an orientation regarding the accreditation of law schools.
By the way, Dean Amado Valdez of the University of the East also informed PALS that Justice Tinga, who will chair the bar exams this year, has proposed further changes in the conduct of the country's toughest examinations.

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SP UPDATE. With the transfer of the regular session day of the 10th Sangguniang Panlungsod from Wednesdays to Mondays, this portion may be no longer news to our dear readers. It's more of history.

Be that as it may, the city council approved last Monday the P295-million budget for the city government. City Budget Officer Rose Palma and City Planning Officer Ed Macalandar assisted the city councillors in scrutinizing the budget during the executive session held prior to the budget approval which was unanimous and without any amendment.

Kudos to City Councilor Oscar B. Glovasa and the members of the committee on appropriations for a job well done.

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INBOX. Juan Torillo Jr. Who is in Tokyo, Japan has this suggestion sent through an e-mail regarding the proposed water treatment facility in Tagbilaran.

He wrote: "This matter is related to waste water treatment facility issue in Tagbilaran City. Protecting and conserving water environment is part of my studies at present here in Tokyo University of Agriculture. In connection with, I would like to suggest the most easiest, affordable and environment friendly way of treating polluted water.

The main point is to use natural source of material available in the region. By using gravel, rock and charcoal is one of the effective method to discontaminate and improve water quality.

In this regard, may I ask your favor to convey this matter to the responsible personnel and let me know whether this method can be utilize so I will prepare the sketch on how it will be done and send it to you later. I hope for your kind cooperation in this matter."

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For comments and suggestions, just e-mail to the following e-mail addresses: obiter@boholchronicle.com