SENATOR Juan Edgardo Angara will lead the Senate in commending and congratulating the University of the Philippines College of Law Jessup Team for winning the 2024 Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition.

Angara is set to file a resolution to commend UP College of Law for besting 641 other teams and bringing pride to the Philippines.

It was only the third time that the Philippines has won in the prestigious moot court competition, the first being in 1995 with a team also from the UP College of Law and then in 2004 with a team from the Ateneo de Manila University.

In his resolution, Angara hailed the success of the UP Law Jessup Team as a demonstration of the skill and mettle of our Filipino law students and a clear testament to the quality of our country’s legal education.

“Winning the Jessup Moot Court Competition is no small task. A total of 642 teams from 100 countries took part in the event and they include the best law schools in the world. Being a product of the UP College of Law myself, their victory fills me with so much pride,” Angara said.

The UP Law Jessup Team was the only Philippine team that made it through the quarterfinal stage of the competition.

In the final round, they defeated the team from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella of Argentina to emerge as the 2024 Jessup Moot Court Competition world champions.

The winning team is composed of Mary Regine Dadole, Pauline De Leon, Pauline Samantha Sagayo, Chinzen Viernes, and Ignacio Lorenzo Villareal.

Villareal was named the Best Oralist in the championship round.

Implemented and administered by the International Law Students Association, the 2024 iteration of the Jessup Moot Court Competition, which was held in Washington DC, utilized a simulation of a fictional dispute between two nations before the International Court of Justice.

The team was coached by UP Law professor Marianne Vitug, who was herself a finals best oralist in the 22nd Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court in 2018 and a top 10 oralist in the Jessup 2019.

The faculty advisor of the team was Professor Rommel Casis.

“The consistently strong performance of the Philippines in these moot court exercises is a clear testament to the quality of our legal education. We must continue to foster academic excellence, not only in the field of law but also in other disciplines,” Angara said.