The Legal Education Board (LEB) has called on law schools nationwide to take an active role in forming principled lawyers and leaders who will help curb corruption, stressing that legal education must be at the forefront of restoring trust in governance.
In a statement, LEB Chairperson Jason R. Barlis said the regulatory body of law schools stands with the president and the public in demanding accountability and transparency amid the controversy surrounding infrastructure programs.
Barlis likened corruption to “termites eating away at the foundations of democratic institutions.”
“At a time when billions are being lost to systemic abuses, silence is not an option. The LEB joins the Filipino people in demanding accountability and real reform,” he said.
The LEB also announced three initiatives to institutionalize anti-corruption education: a nationwide elective course on anti-corruption laws and governance, a legal research paper prize dedicated to policy and governance reforms, and a model syllabus and faculty engagement program led by Commissioner Lorenzo R. Reyes, which is expected to roll out in the second semester of academic year 2025–2026.
“These are deliberate steps to ensure law schools produce not only competent lawyers but principled leaders who will resist, expose, and dismantle corruption,” the LEB said.
The body also appealed to law professors and students to support efforts in demanding reforms, underscoring that “building a transparent and corruption-free Philippines is both a patriotic duty and a professional responsibility”
Follow Tan Briones & Associates on LinkedIn for more legal updates and law-related articles.