By Atty. Julius Gregory B. Delgado

IBP-BOHOL CHAPTER HOLDS FIRST (1 ST ) WEEKEND OF ITS MANDATORY CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION (MCLE) SEMINAR FOR LAWYERS FOR THE EIGHTH (8 TH ) COMPLIANCE PERIOD

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Bohol Chapter hosted the first two (2) days of its four (4)-
day Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Seminar last Friday and yesterday, 27-28 October 2023, at MetroCentre Hotel and Convention Center. Through Bar Matter No. 850 promulgated by the Supreme Court on October 2, 2001, the purpose of MCLE is to ensure that throughout their career, lawyers will keep abreast with law and jurisprudence (recent rulings of the Supreme Court) and maintain ethics of the profession and enhance the standards of the practice of law. A period of three (3) years constitutes a Compliance Period. The cycle is already in the Eighth (8 th ) Compliance Period which is from April 15, 2022 to April 14, 2025. It means that lawyers who wish to practice their profession must undergo and attend MCLE Seminar for 36 Hours or MCLE Credit Units distributed through the following subjects: (a) Legal Ethics – six (6) units; (b) Trial and Pre-Trial Skills – four (4) credit units; (c) Alternative Dispute Resolution – five (5) credit units; (d) Updates on Substantive and Procedural Laws and Jurisprudence – nine (9) credit units; (e) Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy – four (4) credit units; and (f) MCLE-Prescribed subjects – six (6) credit units. As such, by April 25, 2025,
lawyers must have already finished his MCLE Seminar for the Eighth (8 th ) Compliance Period and should have the corresponding MCLE Compliance Certificate. As of this period, lawyers must have finished MCLE Seminar for the Seventh (7 th ) Compliance Period which originally ran from April 15, 2019 to April 14, 2022 but was extended for one (1) year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, lawyers were
given until last April 14, 2023 to undergo MCLE Seminar for the Seventh (7 th ) Compliance Period and obtain the corresponding MCLE Compliance Certificate.
Lawyers, including those who passed the 2020/21 Bar Examinations or dubbed as Leonen Bar
Passers or Best Bar Ever Passers, will need to comply full 36 MCLE credit units. For those who passed the 2022 Bar Examinations or Caguioa Bar Passers, they need to comply 24 credit units broken down on thefollowing subjects: Updates on Substantive and Procedural Laws (6 Units); MCLE Committee-Prescribed (4 Units); Legal Ethics (4 Units); Alternative Dispute Resolution (3 Units); Legal Writing and OralAdvocacy (3 Units); Trial and Pre-Trial Skills (3 Units); and International Law (1 Unit). For the first two (2) days of the MCLE Seminar of IBP-Bohol Chapter, the following were the topics: 1) Effective Advocacy and Legal Writing Before the Appellate Courts with Updates in Jurisprudence (Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy) by Court of Appeals-Visayas Station Executive Justice Pamela Ann A. Maxino; 2) Drafting of Arbitration Clauses and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (Alternative Dispute Resolution) by Quisumbing Torres Partner Atty. Dranyl Jared P. Amoroso; 3) Recent Developments in Labor Laws and Social Legislation with Updates of Relevant Jurisprudence (Updates onSubstantive and Procedural Laws and Jurisprudence) by Associate Dean Cecilio D. Duka; 4) Lawyering for
Mother Nature: Latest Trends in Environmental Law and Relevant Jurisprudence (MCLE-Prescribed) by= Law Professor Benjamin A. Cabrido, Jr.; 5) IBP Hour: Latest Trends in Bar Discipline and Recent Updates
of Jurisprudence in Legal Ethics by IBP Governor for Eastern Visayas Atty. Marlo V. Destura; 6) Keeping Abreast: Latest Tax Updates Relative to the Practice of Law (Updates in Substantive and Procedural Laws and Recent Jurisprudence) by Punongbayan and Araullo Senior Manager Atty. Kim M. Aranas; 7) Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (Legal Ethics) by Retired Court of Appeals Justice Gabriel T. Ingles; 8) Effective Legal Memorandum Writing (Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy) by Law Book Author
Atty. May S. Aguilar; and 9) Updates in Election Laws and Relevant Jurisprudence by Regional Election Lawyer Atty. Ferdinand G.S. Gujilde.