Former UP College of Law (CL) dean and one of the Philippines鈥 giants in international law, Merlin M. Magallona, passed away on the evening of Jan. 1. He was 87.
According to the report of Celeste Ann Lopez Castillo of the UP Media and Public Relations Office (), Magallona was described by stalwarts of the Philippine judiciary as a 鈥溾楩ilipino luminary in the field of international law,鈥 鈥榓 pillar of the Philippines鈥 international legal academy,鈥 and 鈥榦ne of the best Supreme Court justices we, unfortunately, did not have,鈥 not to mention 鈥榦ne of the staunchest legal defenders of our country鈥檚 territorial sovereignty.鈥欌
Many of Magallona鈥檚 colleagues and former students remembered him fondly as they expressed their grief on his passing.
On his Twitter account @TedTe,聽聽presidential spokesperson to former President Benigno S. Aquino III and CL faculty, Theodore Te, tweeted: 鈥淭he forest is barer because a great tree has fallen. RIP Dean Merlin Magallona, who shaped PIL (Philippine International Law) through the generations of students you taught. I am privileged to have been one of the many but also to have served with you, absorbing your insights and your incomparable wit.鈥
This incomparable wit was testified to by human rights advocate and founding dean of the De La Salle University College of Law, Chel Diokno, in his Apr. 12, 2019 tweet (@ChelDiokno): 鈥淎 question by Prof. Merlin Magallona, noong sinagot ko, sinigawan ako. Kasi ang sagot ko, 鈥楽ir, what I鈥檓 trying to say is鈥 鈥 Sabi niya 鈥楧on鈥檛 try to say it, just say it!鈥欌
The Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL/@AsianSil) tweeted its condolences and called Magallona 鈥渁 committed champion鈥 of international law and 鈥渢eacher who have inspired thousands of students.鈥 Magallona was one of AsianSIL鈥檚 founding members.
Meanwhile, former Philippine Star journalist and UP College of Law and UP Diliman College of Mass Communication alum Romel Bagares, in his tweet (@dooyeweerdian) called the former law dean as 鈥減roperly the Dean of critical international law in the Philippines鈥 and paid tribute to 鈥渉is pedagogical legacy.鈥
In an online article of Abogado () Bagares, himself a professor of international law at the Lyceum University College of Law, credited Magallona for developing a 鈥渄istinctive dualist approach to the Philippine practice of international law,鈥 and paving the way for the rebirth of the Philippine Society of International Law (PSIL), among others.聽
Castillo cited a few of the more than 40 publications on international law that Magallona wrote: 鈥淚nternational Law: A Bar Reviewer鈥 (2018), 鈥淕lobalization and Sovereignty: The Republic in Crisis鈥 (2017), 鈥淟egal Education: The Search for its Strategic Center in Filipino Cultural Development (2016), 鈥淭he Philippines in the International Law of the Sea,鈥 (2015), 鈥淧hilippine Constitution and International Law鈥 (2013), 鈥淒ictionary of Contemporary International Law鈥 (2011), 鈥淪upreme Court and International Law: Problems and Approaches in International Law鈥 (2010), 鈥淔undamentals of Public International Law鈥 (2005), 鈥淎 Primer on the Relation of Philippine Law and International Law鈥 (2000), 鈥淚nternational Issues in Philippine Perspective鈥 (1998), 鈥淎 Primer on the Law of the Sea鈥 (1997), 鈥淎 Primer on the Law of Treaties鈥 (1997), 鈥淛apan in the New State of World Capitalism: Problems in Law and Development in Philippine-Japanese Relations鈥 (1995), and 鈥淭he Dismantling of the Philippine State鈥 (1994).
On the Feb. 3, 2015 post of the UP College of Law on its Facebook page, the college mentioned that Magallona was a resource speaker at the resumption of the joint hearings of the committees on constitutional amendments, local government and peace. Magallona spoke his views on the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.聽
Castillo wrote that Magallona was known for staunchly 鈥渦pholding the Philippines鈥 territorial sovereignty against the incursions of foreign powers such as China.鈥
Born on Aug. 6, 1934, Magallona earned his bachelor of laws from the UP College of Law and served as one of the college鈥檚 faculty, teaching international law. He then became its associate dean from 1991 to 1995 and later its dean from 1995 to 1999. He also served as director of the UP Law Center Institute of International Legal Studies from 2000 to 2001.
Magallona was a participant in the Tokyo External Session of The Hague Academy in 1968, a visiting fellow at Oxford University in 1969, and a visiting research fellow at the Graduate School of International Development of Nagoya University in 1994.
In 1999, the Judicial and Bar Council nominated him to the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court. He was chair of the Department of International and Human Rights Law of the Academic Council of the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court, and was a member of the Panel of Arbitrators of the Permanent Court of Arbitrators.
He was undersecretary of foreign affairs in 2001 until his resignation in July 2002. He was a member of the Supreme Court Committee on Legal Education from 1999 to 2003.
Magallona was counsel for the Philippines in the oral arguments before the International Court of Justice. He handled the case of 鈥淟egality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons鈥 (Advisory Opinion, 1995), and the case, 鈥淐oncerning Sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan (Indonesia v. Malaysia),鈥 in which the Philippines intervened in 2001.
Magallona was a member of the expert group on the legal aspects of the New International Economic Order established by the UN Institute on Training and Research in 1992, and was listed as an expert in human rights of the UN Human Rights Commission. From 1999 to 2000, he served as a member of the arbitral tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France.
In 2002, he represented the Philippines in the working group of the UN Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome in 1998. He headed the Philippine delegation to the meeting of the International Criminal Court Preparatory Committee in 2002. In 2004, the Supreme Court appointed him as amicus curiae (an impartial adviser to a court of law) in the controversial Fernando Poe citizenship case. He was part of the organizing committee and the executive council of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) in 2004 and was a member of the International Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the International Honor Society for the Social Sciences, Pi Gamma Mu.
Magallona鈥檚 passing may have been a 鈥渟ad day for many of us,鈥 as Marvic Leonen, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines put it, but he left behind many prominent legal eagles who Leonen said Magallona had shaped.聽The university echoes Leonen鈥檚 (@marvicleonen) gratitude to the scholar and mentor of many: 鈥淭hank you and we carry on with your legacy.鈥
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