UP confers honorary doctor of laws degree on Carpio

The University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law on Thursday conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree upon retired Supreme Court (SC) senior associate justice Antonio Carpio.

Carpio, an esteemed jurist, retired from the SC in 2019 after 18 years of service. He is also an expert in maritime law and has extensively advocated for the Philippines' entitlements in the West Philippine Sea.

He obtained his law degree from the UP College of Law and graduated valedictorian in 1975. He also taught in the college for nine years.

"I have his word that he will teach again," UP law dean Fides Cordero-Tan said in the livestreamed conferment ceremony.

"He was militant in his college days, calling the people in government 'the enthroned rascals.' He is militant still, he is militant ever more, he is daring, and he dared," Tan said.

The degree of doctor of laws is the "highest academic recognition of an individual's contributions to the advancement of a field in a particular discipline through one's extraordinary accomplishments," according to UP.

In his speech, Carpio called on the Philippines' "best and brightest legal warriors" to stand up for the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

"In this historic battle to secure our EEZ, we must rely on the most powerful weapon invented by man -- in the settlement of disputes among states, weapons that can immobilize armies, neutralize aircraft carriers, render irrelevant nuclear bombs, level the battlefield between small nations and superpowers, that weapon, the great equalizer, is the rule of law," he said.

"Under the rule of law, right prevails over might," he said.—LDF, GMA News