UP Law vs. Arellano Law et al
The issue brought to the august halls of this Tribunal is whether or not torn freshmen who want a “better” life in terms of balancing life, school, love (kahit wag na lang un), and career, of UP Law should transfer to Arellano Law whose academic curriculum is, according to the great words of Madame Justice Ma. Aiza “Maan” Sumpo, “pro-working student”.
The substantive issues are the following:
Private petitioner Madame Justice Ma. Preciosa Cardenas applied for the position of full-time trainer at HSBC in Makati. She was willing to have a shifting schedule, provided that, if possible, the schedule of her 6-9 PM law classes in UP would not be affected including an hour’s worth of travelling time henceforth hoping for a 5-10 PM unaffected time.
Fully knowing that that particular set-up might not work, she conditioned her mind for what the interviewer would say:
I: Give a brief presentation of yourself according to your resume.
P: Well, I’m originally from Laguna and everyday, for six days a week, I go back and forth from there to Quezon City, specifically in UP, where I study law.
I: I see. I’ve noticed that in your resume, most of the jobs you have listed in your resume are parttime. In terms of commitment, since the company demands exclusivity, would you be willing to sacrifice some of these for us?
P: Definitely. As what has been stated in my resume, most of the jobs I have right now are parttime output or project-based and so I have the option and privilege of refusing a project if it would be in conflict with my schedule. I was just hoping that, if possible, since I am also a first year law student with a 6-9 PM schedule, M-F, that this the time between 5-10 PM in my schedule would not be affected.
I: But you see Ms. Cardenas, of course, I don’t want us to be wasting each other’s time (OUCH!) so I’d be very straight. First of all, our training schedule’s 8:30 PM to 5:30 AM. I can see, judging from your resume, you are very qualified for the position, however, the company couldn’t be investing big money in you until you fix your priorities. So I will be placing your resume in an active file. If you’ve decided what you really want, you could just give us a call and we’d be happy to have you with us in HSBC.
P: (withholding her tears not because of the outright rejection even before she could give a demo-teaching but because of the “priorities” issue) I fully understand ma’am. I do. It’s very much okay ma’am. Anyway, I really have no choice since the working class in UP Diliman are only given a single option for class schedule. Thank you so much for your time.
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Private petitioner Cardenas has locus standi. She, just like everyone else in her class, are struggling to balance work and studies while at the same time checking every now and then if what is left of their salaries after photocopying cases worth as much as P200/day for a single subject is enough to afford them a decent living.
Circumstantial evidence would prove that Cardenas, just like some of her classmates, need additional, if not, better-paying jobs to help support themselves all the way through five years of law school and at the same time, help with household, domestic, nevermind “personal” (translation: lovelife expenses), expenses.
And so she is presented the following solutions:
a. continue UP law and pray to all the saints that there is a better-paying job that would suit her qualifications and not be in conflict with her classes
b. drop UP law, accept the HSBC job offer, take the LAE again after two years or more of saving and wallow in misery while her batchmates are already doing their OLA practicum
c. drop UP law, enroll next year in Arellano Law and accept the HSBC job offer
Just a brief presentation of facts. Arellano Law School charges P1400/unit. UP Law, P300/unit. It has an executive program of law classes on weekends, eight hours a day (four subjects). HSBC’s salary for accent trainers is P40,000/month.
Private petitioner prays for relief and presentation of separate concurring and dissenting opinions from her colleagues in this noble Tribunal.
