The Hague, the Netherlands – Philippine Ambassador to The Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya conducted a book lecture at the Teaching and Researching International Law (TRILA) Conference organized by the National University of Singapore’s Centre for International Law (NUS CIL), in partnership with the Philippine Society of International Law and the Philippine Association of Law Schools.
Featured at the book lecture held on July 3 was his book “Philippine Treaties in Force 2020” which is co-authored with Atty. Crystal Gale Dampil-Mandigma, a foreign service officer-lawyer at the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs.
The first such publication in decades, Philippine Treaties in Force 2020 is a comprehensive index to the 3,367 subsisting bilateral, ASEAN and multilateral agreements entered into the country since 1946, with links to online treaty databases for most of the agreements. The book is published in March 2021 by the University of the Philippines Law Center.
In his presentation, which was moderated by Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, Malaya cited the importance of making the country’s treaties readily accessible to the public. “Treaties embody our country’s commitments and legal obligations, or its flipside, our county’s rights and entitlements vis-à-vis the international community. The provisions in agreements present immense opportunities to our country and people,” he said. “Entrepreneurs, exporters and companies can benefit from agreements on trade access, investment promotion and protection, and avoidance of double taxation. Farmers and fisher folks may benefit from foreign technical and development assistance. Students and the youth can avail of educational and cultural exchange programs. For policy makers, we need to know what are our contractual rights and obligations, where the gaps are with respect to our development and other priorities, and what we need to work on.”
Malaya is the author, main author or editor of nine books, including three on treaty law and practice, namely “Treaties: Guidance on Practice and Procedure” (2018), with U.P. Law Professor Rommel J. Casis; “Philippine Treaties Index 1946-2010,” with Maria Antonina Mendoza-Oblena and Allan Casupanan; and “Philippine Treaties in Force 2020.”
The speakers, moderators and panellists at the three-day TRILA conference included Judge Raul C. Pangalangan (formerly with the International Criminal Court), Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan (Philippine Society of International Law; University of the Philippines College of Law), Dean Sol Mawis (Philippine Association of Law Schools), Professor Antony Anghie (NUS Centre for International Law), Dr. Lowell Bautista (University of Wollongong School of Law), Professor Sedfrey Candelaria (Ateneo de Manila University School of Law), Dean Rodel Talon (San Sebastian College-Recoletos School of Law), Professor Mohammad Shahabuddin (University of Birmingham Law School).
The conference is the seventh in the series of country-specific programmes that are part of the ‘TRILA on the Road’ initiative of the NUS CIL. TRILA aims to foster the development of Asian scholars, practitioners, officials and diplomats who are highly knowledgeable and skilled in international law and its operations in a continuously changing global environment. (END)
