Role Model-Leg Prof

MEMBER OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION THAT I WOULD LIKE TO BE A
ROLE MODEL
What is a role model? As defined it is an individual who is looked up to and

revered by someone else. A role model is someone who other individuals aspire to
be like, either in the present or in the future. A role model may be someone who you
know and interact with on a regular basis, or may be someone who you've never
met, such as a celebrity. Common role models include well known actors, public
figures such as police men or political officials, teachers or other educators, and
parents or other family members. I have always considered Atty. Katrina Legarda as
my role model. She is the very essence of woman empowerment and success. As a
student lawyer, her acts, her brilliance and her advocacy are the things that makes
me love her.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Atty. Legarda was born in Manila, a member of the prominent Roces-Legarda
clan. She grew up in England where her mother, Carmita, was a professor at Oxford
University, the first Filipino woman to achieve such a distinction. She finished BA
History at the University of Bristol in England, graduating with honors in 1975. She
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then returned to Manila to take up law at the University of the Philippines, graduating
in 1980.
CAREER
As a lawyer
After passing the bar in 1981, she joined the Angara, Abello, Concepcion,
Regala, and Cruz Law firm (ACCRALAW) as an associate. While working at the firm,
she defended Max Soliven and Luis Beltran when they were sued for libel by
President Corazon Aquino due to statements made in the Philippine Star regarding
Aquino's reaction to the 1987 coup attempt. Other famous cases Legarda handled
under the firm include the Presidental Comission for Good Government (PCGG)
action against Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr., Maria Clara Lobregat, et. al and the
citizenship case of Governor Lito Osmea. She was also involved in the litigation of
the Manila Film Festival Scam case. She achieved the rank of partner at the firm
before leaving in 1992.
In 1997, she acted as lead counsel in a pro bono group of 3 women lawyers
who defended the 11-year-old victim in the Romeo Jalosjos statutory rape case.
Along with lawyers Lourdes Cruz Matters and Minerva Ambrosio, Legarda won the
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Legal Profession
case, which resulted in the conviction of Jalosjos. Later, her defense of a woman
given a death sentence for the alleged murder of her husband led to a landmark
decision of the Supreme Court to accept Battered Women Syndrome as a defense.
As an educator
Legarda teaches classes in Legal Writing and in Persons and Family
Relations in the (De La Salle-Far Eastern University College of Law and Business
Administration). She also teaches Medical Jurisprudence at the UP College of
Medicine. She has also taught remedial English to fourth year law students at the
UP College of Law. As a professor of the Philippine Judicial Academy, she is on the
academys research committee.
On the international level, she is part of the faculty of the Child Protection Unit
Network, Inc. (CPU-Net). She trains legal, socio-civic, and police personnel in the
Philippines and other Asian countries in handling cases involving women and
children in a program administered by the UNICEF, PLAN International, the British
Embassy (Manila) and UNIFEM.
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Legal Profession
In print media
Legarda has written many articles and columns, mostly regarding legal
issues. Among the publications Legarda has written for are Savvy Magazine, K
Magazine, Business World, and the Peoples Tonight.
She is also the co-author of a book, A Time To Love, A Time To Leave, with
Julie Yap-Daza. She has contributed essays to 2 anthologies: Women with Fire
(edited by Lorna Kalaw-Tirol) and Pinay: Autobiographical Narratives by Women
Writers, 1926-1998 (edited by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo). In 1999 she was offered the
position of president, publisher, and editor-in-chief of the Manila Times, presumably
due to her connection with the Roces-Legarda clan, whose ancestor Benito Ben
Roces-Legarda was the director of the pre-war Manila Times. She assumed these
positions in July 1999, publishing a bi-weekly column entitled Kats Calls in the
paper. She also had a legal column in the papers Sunday magazine, the Sunday
Times. Towards the end of December, however, she resigned along with 10 of the
staff members, declaring that the owners of the paper had been imposing
restrictions regarding the publication of articles disparaging cronies of President
Joseph Estrada.
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Legal Profession
In broadcast media
She became one of the hosts of the television coverage of the impeachment trial of
Estrada on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC). Later, she appeared as a legal
expert during Channel 2s coverage of EDSA Dos.
Her own weekly talk show, By Demand, debuted in March 2001. An ANC
program, the show presented legal analyses of current events and social problems.
With Randy David, she was a co-host of Channel 2s news and current affairs talk
show, Off The Record.
Affiliations
Legarda is the founding chair of the Child Justice League, a non-profit
organization which gives free legal aid to children who are abused or in conflict with
the law. She is also a founding member of the CASA/GAL Philippines Foundation,
Inc. With fellow UP Law Batch '80 alumni, she formed a foundation that administers
an educational fund for children of the victims of an explosion in a factory in Trece
Martines, Cavite. She has also been the public relations officer of the UP Women
Lawyers Circle, which provides women and children with legal aid pro bono and
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Legal Profession
funds a program to decongest jails detaining children in conflict with the law. She is
also affiliated with the Iota Tau Tau International Legal Sorority and the Rotary Club.
In 2007, she was chairperson of the 7th ISPCAN Asian Regional Conference in
Manila.
Awards and recognitions

She has received Soroptimist International awards: Woman Helping Women
and Woman Advancing the Status of Women. She is a Parangal Ng Bayan
Awardee for 1999 and is featured as one of the Leaders of the Millennium in the
2000 Philippine Year Book.
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MEMBER OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION THAT I WOULD LIKE TO BE A

What is a role model? As defined it is an individual who is looked up to and

PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Awards and recognitions

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