01 June 2017 – Philippine Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization and Deputy Chief of Mission Gilberto Asuque(3rd from left) congratulates the new Filipino graduates from the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta who completed their Masters of Law Degree (Ll.M.) on International Maritime Law.
Atty. Rozelin Rochette D. Sol, Atty. Marco Angelo Felix L. Lopez, and Atty. Fretti Gayondato Ganchoon (1st, 2nd, 4th from left) called on PermRep Asuque in the Embassy at the conclusion of their Ll.M. program with a visit to the IMO Headquarters. Atty. Sol and Atty. Lopez are junior Foreign Service Officers while Atty. Ganchoon is with the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, Department of Justice.
PermRep Asuque, who is also an IMLI graduate (2004), encouraged the new IMLI graduates to continue to pursue their careers in international maritime law in their government service and contribute to the formulation of foreign policy and action on all issues concerning shipping and seafarers, protecting the marine environment and the maritime entitlements of the Philippines and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Being an archipelagic State, the Philippines will need their knowledge and expertise in assisting their respective departments in addressing the current challenges of the Philippines on maritime, shipping and Law of the Sea, PermRep Asuque added.
As part of the requirements for the Ll.M. program in IMLI, these new IMLI graduates successfully defended their respective dissertations and legislative projects, namely: Atty. Sol, dissertation: Safeguarding the Rights of Seafarers on Board an Arrested Vessel: A Philippine Perspective; drafting project: A Law to Incorporate the International Convention on Work in Fishing 2007 into the Philippine Legislation; Atty. Lopez, dissertation: The Enforcement of the South China Sea Arbitration: the Use of Municipal Courts as Means of Enforcement; drafting project: Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act; and Atty. Ganchoon, dissertation: Traditional Fishing Rights in the Scarborough Shoal: An Analysis of the Right in International Law and a Framework for its Regulation providing Resolution of Conflicting Sovereignty Claims over the Shoal; drafting project: A Law for the Implementation of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, 2001 in the Philippine Legislation.
Atty. Sol and Atty. Lopez bring to five the number of FSOs in DFA with Ll.M. degree from IMLI. PermRep Asuque endorsed their assignment to the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office of DFA to use their knowledge and expertise in addressing the various maritime issues and programs of the government.