Spanish and Philippine Law Archive

Proyecto Erasmus+ CBHE CALESA

The CALESA project is funded by the European Commission as part of the Eramus + Programme, under its Key Action 2, which supports Capacity Building for Higher Education (CBHE) projects. CBHE actions' aim is to improve, develop and modernize higher education systems and to support cooperation of Partner Countries across different regions of the world such as Asia, mainly through university cooperation projects. This project focuses its action in the Philippines in the area of Law.

Philippine students at the School of Law at UMA

During this Semester 8 Philippine students are attending classes at our school of Law. In addition two Philippine Professors stay the whole course in Malaga to follow the doctoral program and prepare their doctoral thesis. Half of the come from the University of the Philippines, and half from the University Ateneo de Manila. This is thanks to the financial support of the Erasmus Program K-107.

I am privileged to welcome everyone interested in Spanish and Philippine Law studies to this webpage of the Universidad de Málaga.

It is our hope that this initiative of the University will serve as a vital facility and an open gateway for exchanges of information, materials, views, opinions and proposals on any and all matters relevant to Spanish and Philippine law studies. At the same time, this can be a wonderful opportunity for providing a forum which can serve as an interactive site where Spanish and Philippine researchers and scholars can share studies on fields of common interest in civil law as well as in other areas of legal science: constitutional, commercial, criminal, procedural, tax, labor, international law, etc.

Spanish and Philippine law share more than three centuries of history. We are more closely akin than we think. After political developments of the last century have caused a loosening of the ties that bind us, it is now time—thanks to our newly-shared English language and the splendid initiative of the University of Málaga—to revive and strengthen our bonds, for our mutual benefit and the furtherance of knowledge and scholarship.

So, once more, welcome to the site.

Rubén F. Balane. University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University. University of Santo Tomás

The magnificent experiences gained during the previous three congresses has lead us not only to promote a fourth Spanish-Phillipine Law Congress entrusted to Ateneo de Manila University, but to formulate a tool that allows us to improve and maintain permanent contact, even from afar.

By creating this Archive, we hope to abridge not only our history, but also recent scientific contributions of legislative, doctrinal and jurisprudential nature. Through this instrument we aim to give the opportunity to all who may be interested to share their own contributions and to improve scientific communication between Spanish and Philippine jurists.

Our contact in the last few years has allowed us to confirm that - aside from the common historical tradition that remains in specific areas of the legal system, mainly the private sector- there are numerous areas of society that require shared attention from jurists of both continents.
The internationalisation of economic relations calls for decisive intervention from the law, in order to guarantee the observance of justice and equality, and the not too distant horizon of absolute technification of our way of life which will demand legal answers capable of ensuring the prevalence of the human component in each one.

D. Juan José Hinojosa Torralvo. Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Malaga 

There is so much Spanish in us Filipinos.  In our language, religion, attitudes, ancestry. We love paella and cuchinillo, call every inter-racial Caucasian mestizo, append Maria to every other girl’s name, and effortlessly say gracias and hasta la vista. And I am certain that we, as a people, are the richer for it.

A hundred and twenty years after the end of the 333 years of Spanish rule of the Philippines, the Spanish and Filipinos continue to exhibit interest in one another, this time through the exchange of archives, historical findings and perspectives. It seems a natural partnership that these two peoples would renew relationships borne of history through research and interaction.

This website provides a platform for scholastic exchanges pertaining to our past as intertwined nations and peoples.  In here, we can access our findings on legal history and philosophy, and, doing that, are hopefully able to understand more profoundly Spanish-Philippine law as it impacts social transformation.

 Welcome all to this website.

Fides C. Cordero-Tan,  Dean of University of the Philippines College of Law.

With the several annual international scientific congresses on Spanish and Philippine law successfully held over the last three years and firm agreements on mobility programs involving the exchange of students and faculty already underway, the forward path for collaboration and cooperation among the Universidad de Málaga, the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines under the Erasmus+ K107 Project structure is clear.

This Archive complements these existing efforts at establishing a tight alliance among the schools of law of our higher education institutions built around our coincident objectives and interests.  Indeed, we are fortunate that today’s technology allows us to be within immediate reach of each other’s thoughts, experiences, knowledge, information and goodwill instantly and on demand, without the restrictive properties of visa applications, flying time, conference presentations and physical presence.

Doubtlessly, the future for advancing and enriching our scholarly alliance is now limitless.

We encourage all then to take advantage of this empowering Archive by contributing content on relevant areas of Spanish and Philippine law, jurisprudence and development which all members of our academic communities can browse, read through, react to and use as springboards for insightful and uplifting interactions.

Jose Maria G. Hofileña, Dean of Ateneo of Manila University School of Law.