Proving to be a valued partner in developing excellent legal education, the University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa donated to MMSU some 2,850 law books in 57 cargo boxes from its Institute of Philippine Studies (IPS). The books arrived Feb. 26 at the FEM Hall through a delivery service.

The books, according to Atty. Ramon Leaño, MMSU’s VP for administration and business, and concurrently dean of the College of Law (COL), are a big boost to the university’s Bachelor of Laws degree program because they will supplement the COL’s current collections of legal holdings that are now being used by MMSU law students. He said Atty. Reynaldo Corpuz of San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, a faculty member of the college, expedited the arrival of the donation.

“This was the result of our previous talks with Atty. Lance Collins of the UH College of Law in December 2016,” Atty. Leaño said, adding that when Collins learned about the new COL, he expressed desire to donate as many books as he can to the university.

Collins, also a private law practitioner in the US, has a passion of helping libraries of law schools which have limited supply of law materials. Aside from English and Hawaiian languages, Atty. Collins also understands Ilocano, Tagalog, and Spanish.

In a statement, Dr. Prima Fe Franco, MMSU officer-in-charge, expressed gratitude for the UH’s gesture, saying that such donation would surely help law students in their studies and review classes.

“I’m so happy that the UH library system continues to foster a partnership with the university to make our legal resources available to those taking up law,” she said, adding that with this number of donations, the university needs a wider space for its law library.

“With these books, I hope that our law graduates will have a 100 percent passing rate in succeeding bar examinations,” she enthused.

The UH’s IPS is the first institution dedicated to Philippine Studies in the United States. Established as an Act of the Hawaii State Legislature in 1975, the IPS has become the center for intellectual and academic exchange on Philippine and Filipino studies in the region, hosting numerous scholars, sponsoring scholarly exchange, and promoting research and graduate education.

To date, the IPS is one of nine studies centers of UH for Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies. Materials about the Philippines and Filipinos in the political and social sciences including that of humanities, regardless of place of publication, are actively collected from donors across the globe. Although the materials selected are primarily in English, as it is presently the language of printed mass media, academic and government, Filipino, Ilocano and Spanish materials are also acquired selectively.

In 2015, the IPS celebrated its 40th anniversary by holding a series of academic and cultural events, including an international symposium, a community banquet and a series of dance performances.