MOA Legal Aid -1- Local Government of Laoac

Urdaneta City University School of Law

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
(Local Government of Laoac/Urdaneta City University School of Law re: Legal Aid Extension
Program)

This Memorandum of Agreement (hereinafter “Agreement”) is made and entered into

on 28 October 2019 in the Municipality of Laoac, Pangasinan, Philippines by and between:

Local Government of Laoac, a public corporation duly organized and existing

under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines with address
at Poblacion, Laoac, Pangasinan, duly represented by its Municipal Mayor,
Ricardo D. Balderas, and hereinafter referred to as “LGU”;
-and-
Urdaneta City University School of Law, a Local Government College and
University duly recognized by the Legal Education Board (LEB) to offer basic
law course, with address at San Vicente West, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan,
duly represented by its College Dean, Atty. Samson E. Florendo, hereinafter
referred to as “College”.

[Collectively referred to as “Parties” and individually as “Party” wherein notices

and general matters may be delivered to by hand, registered mail, or other
acceptable means]

Witnesseth—

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Resolution No. 19-068 or the Resolution Setting Every
Tuesday as “Voluntary Dispute Resolution and Free Legal Assistance Day” Courtesy of the
Office of the Municipal Vice Mayor, thru Atty. Nelson V. Gayo, of LGU of Laoac, in its desire
to help its marginalized constituents to access free legal assistance, has invited the UCU
Scholl of Law to extend its services, and agreed to support the endeavors of the UCU
School of Law in the form of training and exposure on mediation, and conciliation, its
Student/Practitioners ;

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the Philippines En Banc Resolution dated 25 June
2019 in A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC (Law Student Practice), UCU School of Law instituted this
extension, upon invitation of the LGU of Laoac through Vice Mayor Atty. Nelson V. Gayo,
program to help the Court in “ensuring access to justice of marginalized sectors, to enhance
learning opportunities of law students, to instill among them the value of legal professional
social responsibility, and to prepare them for the practice of law (Revised Rule 138-A);

WHEREAS, LGU of Laoac, Pangasinan and the UCU School of Law executed a
Memorandum of Agreement that covers the extension program’s objectives and principles.

NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the foregoing premises, the Parties
hereby agree as follows:

SECTION I
Responsibilities of the LGU

a) The LGU shall undertake the selection process from among UCU School of Law’s
recommended students in accordance with its policies and guidelines in the recruitment
and selection of trainees for this purpose;
MOA Legal Aid -2- Local Government of Laoac
Urdaneta City University School of Law

b) The LGU, through the Office of the Municipal Vice-Mayor, Atty. Nelson V. Gayo, shall
supervise the conduct and related activities of the Student/Practitioner while they are
rendering assistance pursuant to the Sangguniang Bayan Resolution on “Voluntary
Dispute Resolution and Free Legal Assistance Day”;

c) The LGU shall provide free relevant instruction, exposure, and training to the Student
Practitioner, consistent with its policies, rules and regulations. It shall treat the Student
Practitioner in a professional manner, and shall ensure that the Student Practitioner,
in the course of training, shall not be exposed to any form of harassment/unethical
practice or tasks and work assignments that are unreasonably risky, dangerous or
unrelated to the purposes of the Extension Program;

d) The LGU shall reimburse any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses that may be incurred
by the Student Practitioner for off-company assignments, subject to reimbursement
and liquidation policies of the LGU;

SECTION II
Responsibilities of the UCU SCHOOL OF LAW

a) The UCU School of Law shall ensure the competencies of the Student/Practitioner
before deploying them to the on “Voluntary Dispute Resolution and Free Legal
Assistance Day”; and

b) The UCU School of Law shall provide a supervising lawyer from the members of its
faculty who will evaluate the program, and give grades to those volunteer
student/practitioners enrolled in their JD Internship Course; and

c) The UCU School of Law shall develop an Extension Program Plan specifying the
objectives, backgrounds, and evaluation of the extension program.

SECTION II - A
Responsibilities of the Student/Practitioner

d) The Student Practitioner shall abide by the administrative policies, rules, and standards
of the LGU and UCU School of Law as provided by the UCU and School of Law
Student Handbook;

e) The Student Practitioner shall abide by the administrative policies, rules, and standards
set forth by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in lieu with the Law Student Practice as
enshrined in Rule 138-A and A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC, observe the provisions of Section
24(b), Rule 130 of the Rules of Court, and strictly observe the Canons of the Code of
Professional Responsibility;

f) The Student Practitioner shall accomplish and submit to the assigned UCU Supervising
Lawyer, and LGU a journal of activities, to include success stories as well as challenges
and reflections on the training experience;

g) The Student Practitioner shall report to the Supervising Lawyer after his/her schedule
in the Legal Aid Program;

h) The Student Practitioner shall accomplish the assigned tasks to the best of his/her
abilities and conform with the Extension Program Plan set forth by UCU School of Law;
MOA Legal Aid -3- Local Government of Laoac
Urdaneta City University School of Law

i) The Student Practitioner shall complete the agreed scope of work within the agreed
duration of the Program; and

j) The Student Practitioner shall timely report for training and promptly accomplish
assigned tasks or assignments in the best of his/her ability and in view of his/her
expected skill and knowledge of the subject matter.

SECTION II-B
Responsibilities of the Supervising Lawyer

a) The supervising lawyer shall be a member of the Philippine Bar in good standing who is
authorized by the law school to supervise the Student Practitioner during their duty in
the Extension Program.

b) The supervising lawyer must be a faculty member of the UCU School of Law, and a
counterpart supervising lawyer from the LGU through Vice Mayor Atty. Nelson V.
Gayo;

c) The supervising lawyer shall supervise such number of Student Practitioners as far as
practicable;

d) The supervising lawyer shall personally appear with the Student Practitioner in all
cases pending before the second-level courts and in all other cases the supervising
lawyer determines that his or her presence is required;

e) The supervising lawyer shall assume professional responsibility for any work performed
by the Student Practitioner while under his or her supervision;

f) The supervising lawyer shall assist and advise the Student Practitioner in the activities
authorized by the Rule 138-A of the Rules of Court and A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC and
review such activities with the Student Practitioner, all to the extent required for the
proper practical training of the Student Practitioner and the protection of the client;

g) The supervising lawyer shall read, approve, and personally sign any pleadings, briefs or
other similar documents prepared by the Student Practitioner prior to the filing thereof,
and read and approve documents which shall be prepared by the Student Practitioner
for execution by the eligible party; and

h) The supervising lawyer shall provide the level of supervision to the Student/Practitioner
required by Rule 138-A of the Rules of Court and A.M. No.19-03-24-SC.

SECTION II-B
The Extension Program Plan

a) The Student Practitioner is expected to perform office/work-related tasks such as, but
not limited to, legal research, production of legal forms and writings, attendance in
meetings, field-activities, legal counseling, as may be applicable pursuant to the Rule
138-A of the Rules of Court and A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC;

b) The Student Practitioner shall perform other tasks or responsibilities as reasonably

directed by the LGU in relation to the respective Extension Program Plan established by
UCU School of Law; and
MOA Legal Aid -4- Local Government of Laoac
Urdaneta City University School of Law

c) The Extension Program Plan (Annex A) and A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC or the Revised
Student Practice Rule (Rule 138-A as revised, Rules of Court) (Annex B) shall be
deemed as an integral part of this Agreement.

SECTION III
General Conditions

a) The duration of the program shall be equivalent to four (4) duty hours commencing on
October 29, 2019 to December 18, 2019 unless otherwise agreed upon by the Parties
herein;

b) This Memorandum of Agreement is renewable every Academic Semester or every five

(5) months, excluding Christmas, New Year and Summer Vacation;

c) The Student Practitioner shall report for duty at the LGU’s Office of the Vice Mayor
located at the Sangguniang Bayan Building from 8AM to 12NN, every Tuesday, which is
inclusive of a fifteen (15) minutes break;

d) The UCU School of Law shall develop an Extension Program Plan for the Student
Practitioner specifying objectives, knowledge, skills, and competencies that the Student
Practitioner should acquire before and after the duration of the Extension Program;

e) LGU shall provide for the transportation, snack and meal allowance to Student
Practitioner, if applicable, or subject to the policy on student-allowance and/or
reimbursement of the LGU.

f) The LGU shall provide for the free trainings and/or certification of the Student
Practitioner in connection with Legal Writing, Mediation, and Conciliation;

g) The LGU and UCU School of Law will conduct a post-training review and evaluation of
the program and the performance of the Student Practitioner;

h) The LGU and UCU School of Law, upon request of the Student Practitioner enrolled
in JD Internship Course, shall allow the Student/Practitioner to credit the number of
hours rendered in the Legal Aid Program where 1hour of duty is equivalent to 1hour
course credit;

i) The LGU is not obliged to employ the Student Practitioner upon completion of the
Program. The LGU, however, upon consultation with the UCU School of Law, may
invite qualified students to submit themselves to examinations, interviews, and file
pertinent documents in support of their application;

j) The Student Practitioner shall be personally responsible for any and all liabilities arising
from his/her gross negligence in the performance of his/her duties and functions while
under training with the LGU;

k) The Parties shall not divulge any information that it may have access to and any such
information will only be used for academic purposes;

l) This Agreement shall not, in any way, constitute an employee-employer relationship

between the LGU with the Student Practitioner;

m) The Student shall be personally responsible for any and all liabilities, injury to his/herself
or to property or persons attributable to his/her own fault or negligence while in the
MOA Legal Aid -5- Local Government of Laoac
Urdaneta City University School of Law

course of his/her duty. In this light, the Student Practitioner shall hold the LGU or UCU
School of Law free and harmless from any demand, claim or complaint, whatsoever
arising from this training agreement, except in cases of gross negligence, malicious acts
and criminal acts by any of the officers, employees or agents of the LGU or UCU School
of Law;

n) In the event that the Student Practitioner materially violates any policy, the LGU shall
have the right to immediately, with due process, terminate the Extension Program in
relation to such Student Practitioner by immediately serving a written notice to UCU
School of Law;

o) Should any provision of this Agreement or part thereof is render void, illegal, or
unenforceable by any law to which it is subject of, it shall be rendered void, illegal, or
unenforceable only to that extent and not further. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this Agreement shall not affect or impair other provisions that are valid,
binding, and enforceable.

SECTION IV
Intellectual Property

a) Intellectual property shall include any property defined as such by the Intellectual
Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293);

b) Any intellectual property owned by the Parties prior to this Agreement shall continue to
be owned by them. The Student Practitioner cannot use any confidential information
or data from the LGU to create intellectual property without the express written approval
of the LGU;

c) Any intellectual property independently created by the Student Practitioner during the
period covered by the extension program plan shall be exclusively owned by the
Student Practitioner. Should the LGU provide financial support for the creation of such
intellectual property, the ownership of the intellectual property shall be subject to
another agreement;

d) In case the Student Practitioner jointly creates intellectual property with a person
connected with the LGU, the intellectual property shall belong to them jointly in
proportion to their contribution.

SECTION V
Confidentiality and Waiver

a) It is expressly understood by the Student Practitioner that all information, and all other
related documents, manuals, operational or technical matters that the LGU shall make
available shall be used for the sole purpose of performing their tasks under the extension
program.

b) It is understood that all information gathered by the Student Practitioner on the

operations and business matters of the LGU are classified as confidential in nature and
proprietary to the LGU. The Student Practitioner hereby undertakes to prevent transfer
of such information by any of its members, consciously or unconsciously, to any party
outside of the LGU without the latter’s knowledge and written consent.
MOA Legal Aid -6- Local Government of Laoac
Urdaneta City University School of Law

c) During, or at any time after the termination of extension program, the Student
Practitioner shall not use, or disclose to others, including future employees, any secrets,
confidential information, or any other proprietary data of the LGU; and

d) That upon the termination of Extension Program from the LGU, the Student
Practitioner shall return to the LGU all documents and property of the LGU, including
but not necessarily limited to: reports, manuals, correspondence, computer programs,
and all other materials and all copies thereof relating in any way to the LGU’s business,
or in any way obtained during the course of Extension Service; and

e) The Student Practitioner renounces and waives any claim against the LGU or UCU
School of Law for any injury or loss that the Student Practitioner may sustain or may
suffer, personal or pecuniary, in the performance of his/her duties and functions while
under duty, unless such is attributable to the negligence or fault of any of the employees,
officers, or personnel of the LGU or UCU School of Law.

SECTION VI
Termination of the Agreement

The Parties shall have the right to pre-terminate the training contemplated by this
Agreement and the Extension Program Plan by serving a written notice to the other party at
least thirty (30) days prior to the intended date of termination and based on the following
grounds:

a) The Student Practitioner substantially violates the rules and regulations of LGU,
or in cases of serious misconduct of the Student Practitioner;

b) The Student Practitioner substantially violates the rules on Student Practice as

set forth by the Supreme Court of the Philippines (Rule 138-A, and A.M. No. 19-
03-24-SC);

c) The LGU is proven to fail in providing the safety of the Student Practitioner and
quality of training contemplated by this Agreement and the established Extension
Program Plan;

d) There is any material violation of the foregoing covenants that will warrant the
cancellation of this Agreement.

SECTION VII
Entire Agreement and Amendment

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the Parties with respect to
the subject matter hereof. It excludes and supersedes everything else which has occurred
between the parties whether written or oral, including all other communication with respect to
the subject matter hereof. Any amendment hereto shall be mutually agreed upon in writing
by the parties.

SECTION VIII
Dispute Resolution, Governing Law, and Venue of Actions

Any and all disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall be subjected to
good faith negotiations between the Parties before implementation of the legal proceedings
pursuant to the provisions of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law.
MOA Legal Aid -7- Local Government of Laoac
Urdaneta City University School of Law

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of
the Republic of the Philippines. Exclusive jurisdiction over and venue of any suit arising out
of or relating to this Agreement will be in the proper courts of the City of Urdaneta to the
exclusion of all other courts or tribunals.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have signed this Memorandum of Agreement

at the date and place above-stated.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF LAOAC URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY (UCU)

SCHOOL OF LAW
By:
By:
HON. RICARDO D. BALDERAS
Municipal Mayor ATTY. SAMSON E. FLORENDO
Acting Dean, School of Law

Signed In The Presence Of:

MARTY IAN GIDEON FLORES NOEL L. GUEVARA, Ph. D. HON. ATTY. NELSON V. GAYO
(JD Student Representative) (Vice President for Academic Affairs) (Vice-Mayor)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

BEFORE ME, a Notary Public for and in the City of Manila, Philippines personally
appeared the following persons who presented to me their competent proof of identities as
follows:

Name Proof of Identity Issued at / Valid until

ATTY. NELSON V. GAYO

NOEL L. GUEVARA, Ph. D.

MARTY IAN GIDEON FLORES School ID/20080077 UCU/2022

known to me to be the same persons who executed the foregoing Agreement and
acknowledge to me that the same is their free and voluntary act and deed and that of the
institutions they respectively represent.

This instrument refers to a Memorandum of Agreement consisting of seven (7)

pages, including this page whereon this Acknowledgement is written and signed by the
parties and their instrumental witnesses.

WITNESS MY HAND AND NOTARIAL SEAL, at the date and place first mentioned.

Doc. No. ___;

Page No. ___;
Book No. ___;
Series of 2019.