Maria Lourdes Sereno commended the dedication of the University of the Philippines College of Law students who joined BuildWatch, a “legal hackathon” where they processed data to prepare complaints that are ready for filing.
The public accountability exercise had the students working with raw data from Department of Public Works and Highways’ procurement processes.
Sereno, the ousted de facto Supreme Court Chief Justice, said the students checked for possible irregularities such as contract splitting and overpricing.
She said this was more than an academic exercise because they also prepared “filing-ready” complaints for the Office of the Ombudsman, which has the mandate of investigating the procurement concerns and filing cases if necessary.
She joined the students at the closing ceremony of BuildWatch and said she was heartened by their actions.
“What encouraged me most was seeing young Filipinos choose to use their knowledge of the law not only to understand our institutions, but also to engage with the difficult realities within them,” she said.
She called on the students not to underestimate what they had started, saying they had started on the path to reform.
“Keep your ideals. Keep asking difficult questions. Keep learning how to turn evidence into action and principles into practice. And most of all, keep showing up when it matters,” she said.
Sereno reminded them that Filipinos who are willing to put in the hard work to improve institutions are part of the effort to build a better nation.
“The Filipino is not just worth dying for; the Filipino is worth working hard for,” she added.