Spanish Government Pledges €250,000 to Fund Cooperation with Philippine Judiciary

From left to right: Justice Mario V. Lopez, Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, Consul Monika Kamille Limpo, Head of Delegation Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, President Francisco Marín Castan of the Tribunal Supremo of Spain, Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines Miguel Utray, Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Professor Jose Manuel de Torres of Universidad de Malaga (Photo Courtesy of the Spanish Supreme Court)

MADRID 23 January 2024 – A delegation from the Philippine Supreme Court led by Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa met with the President of the Spanish Supreme Court, Francisco Marín Castan last January 12, 2024. The said meeting was arranged in relation to the closing ceremonies of the Capacity Building on Legal and Social Advancement (CALESA) Erasmus + Project held in Málaga, Spain. The Philippine Embassy in Madrid was represented by Consul Monika Kamille Limpo, Head of the Embassy’s Political Section. 

At the same meeting, the Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines, Miguel Ultray Delgado shared that the Spanish government is allocating €250,000 for the continuation of the said project. This grant is from the Agencia Española para Cooperación Internacional Para el Desarrollo (AECID) or Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation. Part of the grant will also be used for continuing the works initiated by CALESA such as translations of research Spanish legal material in English.

The visit also served as an opportunity for the 43-member delegation from the Philippines to have a dialogue with the Members of the Spanish Supreme Court on judicial developments in the Philippine and Spanish jurisdictions, having the shared civil law traditions of the two countries.

President Marín Castan also noted the shared history and legal traditions between Spain and the Philippines– with the latter’s penal and civil code bearing the indelible mark of the Spanish legal system to this day. He also emphasized the role of the writings of one of his forebears, also named Castán, in Philippine legal and academic documents.

Justice Caguia, on the other hand, conveyed his thanks to the Tribunal Supremo for receiving the delegation, and expressed his hope that their visit “will not only be a symbolic gesture of goodwill but will also be a tangible step towards a more profound and lasting partnership between the Supreme Court of Spain and the Supreme Court of the Philippines”. END

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