From left: Atty. Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, Dean of the School of Law at MLQU; PCC Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo, PCC Commissioner Ferdinand Negre and PCC Executive Director Kenneth Tanate at the MoA signing between the PCC and MLQU at the PCC’s Quezon City office on May 14, 2025. Photo by PCC.
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU) have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to provide MLQU law student practitioners with hands-on training in competition law through an externship program.
The MOA establishes a framework for collaboration, allowing volunteer Juris Doctor students from MLQU to undergo practical training in competition law under the supervision of PCC legal professionals.
PCC Chairman Michael Aguinaldo said the partnership reflects a shared commitment to fostering academic engagement and cultivating a culture of competition in the country through experiential learning.
“This MOA with Manuel L. Quezon University underscores our shared commitment to academic engagement and the promotion of a culture of competition in the country through experiential learning,” Aguinaldo said in a statement.
“We aim to develop future legal professionals who are not only knowledgeable in the dynamic field of competition law but also practice-ready,” he added.
Through the externship program, MLQU students will gain practical legal experience with the PCC, a quasi-judicial body tasked with enforcing Republic Act 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act, which promotes fair market competition and protects consumer welfare.
Under the agreement, the PCC will be responsible for screening, selecting and supervising law student practitioners. MLQU, for its part, will handle documentation, conduct pre-externship orientations and ensure student compliance with PCC policies, including confidentiality requirements.
The initiative is in line with the Supreme Court’s Law Student Practice Rule (A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC), which institutionalized the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP) as a mandatory component of legal education and a prerequisite for bar eligibility.
The MOA with MLQU is the PCC’s 33rd partnership to date. In the education sector, the commission has previously signed similar agreements with the University of the Philippines (2019), San Beda University College of Law (2021) and the Legal Education Board (2022).