User:Fraternal order of utopia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] The Fraternal Order of UTOPIA
[The Fraternal Order of UTOPIA] is all about Excellence. Excellence as students of the law; Excellence as brods who have consecrated themselves to a sacred credo; Excellence as Filipinos, and last but not the least, Excellence as Persons.
Founded in 1964, the 27 founding fathers of UTOPIA were inspired by St. Thomas More’s famous last words: “I shall die as the king’s good servant but God’s first!”. These same lines inspired founding father Rogelio Fernandez to coin the term “UTOPIA” in honor of the Ateneo Law School’s patron saint, and to embody the ideals and aspirations that all potential lawyers must live by. Eugene Tan served as the fraternity’s first President.
Initially starting out as an honor society, Utopia has evolved into a fraternal order that still carries the threefold ideals that the founding fathers hoped to inculcate into every neophyte aspiring to enter the order . . . that of service, sacrifice and excellence. Hence, the order has set an almost unattainable standard into every endeavor that each member dares to tread himself. This same standard has made the fraternity earn accolades, initially due to its pioneering efforts in introducing the first centralized bar operations in the Philippines (1967), eventually due to the number of members who topped the bar (which is more than any other law school in the Philippines, except that of the Ateneo de Manila and the University of the Philippines), and currently due to the achievements that its members have attained through the years, both in the legal profession and outside of it. All these triumphs aside, the Order has humbly bowed its head and kept itself veiled in the throes of humility . . .true to the Utopian ideals of Service, Sacrifice and EXCELLENCE!
As a testament to the fraternity’s commitment to an almost unattainable perfection, two brothers have been conferred the prestigious LUX-IN-DOMINO Award . . . the highest award that the Ateneo can give to an alumnus. These two UTOPIANS are Brods EVELIO JAVIER, now a National Hero and former Antique governor who gave his life for his country and his belief that freedom and democracy must be given unqualifiedly to the Filipino people, and VOLTAIRE "BUTCH" ROSALES, a jurist who gave up his life for his idealism, love for the rule of law and commitment to the pursuit of justice. Both men personified the three core ideals that every UTOPIAN must live by . . . service, sacrifice and excellence! By embodying these ideals, even at the cost of their own lives, these brothers have shown to the world the mettle that UTOPIANS are made of . . . they have shown the world what UTOPIAN EXCELLENCE is really all about.
Presently, Utopians dominate the halls of the Judiciary, Executive, and Legislative with distinguished alumni such as Supreme Court Justice Renato C. Corona, Sandiganbayan Justices Alexander Gesmundo and Norberto Geraldez, Court of Appeals Justices Arturo Brion, Edgardo Sundiam, Andres Reyes, and Vicente Veloso, Court of Tax Appeals Justice Lovell Bautista, Former PNP-Chief Edgardo Aglipay, Rep. Benhur Abalos, Rep. Exequiel Javier, Rep. Edmund Reyes, Rep. Mikey Arroyo, OP Sec. Gamaliel Cordoba, DOTC Sec. Pantaleon Alvarez, BIR Comm. Jose Bunag, Customs Comm. Tony Bernardo, COA Comm. Guillermo Carague, COA Comm. Reynaldo Villar, Magtanggol Gunigundo, Ambassador to Argentina George Reyes, Consul to Singapore Wilfredo Santos, Mayor Enrico Echiverri, Mayor Gerry Trenas, and Gov. Leandro Verceles to name a few.
In the Academe, Utopian legal practitioners have made it a sacred duty to impart their wisdom and vision to students of the law with Dean Cesar L. Villanueva of the Ateneo School of Law at the helm (the second Utopian to hold the honor with Dean Eduardo delos Angeles as the first), Dean Perry Pe of the University of Palawan, and Dean Dante Miguel Cadiz of Manuel Enverga University.
In the Legal Profession, The Fraternal Order of Utopia has produced lawyers who have elucidated the meaning of the true practice of Law in the grandest manner; establishing the country's premier law firms that stand as foundations of our Philippine legal system. Furthermore, the fraternity has constantly carved a niche in the top ten of the Bar Examinations, with a remarkable 100% passing rate and has produced over thirty bar-placers since its conception in 1964.
In the grand tradition of Service, Sacrifice, and Excellence, The Fraternal Order of Utopia seeks to inculcate the passion for change in men, all for God and Country - Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
