The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) officially announces the winners of its Space Policy and Law Essay Writing contest.
Participants were required to write an essay centered on the question: What is the importance of the study of law in our country’s quest to be a spacefaring and space capable nation?
The five (5) winning entries were officially announced during the Forum on the Philippine Accession and Implementation of the Registration Convention held on 13 August 2024 in celebration of Philippine Space Week. PhilSA Director General Joel Joseph S. Marciano, Jr., Deputy Director General for Space Operations, Infrastructure, and Industry Denis F. Villorente, and Space Policy and Legal Affairs Chief Giovani C. Conception were present during the awarding ceremony.
All entries were evaluated by former Associate Justice Esperanza Fabon-Victorino, Atty. Rufino Javier, and PhilSA Space Policy and International Cooperation Bureau (SPICB) Director Atty. Noelle Riza Castillo.
Read the winning entries below:
Awarding Ceremony
About the Judges
Associate Justice Esperanza R. Fabon-Victorino is a retired justice of the First Division of the Court of Tax Appeals. Before entering the legal profession, she was in the radio broadcast industry, having graduated with a Liberal Arts degree in Communication Arts from the University of Santo Tomas.
As a broadcaster, she earned a Catholic Mass Media Award in 1986 for Best Public Service Program for giving free legal aid to the poor in her radio program over DZBB. She also received a plaque of recognition during the EDSA Revolution for her radio program “Espie Espesyal”.
With the encouragement of her late husband, she pursued further studies in law from the University of Santo Tomas and was admitted to the bar in 1982. She also took masters in Business Administration from the Ateneo Professional schools and later on took graduate studies in law from the San Beda College.
In 1987, she joined the Office of the Solicitor General and after serving in the OSG for more than ten years, she became the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 157 in Pasig City. In 2009, she was appointed as a Justice of the Court of Tax Appeals, where she served until her retirement in 2020.
Her commendable work ethics and consummate skill in the disposition of cases during her 12-year service in the RTC earned recognition of respectable award-giving bodies. She was awarded Outstanding Government Service Award by the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. and National Maagap Award – Women Sector by the Organized Response for the Advancement of Society, Inc. With her sterling reputation and track record in the judiciary, Justice Victorino was a consistent finalist to the Judicial Excellence Award since 2005.
She was married to the late Atty. Jaime C. Victorino with whom she has three children: Margarita Eugenia, Magnolia Eugenia, and Eugenia, all successful professionals. Her single-handed parenting to her children, an epitome of self-denial for the sake of family earned for her the Alay Kay Inay Award from the Gintong Ina-Ama Foundation, Inc. She is also a recipient of Ulirang Ina Award for Law and Judiciary given by the National Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.
Atty. Rufino Javier has a long career in the government, with one of his earlier stints as the former Municipal Councilor of Pasig (1960-1963), Congressman of the Lone District of Pasig City (1987-1998).
During that time, he was also inducted as a Member of the Commission on Appointments from 1992 and ending 1998. He also became Assistant Minority Floor Leader in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1998, and a Member of the Commission on Elections from 2000 to 2006.He received a number of awards and accolades such as Awarded Certificate of Recognition for “Active and Invaluable Leadership in the Law-making and Policy Shaping Work of the 8th (1987-1992), 9th (1992-1995) and 10th (1995-1998) Congresses (1998). He was also granted the Plaque of Certification by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for “valuable service rendered to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines which resulted in the quick and expeditious resolution of the matter of IBP’s exemption from realty tax considering the organization’s non-profit and quasi-public nature.” in (2006). He is also the recipient of the Life Achievement Award
from the San Beda Law Alumni Association (2006).
He received a Doctorate Degree, Honoris Causa, for Public Administration from Rizal Technological University (RTU) (2016) for his contributions for the upliftment of education in Pasig Education. He is also the recipient of San Beda Hall of Famer Award (2017).
Atty. Rufino Javier also founded his own law firm, aptly named after him.
Atty. Noelle Riza D. Castillo is the present Director of Space Policy and International Cooperation Bureau (or SPICB) of PhilSA. Under her charge in SPICB are the divisions that handle space policy, legal affairs, legislative liaison, and international cooperation matters for PhilSA. She represents the Philippines in the UN Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS), participated as an active delegate in the Open-Ended Working Group on reducing space threats through norms, rules, and principles of responsible behaviour in space, and is a member of the current UN Group of Governmental Experts on the prevention of arms race in space (GGE PAROS). Atty. Castillo obtained her Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Science in Economics degrees from the University of the Philippines Diliman and is currently completing her Master of Laws in the same university with specialization in Government, Advocacy, and Judging.
She sends a message of congratulations to the winners of the Space Law Essay Writing Contest. She also extends appreciation to the law students who sent entries and thanks them for their contribution to the enrichment of the study of space law in the Philippines. Each essay deserves a commendation for the unique insights that were presented. She encourages the participants to continue in their pursuits and build their competencies in space law, and be part of the country’s space lawyers in the future.