President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Wednesday asked the members of the Lex Talionis Fraternitas Inc. (LTFI) to live up to their pledge of “loyalty and service” by reaching out to more Filipinos who are in need.
President Duterte attended Wednesday night the golden founding anniversary celebration of LTFI, the San Beda University-College of Law fraternity, at The Manila Hotel.
Being a proud member of LTFI, the President noted that the fraternity has gone far from a small group of 35 law students in Mendiola in Manila to one of the country’s premier law fraternities.
The President hopes that with 50 years of fond memories, LTFI members look back at history and remember that they owe one another the noble ideals and convictions upon which the fraternity was established.
President Duterte stressed that LTFI members should not confine themselves to exclusively serve their fellow members, but also reach out to the general public particularly the marginalized.
He also asked for their commitment to join him in answering the call of public service and to help him steer the country towards a brighter and more promising future by upholding the values that have shaped them into what they are today.
The Chief Executive then personally thanked those who have left lucrative law practice and other profitable endeavors to join him in government service for national reform.
Those who have been appointed in government must remember that they were called upon to serve not because of fraternal affiliation, but to put public interest above personal ones, he said.
The Commander-In-Chief also said that he expects the LTFI members to always embody integrity, accountability, and selflessness in all of their actions so that the fraternity’s younger members may emulate their example as they begin their respective careers.
The LTFI was founded on September 29, 1969 at the San Beda College of Law. In 1974, three Mindanaoan members—President Duterte, Joel Babista, and Alberto Sipaco Jr.—proposed to create a chapter of Lex Talionis in the Jesuit Ateneo de Davao University School of Law. PND
