SyCipLaw continues to sponsor the Florentino P. Feliciano Prize for Best Paper in Public International Law, which recognizes outstanding student legal scholarship through a call for papers organized by the University of the Philippines College of Law. This year’s recipient is Marianne T. Sasing for her paper, “Rights in Reality: Operationalizing the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment.”
The paper explores the definition, legal status, and practical implications of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, including the extent to which the International Court of Justice’s 2025 Advisory Opinion on Climate Change addressed or left these questions unresolved.
Managing Partner Hector M. de Leon, Jr. and Associate Miriam Celine J. Miciano, the 2025 awardee, met with Ms. Sasing at the SyCipLaw office to congratulate her and present the cash prize for the paper.
The prize honors the late Florentino P. Feliciano, a former SyCipLaw managing partner who later served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. In 1995, he was elected to the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization, where he also served as its Chairman from 2000-2001. He eventually rejoined SyCipLaw as Senior Counsel, bringing his wealth of experience back to the Firm.
Through its annual sponsorship of the prize, SyCipLaw reaffirms its commitment to supporting excellence and recognizing the talent, dedication, and potential of the next generation of legal professionals.
