TO all The Legal Mind readers, thank you so much for another year of following this column, exclusively devoted to my education advocacy as a lawyer. And I extend my profound gratitude to the Times for once again giving me this space to connect with our education stakeholders and talk about legal issues on education. Through this column, I was able to answer queries and feature them here for others to learn from. Our discussions on complex education laws and policies have been cited even by policymakers in continuing discussions on education reforms. I also received personal messages of gratitude from administrators who turn to our discussions here to supplement their knowledge in performing their functions in the school. Thank you most especially to all our teachers, both from public and private schools, who continue to follow The Legal Mind. I remember a public school teacher who asked permission to share to her students one of my articles entitled, 'The role of parents in the education of their children,' for their small group discussion relevant to their MELC, or most essential learning competencies.

I will continue with my education advocacy for 2025 even as I juggle other areas of practice at the Estrada & Aquino Law, as its managing partner. I will now be full-time in my private practice at the firm after my stint as chief legal officer of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EdCom 2) from January 2023 to September 2024. As a lawyer of educational institutions and associations, I will still be around for congressional deliberations on education bills as I have been doing for almost 20 years, helping craft measures to improve the quality of education and the promotion of welfare of learners, teachers and educational institutions.