The Merlin M. Magallona Cup began in 2014 as the Justice George Malcolm Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition, the premier intra-college moot court competition open to all UP Law Students without prior competitive moot court experience. It was later named after the late Dean Merlin M. Magallona and issues relating to Public International Law were included in honor of the late Dean.

On its 10th year, the UP Law Debate and Moot Court Union (UP-LDMU) partnered with the Institute of International Legal Studies (IILS) in the 2023 Dean Merlin M. Magallona Cup. The competition was held onsite at Malcolm Hall, the first in three years since it went online in 2020.

This year’s fictional problem took on the international arena and sought the answer  if a domestic law should prevail over an international law in relation to one’s right to travel.

12 teams from different year levels faced off in a memorial and oral round competition. In the end, two freshman teams, Team 13 and Team 4, presented their arguments before the fictional Supreme Court presided by Ret. Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio with Undersecretary Antonio A. Morales of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Professor Alfredo Molo III. A unanimous decision before the bench declared Team 13 as the winner with Mx. Faith Emerene Alarde as the best speaker of the final round.

The top 10 best speakers of preliminary rounds, best memorials for the petitioner and respondent, and runner-up best memorials were also given. The event was also graced by the late Dean’s son, Mr. Alex Magallona who gave his words of appreciation for the college’s continued remembrance of his father.