Veritas non timet quaestionem–truth does not fear questioning.

Law, at its core, is a discipline built upon inquiry. It grows through debate, evolves through scholarship, and finds meaning through the stories and experiences of those who seek justice. It is in this spirit that we proudly present the first-ever publication of Notre Dame Letters and Law Journal, the inaugural journal of Notre Dame University–College of Law. This first volume marks an important milestone in the academic life of the College of Law and the broader legal community in Mindanao. More significantly, this publication represents the first journal in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that intentionally brings together law and literature, recognizing that legal thought is not only shaped through doctrinal analysis but also through narrative, reflection, and creative expression.

The Notre Dame Letters and Law (NDLL) Journal is a student-run publication dedicated to fostering meaningful legal research and writing that promotes the rule of law and literature. Guided by the University’s core values of Faith, Integrity, Respect, Excellence, and Service (FIRES), NDLL Journal seeks to cultivate thoughtful scholarship grounded in ethical reflection, intellectual rigor, and social responsibility. Through its publications, the journal contributes to the advancement of legal knowledge within the academic community while supporting the continuing pursuit of social transformation in BARMM.

Guided by this vision, NDLL Journal adopts a dual approach in the dissemination of legal knowledge. First, it independently engages legal issues of local, national, and international significance, highlighting developments and emerging trends in law and governance. Second, it provides an open platform for contributions from the legal academic community through diverse forms of scholarship and creative expression. The journal welcomes submissions that include legal articles, short stories, and poetry, recognizing that literature and law together provide a richer framework for showing legal ideas, institutions, and human experiences. Through this synergy, NDLL Journal aspires to serve not only law students and scholars but also the broader public interested in legal discourse.

In this age where information proliferates and opinions are often formed without careful reflection, the responsibility to question, verify, and seek truth becomes ever more pivotal. The growing presence of misinformation and disinformation reminds us that scholarship requires intellectual courage to examine claims critically, to resist the pull of unexamined narratives, and to remain guided by evidence, reason, and justice. It is our hope that Notre Dame Letters and Law Journal will help cultivate this culture of thoughtful inquiry among its readers, telling us that the pursuit of truth is strengthened, not weakened, when ideas are carefully wrestled with.

As readers engage with the works presented in this publication, it is our hope that this journal will serve as a space where ideas may be explored with openness, debated with respect, tested through reasoned scholarship, and felt through lived experience. For my part, it has been a privilege to witness the realization of this endeavor in my capacity as the journal’s Founding Chair. For in the end, the enduring principle remains: veritas non timet quaestionem–truth does not fear questioning.

Abdul Wahid I. Tocalo

Chair

Notre Dame Letters and Law Journal