{{short description|Filipino law professor and television/radio presenter}} {{Philippine name|Santos|Sta. Maria}} {{Use Philippine English|date=September 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mel Sta. Maria | image = | alt = | caption = | office = 5th Dean of the <br>Far Eastern University Institute of Law | term_start = 2013 | term_end = December 31, 2022 | predecessor = Andres Bautista | successor = Jose Marlon Pabiton | birth_name = Melencio Santos Sta. Maria Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|02|23}} | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | nickname = Atty. Mel <br /> Dean Mel | known_for = ''Relasyon'' host <br /> Dean Far Eastern University Institute of Law | occupation = {{flatlist| *Lawyer *professor *television and radio presenter }} | alma_mater = Ateneo de Manila University (B.S. & LL.B.) <br> Boston University (LL.M.) | spouse = Amaparita de los Santos | children = 3 | relations = }}
'''Melencio Santos Sta. Maria Jr.'''<ref>{{cite news |title=Silliman Law Bags Best Debater, Best Rebuttal Against UP Law |url=https://archive.su.edu.ph/updates/news/2003-silliman-law-bags-best-debater-best-rebuttal-against-up-law |accessdate=June 15, 2020 |agency=Silliman University |date=February 24, 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615162234/https://archive.su.edu.ph/updates/news/2003-silliman-law-bags-best-debater-best-rebuttal-against-up-law |archivedate=June 15, 2020}}</ref> ({{IPA|tl|sɐnta mɐˈɾia|lang}}; born February 23, 1957) is a Filipino lawyer, law professor, and presenter on television and radio. He served as the dean of Far Eastern University's law school from 2013 to 2022. He has also been teaching at his alma mater, the Ateneo School of Law, since 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.ateneo.edu/?p=672| title=Atty. Mel Sta. Maria ALS profile}}</ref>
In television and radio, he is affiliated with TV5, notably as a legal correspondent for ''Relasyon'' and ''Solved na Solved''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2015/02/10/1421972/solved-na-solved-gelli-arnell-and-atty.-mel|title=Solved Na Solved|website=The Philippine STAR }}</ref>
==Education and career== He graduated at Aquinas School in 1974, then graduated BS Biology at Ateneo de Manila University in 1978, and four years later he obtained his Bachelor of Laws at the same school with his classmate Ray Espinosa (current director at the Manny Pangilinan-led group and 1982 bar topnotcher). After joining the Philippine Bar he became partner at the Tanjuatco Sta. Maria Tanjuatco Law Firm. He obtained his Master of Law in Banking in Boston University in 1986. Also in that year, he started to teach at the Ateneo Law School, as the professor in Persons and Family Relations Law, Obligations and Contracts, as well as the Civil Law Review and a reviewer for Civil law. He is also a lecturer for Philippine Judicial Academy.
In 2013, he was appointed Dean of Far Eastern University Institute of Law replacing Atty. Andres Bautista.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.feu.edu.ph/manila/index.php/feu-appoints-new-dean-of-the-institute-of-law/|title=FEU appoints new-dean of the Institute of Law|access-date=February 24, 2015|archive-date=February 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224045233/http://www.feu.edu.ph/manila/index.php/feu-appoints-new-dean-of-the-institute-of-law/|url-status=dead}}</ref> During his term, he started scholarship and financial assistance programs for meritorious and financially-challenged students. His tenure also coincided with improvements in FEU-IL's bar exam ratings. He ended his term on December 31, 2022 and was succeeded by Atty. Jose Marlon Pabiton who previously served as the associate dean.<ref>{{cite news |title=FEU IL Dean steps down after 9 years in service |url=https://feuadvocate.net/feu-il-dean-steps-down-after-9-years-in-service/#:~:text=Melencio%20%22Mel%22%20Sta.,remarkable%20credentials%20in%20the%20field. |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=FEU Advocate |publisher=Far Eastern University-Manila |date=January 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724122200/https://feuadvocate.net/feu-il-dean-steps-down-after-9-years-in-service/ |archive-date=July 24, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Former FEU-IL associate dean named as new FEU-IL dean |url=https://feuadvocate.net/former-feu-il-associate-dean-named-as-new-feu-il-dean/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=FEU Advocate |publisher=Far Eastern University-Manila |date=January 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715214624/https://feuadvocate.net/former-feu-il-associate-dean-named-as-new-feu-il-dean/ |archive-date=July 15, 2024}}</ref>
On July 6, 2020, Sta. Maria and six other law professors from FEU filed a petition to the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against several provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3. The said provisions include the law's definition of terrorism, the acts it considers as "terrorism", the process by which individuals and groups are labelled and officially declared as terrorists, and the warrantless detention of suspected terrorists. Sta. Maria's group aims to have the aforementioned provisions declared unconstitutional and void.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lagrimas |first1=Nicole-Anne |title=FEU law dean, professors file 3rd petition vs anti-terror law |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/745623/feu-law-dean-professors-file-3rd-petition-vs-anti-terror-law/story/ |accessdate=July 6, 2020 |agency=GMA News |date=July 6, 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706081358/https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/745623/feu-law-dean-professors-file-3rd-petition-vs-anti-terror-law/story/ |archivedate=July 6, 2020}}</ref>
==Broadcast career== He joined News5 in 2010 as a legal adviser, he also joins ''Relasyon'' along with News5 head Luchi Cruz-Valdes on DWFM and AksyonTV, in 2015 he joins the new legal advice show ''Solved na Solved'' with Gelli de Belen (she also spoofed Cruz-Valdes on ''Tropa Mo Ko Unli'' on ''Walang Relasyon'' parody) and Arnell Ignacio on TV5.
In August 2014, Sta. Maria interviewed President Benigno Aquino III in Malacañan Palace, about his possible re-election in 2016 despite a constitutional ban (on re-election). Expressing a bit of constitutional reform,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/629674/aquino-wont-push-charter-change-during-his-term-palace-spaokesperson#ixzz3AnBkYovk|title=PNoy Won Push Charter Change|date=August 16, 2014 }}</ref> Sta Maria's interview with Aquino was praised by netizens.
==Books authored== * ''Read My Mind'' (2013) * ''What's the Point'' (2015) * ''Persons and Family Relations Law '' (Rex Publishing, 1995)
==Personal life== Mel is the eldest son of Melencio Sta. Maria, a medical doctor, and Florencia Santos, and the younger brother to Melita Sta. Maria-Thomeczek, current Philippine Ambassador to Germany in Berlin. He is married to Amparita de los Santos, also a lawyer and ALS classmate with whom he has 3 children.
==References== <references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sta Maria, Mel}} Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Filipino radio journalists Category:Filipino television journalists Category:20th-century Filipino lawyers Category:Ateneo de Manila University alumni Category:Academic staff of Ateneo de Manila University Category:Boston University alumni Category:News5 people Category:21st-century Filipino lawyers