To new lawyers: Serve the people

“Serve the people. Do not betray your humanity”.

Words that should guide the new lawyers according to   Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen  in his twitter account.

The Supreme Court released last week the results of the 2019 Bar exams, with a  passing rate of 27.36 percent, or  2,103 out of 7,685 examinees.

For me, my official entry to the legal profession happened twenty one years ago.

It was 1:30 a.m. .April 6, 1999, a Tuesday when I received a message via my beeper what could have been the best news in my life. It read: “Dennis, Congrats You are now officially Atty. Gorecho.”

 I was  among the lucky 1, 465 out examinees who passed  the 1998 bar exams,  or   39. 63, % of the total of 3,697  examinees, and considered as one of the highest passing rate.

The bar exams is considered one of the toughest and most difficult among the professional board exams, having one of the highest mortality rate. Passing is obviously not that easy, it would entail a series of factors.

The Philippine Bar Exams format has  remained the same  except for some facial revisions. It is still a handwritten exam taken in Metro Manila.

It will essentially tests  the aspirant’s ability to comprehend the problem, spot the issues, identify the legal provision and its basic interpretation.

The bar exams have a passing grade of 75%, which the en banc may adjust if needed.

It is also a yearly spectacle on the performance of law schools  measured on the most number of topnotchers or score the highest passing rate.

There are three steps in becoming a lawyer. First is passing the Bar.  Second  is taking the lawyer’s oath.  Third and final step  is the signing of the Roll of Attorneys.

The new lawyers  are  joining  the roll of attorneys during  this “unfamiliar and trying times” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Work paradigms  such as social distancing and remote working have created a new workplace and  social dynamics where  human interactions are carried on to a large extent with the use of high technology.

The new crop of lawyers is coming in at an extraordinary time, when the health emergency “highlights the congestion, delays, inefficiencies and inequalities in our justice sector” says  Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Egon Cayosa.

Ultimately, being a good lawyer is a different thing. Passing the bar is not enough.

There will be those who will join the law offices for private practice while others   will go to  government, judiciary , politics or the academe.

And there’s alternative lawyering.

It is legal practice either individually or through legal resource organizations that work with the poor and marginalized groups, identities and communities towards their empowerment, greater access to justice, and building peace. 

Their  concerns normally involve  justice issues of the poor and marginalized groups in the Philippines, including women, labor, peasant, fisherfolk, children, urban poor, indigenous peoples, persons living with HIV-AIDS, local governance, and the environment.  

Alternative lawyers do often take on careers outside of the mainstream, but what differentiates their work is their commitment to a different route to, and conception of, justice. 

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia  said that “the new lawyer must be bold, critical yet with a deep well of forbearance and most of all compassion and commitment especially to the ordinary people, the vulnerable, the persecuted and the victims of all sorts of injustice.”

Long before he became part   of the Supreme Court, I had the chance to understand what is  alternative lawyering through my coverage of legal  environmental issues , including then led by Justice  Leonen.

I  also had the chance to understand what is  alternative lawyering as a student volunteer of Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG)) led by Atty. Chel Diokno. His  father, former Senator Jose Diokno once said  “A lawyer must work in freedom; and there is no freedom when conformity is extracted by fear, and criticism silenced by force". 

Many alternative lawyers are guided by the words of former President Ramon Magsaysay:” Those who have less in life should have more in law” .

The poor who have less resources in relation to the rich, will often  have to  bank on  the law to safeguard their rights.  In building  a more accessible, inclusive and dynamic justice system, all remedies allowed by law should be completely exhausted for their protection. The semblance  of being given “more” in law is imperative  to equip them  the chance of equality which they do not enjoy.

Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are seasoned lawyers among others who passed their whole life in pursuit of emancipation of the human beings.

Lawyers, as professionals, are expected  to uphold the ethical and moral values that are said to be essential to the fabric that holds society together.

Justice Leonen also said “Discover your passion. Be patient and compassionate.”

Passion for the law is  dedication  to do what is right.

Kule is the monicker of Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of UP Diliman. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786).

Activism is not terrorism.

Activism is not terrorism.

Despite the   gloomy weather,  people flocked to the UP Diliman campus last June 12  for a  “Grand Mañanita” protest  to celebrate the country’s  122^nd Independence Day, notwithstanding law enforcers' warnings on violations of  quarantine regulations.

With proper social distancing, protesters wore face masks and  carried  placards denouncing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 recently passed by legislators.

They also wore party hats and colorful costumes and brought with them   roses, balloons,  and food. There were  even the Voltes V cake and statue, and someone in a   T-Rex  costume.

The festive protest followed a  party theme,  patterned after the controversial birthday bash  of Metro Manila police chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas where  his men were allowed to celebrate his natal day amid prohibition of mass gathering.  He said   it was a “mañanita” or early morning celebration.  President Duterte has refused to fire or transfer Sinas.

In the movies, the bully kids  in the block who were uninvited to a  party will do anything in order to get even and disrupt the gathering.

Checkpoints were placed in major entrances to the university  in the guise of quarantine procedures but in essence were meant to intimidate and harass the participants.

Many viewed said checkpoints as tantamount to undermining the  UP-DND  accord signed in 1989 wherein the police and the military are not allowed to conduct operations within the vicinity of UP campuses without prior notice or approval of the university administration. They shall not interfere with the peaceful protest actions by UP constituents within the school’s premises.

This was a result of a long history of student disappearances and killings that took place within the vicinity of the campuses during that time.

The UP system,  adhering to the principles of  academic excellence,  nationalism and progressive thinking, is known for being the  center of student activism and dissent.  

My alma mater  UP College of Law released a strong  statement where it underscored that the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020 poses a clear and present danger to constitutionalism and the rule of law.

It noted that some of its provisions are unconstitutional including (a)  those that pose a chilling effect on free expression and the right to organize and assemble, (b)  those that authorize executive orders for arrest and prolonged detention beyond what the law and the Rules of Court provide,  and (c) those that define broadly yet vaguely the acts that are criminalized. 

Some provisions, it added,    are experiments in suppressing lawful dissent and principled advocacy, particularly the exception to the proviso in section 4 that protects legitimate exercise of civil and political rights, the inclusion of a new offense of “Inciting to Terrorism.” 

 There are also  violations of the separation of powers specifically the   power given to the Anti-Terrorism Council, a purely executive body, to exercise the exclusively judicial power to order an arrest as well as to make a conclusion that a person is a terrorist (even on a prima facie basis) for purpose of arrest and detention. 

Some of the more important provisions protecting the citizenry against unwarranted arrests and charges have been removed, resulting in less, not more, checks and balances against a law that seeks to confer tremendous power on the executive branch.

Critics warned that the law will galvanize the propaganda tactic of "red-tagging"  that has often been directed towards individuals and organizations critical of the government,  who are labelled “communist” or “terrorist” regardless of their actual beliefs or affiliations.

It is seen as a political tactic that debilitates  Philippine democracy by stifling dissent   with a chilling effect on discourse and debate.

Red-tagging also  threatens the lives or safety of individuals.

The UP SAMASA alumni, one of my political organizations in UP,  said in a statement that the  “first victims of this weaponized law will be the Filipino activist, the legitimate oppositionist, the conscientious dissenter, the peaceful protester.”

The SAMASA said that the law “will authorize the state to criminalize almost every act of legitimate dissent and resistance as “terrorist,” to spy and eavesdrop into the private affairs and conversations of citizens, to arrest and detain them, and confiscate their property, all with impunity, all without any meaningful judicial intercession or review.”

Activism has been present throughout history, in every sort of political system.

Imagine a society where one could be considered a terrorist for criticizing the wrong actions and unfair policies that the government make.

Kule is the monicker of Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of UP Diliman. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786).