Roll No. 34027 (1986)

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B RAVAL

Roll No. 34027 (1986)
Sunday, 06 29, 2003

Soon after taking their oath, new lawyers let loose and whoop it up at the nearest bar, the kind that serves liquid spirits, in order to reward themselves for those sleepless nights of frantic review after eight or more years in college just to earn that LIB degree. Right?

Wrong. Would that this were true, though. What really happens is that all of them troop to the Supreme Court, looking like meek souls seeking admission into the Gates of Heaven. At the Office of the Bar Confidant, with great solemnity they line up before an enormous book, the Roll of Attorneys, to affix their signatures. In the order that he signs, each lawyer is then given a number which sticks to him all his professional life. From then on, depending on his disposition, connections, determination, conviction or a combination thereof, he either becomes a practicing lawyer, a government bureaucrat, a lawyer for some private company, a politician, or a professor of law like the erudite Bartolome Carale. Or, he could decide to be messianic for the profession, and serve the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the only recognized national organization of lawyers who now number 44,186.

But why, you might ask, is the lawyer who has Roll No. 31611 (1982) serving a President of the IBP who sports Roll No. 34027 (1986), with 2,416 signatories and four years separating them. But that is how leadership in the IBP is determined – it looks beyond seniority in both age and place in the Roll of Attorneys. One may be young and yet lead the IBP because his fellow lawyers are confident in his ability.

Roll No. 34027 (1986) corresponds to lawyer Teofilo Pilando, Jr. – Popoy to his brothers in The Fraternity – who at 37 is the youngest lawyer ever to sit as IBP president. Admittedly, the IBP has been preserve of The Fraternity since its inception in 1973, but definitely this is not the reason this UP and Oxford-educated lawyer of Igorot descent was elected to such a lofty position.

During Popoy’s term, mandatory continuing legal education witnessed its maiden implementation, with seminars organized by the IBP nationwide. To complement these seminars, the IBP linked up with the American Bar Association in joint undertakings in legal ethics and management reengineering.

Credit Popoy for his IT orientation. Under his direction, the IBP encourage the application of new technology in the practice of an otherwise ancient profession. IBP chapters were provided with digital research materials, aside from computer hardware; and a library that can be accessed online by all lawyers was established. Among the enhancements introduced by Popoy to the IBP management information system was the functional ID system for every lawyer. Tapping the synergies of the private sector, the IBP, in cooperation with Bayantel launched the “Attorneys-On-Call” project to provide overseas Filipinos access to legal assistance through the World Wide Web. Thus, the expatriate Filipino – whether he is in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, in the busy metropolitan city of Tokyo, or in the crowded confines of a contract worker’s quarters in Taiwan – is only a computer terminal away from the IBP’s helping hand.

Access to justice initiatives were expanded. Again tapping his connections to the UN, where he trained for two years, Popoy got UNICEF to help extend coverage of the IBP’s Legal Aid Program to its biggest number of indigent beneficiaries ever, and conduct seminars on children and women’s issues. A UNDP grant made possible IBP’s jail decongestion project in the metropolis, while a nationwide jail decongestion program is currently being worked out with the European Union. With the help of Sen. Ed Angara, Popoy was successful in having the annual subsidy to the legal aid program doubled to P20 million.

The IBP extended additional insurance coverage for lawyers. It supported the call for increased benefits for members of the Judiciary and the Justice Department, designed to promote performance and independence in these institutions. To maintain public confidence in these profession, bar discipline cases were expeditiously resolved, such that one-third of the entire number of cases investigated by the IBP since 1988 were completed in the last two years.

In coordination with the Office of the Court Administrator, the IBP adopted policy guidelines in the resolution of cases and help unclog court dockets. Measures include the use of alternative dispute resolution ADR mechanisms, pre-trial and discovery proceedings. Cognizant of the significant role of ADR, the IBP coordinated with various government and non-government organizations in conducting training programs to strengthen the Katarungang Pambarangay as well as indigenous law conciliation.

IBP involvement was clear and intense in significant proposed legislation, such as the matter of Charter change, absentee voting and cyber-procurement. Taking a stand on public issues, it launched an action program to implement the Clean Air Act, caused the suspension of a DoJ Circular that authorized PNP station commanders to prosecute cases, and entered into an arrangement with the Commission on Human Rights to eliminate all forms of torture.

It is to Popoy’s credit that he has managed to preserve and enhance the organizational resources of the IBP, having renovated the IBP national office and assisted chapter offices. IBP assets registered an increase of more than 30 percent, to around P102 million, and he is leaving the biggest net worth and cash balances so far in the IBP history.

Popoy bows out on July 1, 2003, leaving behind an organization that has achieved a lot, to continue practicing his profession with the same sense of optimism, enthusiasm and idealism the marked his legal career. Roll No. 35072 (1988), corresponding to lawyer Jose Anselmo Cadiz, will then take over the IBP presidency. Cadiz, also a member of The Fraternity, brings with him the wealth of experience he has acquired as a past administrator in the IBP, which will serve him in good stead in carrying on the good work of Popoy.



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