E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
A requiem and manifesto for lawyers
Sunday, 05 28, 2005
The list reads with chilling familiarity: Ambrosio Matias and son, Felidito Dacut, Teresita Vidamo, Juvy Magsino, Arbet Yongco, Victoria Mangapit Sturch, Paterno Tiamson, Voltaire Rosales, Milnar Lammawin. The swift and merciless thump of an assassin’s bullet has been the common instrument that ended the lives of these individuals, who in life shared a noble commonality: they were all lawyers. The last three were trial court judges, while Matias’s son was a law student.
Not as final and tragic as death, but no less severe, were the dire consequences visited upon the following: Lawyers Charles Juloya and Armando Cabalida, who were seriously wounded from brazen attacks by assassins this year; and, UN Judge Ad Litem and human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong, who barely escaped death from an assassination attempt. Lawyers involved in the controversial Hacienda Luisita case are losing sleep these days, hounded by the thought that any time now they will also “get theirs.” A lawyer who assisted the slain journalist Marlene Esperat is also getting death threats. Many others on this side of justice have experienced similar attacks and threats.
The Blackheath scene from Shakespeare’s Henry the Sixth eerily comes to mind: Jack Cade is a rebel who wants to “dress the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.” (My comprehension of the Bard’s English is a bit rusty but I’m more or less sure that the phrase would in today’s idiom translate as: “overturn the civil society and institute a new order.”) Jack Cade’s followers are a ragtag bunch of riffraff who are “inspired by the spirit of putting down kings and princes.” Playing to Jack’s pipe dreams of what he would do if he were king (“And when I am king, - as king I will be . . . there shall be no money; all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree like brothers, and worship me their lord”) one of them makes the expedient suggestion: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
In the Philippines, where it is said that lawyers and journalists are of no paucity, a sinister mindset is at work. Someone is killing them off. A mind is at work to eliminate the “princes” of these two professions that have often worked hand-in-hand - the pen of truth in one, the sword of justice in the other - while they, to quote Shakespeare again, “laboured in their vocations.” The body count since last year – 9 lawyers; 12 journalists -has roused the 44,000-strong members of the legal profession to unite in condemnation of those who want them eradicated from this land so that they, the masters of killers of journalists and lawyers, could lord it over a country of terrified citizens. Indeed, kill off the journalists and the lawyers who champion truth and justice and you are left with a citizenry that has not much choice except to agree like brothers under the control of (drug- and gambling) lords.
Last Tuesday the Committee for the Defense of Lawyers (CODAL), convened by lawyer Neri Colmenares, launched the nationwide movement to gather as many signatures to support the “Manifesto on the Attacks Against Lawyers and the Legal Profession,” which declared:
“First, such brazen attacks undermine the practice of law and the ability of lawyers to fulfill their sworn obligation to serve their clients to the fullest. The capacity of the legal profession to uphold the Code of Professional Responsibility is diminished when its members face threats by reason of their profession and are paralyzed into playing passive roles instead of vigorously serving their clients an aiding in the administration of justice.
“Second, judges and lawyers are charged with the duty to be vigilant against any attempt to subvert the independence of the judiciary and resist any pressure from whatever source. The recent attacks, however, threaten the independence and integrity of judges and lawyers, thus making the effective administration of justice even more difficult or elusive.
“Third, any attack on lawyers and judges ultimately constitute a threat to the rule of law and the constitutional principle that the maintenance of peace-and-order, and the sanctity of human life, are essential to the survival of any democracy.
“In the light of these increasing attacks and their alarming implications, we urge President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to condemn the parallel attack against lawyers and the legal profession, and to ensure that these cases are effectively investigated and prosecuted and that the culture of impunity for transgressions on civil liberties be eliminated.
“We call on all members of the legal profession, members of the judiciary and law students to unite in condemning these attacks and to lend assistance in the effective investigation and prosecution of these cases.
“We likewise appeal to all concerned Filipinos everywhere and to members of the world community of lawyers and judges to join us in denouncing these attacks and to demand full accountability and justice.
“We, the undersigned members of the legal profession and concerned citizens condemn the rising spate of attacks and harassment of members of the bar and bench, targeting especially those who have taken up the cudgels for the poor and oppressed.”
The plea of Mrs. Amelia Dacut for justice for her slain husband lawyer Felidito was not lost on law dean Pacifico Agabin, who said that every lawyer killed diminishes the profession because lawyers are involved with mankind. Agabin called on all lawyers to have the courage to stand up to this cycle of violence.
During the signing of the Manifesto, six generations of Sigma Rhoans were present and/or represented, led by the venerable Jovito Salonga (40s), lawyer Leonard de Vera (60s), and law dean Rudyard Avila (80s), The members of Sigma Rho are - as they should be - in the forefront of this crusade. This is how it should be, for most lawyers are seekers of the right.
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