By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
Many years ago, we had a writer here, Aloysius Matib, from Barlig, Mountain Province.
Then came the impeachment case versus the vice president. One of the lawyers of the prosecution there is a certain Atty. Erwin Matib. I googled and asked my staff and I found out he is also a CPA and he graduated his pre-law from St. Louis University of Baguio City.
So, he must be a nephew of the late Aloysius or a close relative. That made me damn proud, somebody from Mtn. Province, a kailian, is in the national limelight.
I also found out he finished his law from the University of the Philippines. Certainly, his chances of becoming a part of the prosecution would have been very slim if he did not graduate from UP or Ateneo. Yes, look at the prosecutors, most of them came from those two law schools.
That makes me doubly proud as, long ago, I also graduated from the same law school, UP. Am sure he will make our alma mater proud.
I also found out that a certain Mrs. Matib had been one of our advertisers in this paper many years ago. Thank you. Thank you. She must be the mom of Atty. Matib?
The first lesson the younger generation should take from all of these is, try to go to the best school you can get into. I have seen so many who had the brains but did not go to the right school. So, they did not go far enough when they could have had. In short, try to go beyond the boundaries of your worldly circumstances might have set, parents play a very important role in this. Not just in providing the required resources but also the inspiration. Otherwise, a kid might not realize his or her full potential.
Then there is the accumulation of qualifications you could achieve. While becoming an accountant might appear useless if you are a lawyer, it can come in handy when certain opportunities arise as when a rare case come your way involving commercial transactions such as in the case of VP Sarah. It disproves what my former boss used to say, that time is so fast or too short for one to be able to become very good in two career fields. That is, being a CPA lawyer cannot mean you are very good in both.
Lastly, it is good to go outside of the comforts of your village or city or region if that is what will enable you to reach out for more opportunities. It might have meant a lot of sacrifice for Atty. Matib to have gone to Metro Manila to attend the UP college of law in Diliman, Quezon City (there is no other UP Law) but it turned out to be all worth it.
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