By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
(Written more than six years ago, this piece re
mains unpublished for reason/s I cannot recall now.)
n her message to the new batch of lawyers during their induction to the bar on April 24, 2013 which my wife and I witnessed as parents of one of the inductees, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno admitted what has been known for ages that Filipino lawyers are despised and are the butt of scornful and cruel jokes. Saying that it is high time that the law profession redeems itself in the eyes of the public, she mentioned two ways of accomplishing that. First, the new batch of lawyers should resolve to be different from their seniors by making and living by the following vow: “I will not be corrupt and will allow no one to corrupt me.” Second, as part of its efforts to police the ranks of lawyers, the Supreme Court will set up systems to receive complaints against lawyers in and out of the judiciary more efficiently promising that the meritorious complaints will be investigated thoroughly.
Hearing that, I could not help but tell myself that most likely, similar eloquent and ringing speeches batting for moral renewal of lawyers have been the fare in previous oath taking ceremonies for lawyers but how come Sereno still enjoins the new lawyers “to engage in a counter-cultural revolution to bring about a reversal of the public view of lawyers”? Part of the answer comes from the fact that there are but a few members of the profession, as pointed out by Sereno in her speech, who exemplify the desired conduct of lawyers. (“For so long a time, our profession has reaped the scorn of our countrymen. It has been saved only by the occasional oases of the stories of heroic individuals among us.”)
Also part of the answer as to why the law profession continues to wallow in the mud lies in a subject which Sereno forgot to mention in her speech: the role of parents and other relatives in keeping the conduct of their lawyer kin if not up to their oath, at least not so gross as to attract attention. It is relatives who first notice the assets beyond the earning capacity of the new lawyers. If the relatives have any intention at all to prevent their lawyer kin from adding to the shame of their profession and are very vigilant to the telltale signs of corruption and misconduct, they are in the best position to stop the slide of the pride of the clan into ignominy. The dismal condition of the law profession is a proof that relatives have miserably failed to do their duties to rebuke their erring lawyer kin and demand that they protect the name of the family. Worse, in so many instances, it is the relatives themselves who encourage their lawyer kin to sell their souls to the devil in exchange for monetary and other gains.
Relative to the foregoing, I have told my daughter soon after the results of the bar came out that if she truly believes that her passing the bar is a blessing from God which she claimed it is, then she should practice the profession and conduct herself in a manner that honors God. The extreme irony and tragedy of the local law profession is that all its members pray to God to allow them pass the bar but after their prayers are granted, they offer their entire careers to mammon.
Lastly, I also noticed that the oath of lawyers is complete, meaning, if all lawyers in this country abide by it, the law profession would be held with utmost respect and you would not recognize this country from what it is now because for one thing, the ends of justice would be served and for another, the profession being the source of most leaders of this country, where the lawyers go the country goes. Hearing it, it dawned upon me how come I am now in my mid50s and have not yet seen a copy of the oath displayed in the law offices I have visited. Could it be the lawyers do not want their clients to see the stark contrast between the ideal and the breathing lawyer? High time the Supreme Court decreed that all offices where lawyers work prominently display the oath to serve as a constant rebuke to erring lawyers and to remind those with clean noses to keep their noses that way and also to raise the expectations of the public of the behavior of members of the profession.**
