TAMPOK

The Ties That Bind

Chief Justice Hilario Davide

Speech delivered on the 90th Anniversary of the UP College of Law

I most certainly welcome the opportunity to be with you this morning in celebration of the 90th Anniversary of our UP College of Law and in congratulating ourselves for being proud parts of an unquestionably great college of a very famous university. With you this morning I find myself freed from the tensions and stress that the impeachment trial has inevitably generated.

It has been 42 years almost to the day when I left the portals of this premier institution on the sprawling UP campus to take my chances in the real world, and face the challenges which I knew lay ahead of me.

Times were uncertain and the only thing that I could be sure of at the time - the late fifties and early sixties - was that things would get worse before they get better. Recent history has proved me not to be a bad clairvoyant. Like our country, I experienced my own share of highs and lows, ups and downs. The odds in those days were clearly stacked against the new lawyers, particularly those who came from the C&D classes as I did, as well as a majority of my other 104 classmates, or "batchmates" as you call them now. The going salary for a neophyte attorney was then a piddling P120.00 to P150.00 a month. Given that it was then the legal minimum rate, there was no way to go but up.

It is truly remarkable how times have changed. I have been told that the usual initial compensation rate today for a new lawyer from the UP College of Law is about P25,000.00 a month. It is no wonder that they now accuse our graduates of hubris when they try to shift their career path to the fast lane.

Our college marks its genesis from a small and cohesive group of faculty members and around 50 students who conducted their classes in an unpretentious room at the YMCA compound in Manila in 1910. Though faced with strong opposition from the Secretary of Public Instruction, the UP College of Law nevertheless officially came into being on 12 January 1911. Like the sun of a new day, it rose into such prominence that the University of the Philippines and the College of Law are generally acknowledged as one and the same.

This enviable reputation has been justifiably earned. The College consistently produces brilliant sons and daughters who have left and are still leaving their indelible imprint on our nation's political, economic and social fabric. The three branches of government have more than their fair share of UP Law graduates by any measure. Four became presidents. Of the 147 men and women appointed as Justices of the Supreme Court, 68 are UP Law Alumni, including 12 Chief Justices. Hundreds of others have served as justices in the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, and judges in the lower courts. The 1935, 1971 and 1987 Constitutions largely owe their elegant prose - and partly their imperfections - to the lawyers produced by our College of Law. A great disproportion of cabinet secretaries, leaders and members of Congress, and innumerable local government officials cut their teeth in the College. I need not mention those who serve the government in various other responsible capacities as well as those who have distinguished themselves in the academe, the private sector, and non-government organizations.

UP Law Alumni also dominate the legal representation in the impeachment trial. The two principal counsel on opposite sides are 1952 stalwarts, namely Atty. Estelito Mendoza and Representative Joker Arroyo. This class of 1952 also produced a Chief Justice-the Honorable Marcelo B. Fernan, and three Associate Justices of the Supreme Court-Florentino P. Feliciano, Hugo E. Gutierrez, Jr. and Flerida Ruth Pineda Romero. I have two classmates in the thick of the fight in the Impeachment Court - Senator Judge Renato Cayetano and Congressman Salacnib Baterina. Several others are indirectly involved in the trial through talk shows, commentaries, and documentaries. So far, I have seen on TV Dean Pangalangan, Dean Magallona, Prof. Te, Prof. Leonen, Prof. Morales, Prof. Avena and Prof. Sison. Who else? You see I have very little time for TV viewing.

Indeed, the UP College of Law is the very symbol of the UP spirit, thanks to its professors, students, and alumni who incarnated this sublime concept and elevated it to a living, tangible form. This spirit lives on in each and every one of us. For in our transient passage through this august hall, we surrendered a part of ourselves to a calling virtually sacred in its purpose-to uphold our commitment to excellence, to dignity and integrity, to the administration of justice, and the rule of law, the preservation of our democratic institutions and the rights and liberties of our people; and finally, to our commitment to our faith in God.

The road to excellence does not come without hardship. It is a very difficult road with sometimes unwinnable battles where only the most determined prevail, and our only ordinance is our self. We mold our minds and develop virtues that will take us to a heightened understanding of the law. Frivolities in life are excised from our existence. The College, my dear friends, ordinarily does this for us. But we should not despair, for the rewards far exceed the sacrifice. The last time I checked, we have had 44 first placers in the Bar Exams - more than twice the number of all other law schools combined. In the Supreme Court now, eight of its 15 members are alumni of our College. And these, ladies and gentlemen, are but samples of the fortunate side effects of the rigorous training in the College.

I am grateful to the College for instilling in me this zeal for excellence for it inspires and encourages me to be resolute in my efforts to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our course. The Supreme Court's Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), the education arm of the Supreme Court, is a vital partner in this endeavor. But even before PHILJA's creation, the UP through its Institute of Judicial Administration (IJA) entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Supreme Court for joint efforts to improve, among others, the administration of justice. The MOA is still in force. And our Associate Dean Myrna Feliciano, Director of the IJA, is the life of that MOA. Created in 1983, the IJA was first tasked to conduct training for judges. The competence exhibited by the IJA led to the expansion of its audience to include court personnel, government and even private lawyers.

The PHILJA is now the main agency tasked with the enhancement of skills of justices, judges and court personnel, although it maintains close ties with the IJA. The PHILJA was relentless in the giant strides it took during the first year of my tenure as Chief Justice when it conducted a record number of seminars and workshops all over the country. Its present Chancellor is retired Supreme Court Justice Ameurfina A. Melencio-Herrera. She is one of the eight women - seven of whom are UP Alumni - to sit as Justices in the nation's highest tribunal.

The pursuit of excellence is one of the driving forces for the comprehensive and far-reaching judicial reform program recently approved by the Supreme Court En Banc. Captured in the document entitled "Action Program for Judicial Reform," the reform program will help attain the Judiciary envisioned in the vision-mission statement of the Judiciary, the Davide Watch: a Philippine Judiciary that is independent, effective and efficient, and worthy of public trust and confidence. The need to excel, though, should be tempered with our covenant to assume and practice our profession with dignity and integrity. The Bench and the Bar must possess unassailable, unblemished, and unimpeachable integrity. The lawyer must hold his profession and office with quiet dignity, without pompous pretense of moral or intellectual ascendancy. For we are but the guardians of justice and not its master.

As repeatedly enunciated in many cases, the law is a profession, not a trade or craft. Those enrolled in its ranks are called upon to aid in achieving one of the most fundamental purposes of the State, and that is the administration of justice without fear or favor. The practice of law is not a vested right but a privilege; a privilege, moreover, clothed with public interest because a lawyer owes substantial duties not only to his client, but also to his brethren in the profession, to the courts and to the nation.

In the afternoon when the impeachment trial of the President began, I understood why God gave me the good fortune to study in the UP College of Law. The knowledge, values and virtues which only this great institution can instill have prepared me for this noble task. He put me in the right time and the right position to carry out His will and wishes for our country and people.

I have come to accept the fact that the impeachment trial puts the presiding officer on trial as well. The people are my judge and jury as I carry out my constitutional duty to do right by everything I hold sacred. I am aware that every ruling I dictate affects the nation and our people. But the spirit from within - forged by this College and refined by my faith in God - will always rise to the occasion. No person or circumstance can prevent or intimidate me from doing what is right by law and my conscience. I will not concede to any popular blind sentiment or become an unwitting tool for injustice or inequity. I will stand with all fidelity to the oath I took when I assumed the duties and responsibilities as the presiding officer of the Impeachment Court.

Ultimately, we realize that we yield to a higher order. For our mortal existence is but a mere glimpse of our real substance and a flicker in eternity. Yet we are made in the likeness of God, and in that likeness springs forth innumerable possibilities for high-minded ends.

As I end, let me reiterate my heartfelt tribute to the UP College of Law and its thousands of alumni who are achievers in their own right by repeating the immortal words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., etched in marble here at Malcolm Hall: The business of a law school is not simply to teach law or make lawyers but to teach law in the grand manner and to make great lawyers.

We are thus called upon to practice law in the grand manner and to become great lawyers.

We owe our current station to our fellow Filipinos who have invested their lives in one way or another in our education. We owe it to our countrymen to be sentinels of truth and justice, and to deliver to them justice in all its brilliance. We must pursue justice with deepest passion, and defend the rule of law with greatest courage, always giving our best, most sincere, most heartfelt, most excellent efforts.

This is what it takes to practice law in the grand manner, and to be a great lawyer. It is time to examine our souls and ask, are we equal to the task? Let me rephrase the question: Do we consider ourselves worthy of being called alumni of the UP College of Law? I REFUSE TO TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. Let us be true to our calling, and claim our destiny. Let us be great lawyers, practicing law in the grand manner, in selfless service to our country, the Filipino people, and above all, to God.

All hail to the UP College of Law!

Thank you very much, God bless us all.

home | main

University of the Philippines System, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Trunklines: (+632) 9205301 to 35
Netknitting by byugo. Copyright 2000 UP System Information Office
Comments and Feedback