THEY TOO HAVE SOULS

I have always been so amused by jokes about or against lawyers, portraying them to be merely made of flesh and probably may even be heartless. One tale goes this way:

A woman died. And in the pearly gates of heaven, she was welcomed by St. Peter, the gatekeeper. While she was glad to be accepted in heaven, she inquired if her husband was in heaven too. St. Peter told her to go through the list of those who had been already admitted. The old woman meticulously looked at the list but after a while, she was sad that her husband’s name was not there. So, St. Peter told her to go to the gates of hell, and there she went.

Upon meeting Satan, she asked the same question and was referred to the list of those who were already in hell. Upon scrutinizing the list one by one, she also did not find her husband’s name and she was glad concluding that her husband must be in Purgatory and will soon be with her in heaven. Dropping by Purgatory, she again talked to the one in charge and was shown the list. She was so surprised that again, her husband’s name was not there despite the fact that she was the one who buried him. She went back to St. Peter and told him her problem.

Even St. Peter was confused. But then he asked her, “what was your husband’s work before?” The woman replied, “oh, my husband was a lawyer.” With a glint in his eyes, St. Peter said, “ah, you did not tell me in advance, lawyers have no souls!”

Lawyers have no souls! That may be the reason why they can do almost anything evil. They are reputed to be liars and cheats. They allegedly circumvent the law if only to protect their client’s case, right or wrong.

Such view, however, is quite myopic. Branding lawyers to be evil doers seems misplaced, if not, downright wrong.

In the recent past, there were several lawyers close to me here in Cagayan de Oro who have gone back to their Creator. In fact, in my stint as President of the IBP starting from April 2001 to February 2003, twenty-one (21) lawyers died, among them, the venerable Judge Rolando R. Villaraza, Judge Benedicto U. Hallazgo, Judge Admiral P. Labis, Fiscal Francisco Rabanes and Atty. Eudoxio Along.

Most of them were my teachers whom I deeply respect in Xavier University College of Law. I believe they have dutifully followed their oath to uphold the rule of law and not to delay any man’s cause for money or malice. I know they were quite frugal while living and did not die in affluence.

Lately, several lawyers whom I also know by heart have also died, among them, Atty. Santos Tubelleja, Judge Roque Edmilao, Judge Puro Velez, Fiscal Felicisimo Khu, Judge Rolando S. Venadas, Sr., Atty. Jacob F. Montesa and Judge Anthony E. Santos. I learned the ropes of lawyering, so to speak, through these legal advocates and they have passed away almost unnoticed.

Quite interesting is the life of Judge Rolando Venadas, Sr. who became endeared to me when he was appointed as the Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 9 of Malaybalay City.

I was told he was among the topnotchers in the Bar Examination in 1964 and his stint as a practicing lawyer was so colorful until it faded. He also became a Professor in the College of Law of Xavier University, his very own Alma Mater. I saw in him a very caring and generous father not only to his own family but to all the young lawyers who appeared before his court.

In our legal system, most litigants who lose their cases either blame the lawyer or the judge. No matter how fair the judgment is, the judge, as well as the counsel, often catch their ire.

It cannot really be denied that there are lawyers who play tricks in court and judges who may be considered “hoodlums in robes”. More often than not, they are caught and are sanctioned, if not disbarred, by the disciplining arm of the Supreme Court.

By and large, lawyers, as well as judges, are human beings who advocate not for themselves but for others. They literally take the cudgels for a person whose rights have been violated. After a while, like in my case where I have been practicing for more than fifteen years now, I see my profession as one cutting deep into the heart of conflicts. In doing so, I also feel the pain and anxiety of those whom I represent.

Lawyers then see the basic humanity in clients. They see hatred running in the veins of litigants. They see forgiveness in the hearts of some. They see all types of characters in this drama of life. Most of all, lawyers assume the personality of those crying out for justice as they speak for them.

In doing so, lawyers become so human and find divinity along the way which makes me conclude that those who passed away, numbering forty-two since 2001, definitely have souls. Though some of them might be answering for the inequities they have committed, most of them are certainly celebrating the glory of being upright here on earth.

So, a few hundreds of the more than 6,000 law graduates taking the bar examinations starting last Sunday until September 24 will soon become lawyers. As they take the exams, they pray and make a promise to God, whoever they conceive Him to be, that they will do justice for all when they one day bury their minds and hearts into the realm of the legal profession.