By Joseph B.A. Marzan
This was originally submitted as an assignment for the author’s Basic Legal Ethics Course at the University of San Agustin-College of Law under Judge Elijo Sharon R. Herrera-Bellones.
The study of Legal and Judicial Ethics is where law students learn about the practice of law itself, aside from the other specific areas of law. This area of study is where we also learn that aside from the legal requirements as provided, love for country is a ‘hidden requirement’ for the practice of law.
The laws of the Philippines provide for the necessary requirements in order to become a member of the Bar. Article XII, Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines includes the practice of law in professions that only Filipinos may be allowed to practice. The Rules of Court, in Rule 138, lists the specific requirements of admission to the Bar, such as: (1) being a citizen of the Philippines; (2) being twenty-one years of age; (3) being a resident of the Philippines; (4) possessing the necessary academic requirements (high school degree, pre-law degree, and law degree); and (5) possessing good moral character.
One may ask, “What law states love for country as a requirement for the practice of law?” There is no answer to this question because it is not stated in any law. This may be, however, an extra-legal requirement, and likewise an important factor in admission to the Bar. For law students, the study of law is a great opportunity to progressively develop our love for our country. Upon making the choice to enter law school, passing the Bar exams, taking the oath, and signing the Roll of Attorneys, it must be understood that lawyers have developed a sense of patriotism along the way and will continue to do so in practice.
Somehow, love for country as a hidden requirement may not even be limited to the legal profession alone and may definitely be honed at a young age. These may be acquired through practices started from home, and brought to school, at work, such as, but not limited to: pausing, dropping your usual activity and placing your hand on your chest when the Lupang Hinirang plays; following national and municipal laws and ordinances such as proper crossing at the designated pedestrian lanes, waste segregation, and observing the curfew times, among others; and paying national and local taxes through work and acquiring goods and services. Initiating political discussions between family members while children are young may also help develop an earlier understanding of the political and legal systems of the country, and may even engage them in active participation, such as communicating with community and municipal leaders, joining various nation-building projects and other similar activities, and the like.
Love for our country may be a condition that is intrinsically tied to our journey as future members of the Bar. Considering to apply for the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PHILSAT) should be considered a subtle act of loving the country because it entails submitting ourselves to the legal profession and a possible lifetime commitment of service to the Filipino society through acquiring a deeper understanding of the Philippines and the entire legal system. The study of law provides us with the tools to acquire that deeper understanding, as we will not only be studying the laws themselves, but also their underlying history, intent, and principles.
This deeper understanding, however, must not only come from reading and internalizing cases and provisions on a daily basis, but also from a frequency of engagement by law professors. It is at this point that I wish to emphasize, that love for country must also be inspired by those already in the profession, and who, at the same time, are starting to inspire a newer generation into the practice. Teachers of the law must simultaneously oblige themselves to inculcate the value that everything that we did, we do, we are doing, and what we will be doing, from the moment we become lawyers, is part of dedicating a significant portion of our lives towards serving our country.
Having satisfactorily completed a law degree, and going through struggles towards obtaining the title ‘Attorney’ and the right to practice, we will definitely find it easier to review what we’ve learned, connect them together, and retain all that has come out of our learning processes, if we have greatly developed, and are continuing to develop, a love for our country; and ultimately, it may help us pass the Bar Exams.
Assuming that we do pass the Bar Exams, we would be required to take an oath which obliges us to: recognize the supreme authority of the Republic of the Philippines; support its Constitution and obey the laws as well as the legal orders of the duly constituted authorities therein; do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in court; not wittingly or willingly promote or sue any groundless, false or unlawful suit, nor give aid nor consent to the same; delay no man for money or malice, and will conduct ourselves as lawyers according to the best of our knowledge and discretion and with all good fidelity as well as to the courts as to our clients; and impose upon ourselves this obligation without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. This is obviously a tacit commitment to loving our country wholeheartedly and to serving the people by advocating for justice.
Upon entering the practice, we must not forget, above all, that before we are lawyers, we are Filipinos. The practice will require of us the knowledge and the skills we acquired in law school, but the love for our country will make our practice more meaningful and will make us feel that we are not in a mere profession but in a vocation.
The love for our country may be found neither anywhere in our legal forms, nor in the cases we read, nor in the hallowed halls we enter; but it is the love for our country that will steer our direction in the profession and determine how we will be remembered in our practice. To give examples, the late Senator Jose W. Diokno, who, as Secretary of Justice in the Macapagal administration, exposed the corruption in the government after ordering the raid of an American businessman, and who, during the Marcos era, worked with civil society groups, communist rebels, and many of the victims, to protect their rights against the dark, oppressive hands of those in power through various groups he had formed, such as the Free Legal Assistance Group and KAAKBAY (Movement for Philippine Sovereignty and Democracy); and recently-retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, who went against his appointing authority, then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when he penned the decision in Lambino v. COMELEC in 2006 which had killed that administration’s hopes of swift charter change, who was at the forefront in defending our territory against Chinese claims in the South China Sea, and who retired from the Supreme Court with zero backlogs and 935 authored decisions.
Currently, those in power who are lawyers themselves, have weaponized our laws to suppress press freedom, and to take the lives those who were allegedly violating the law, without due process granted to them, all in the guise of protecting the greater good. Now, more than ever, is love for country a necessity and a requirement for the practice of law, because members of the Bar must not only possess the necessary knowledge and skills expected of a lawyer, but must also possess this love for country to advocate for justice and take the laws where they are so rightful to be applied.
