Why I Want To Be A Lawyer
There’s
this one question asked on my first day in law school that took me six months
to know the answer. The question was, “Why do you want to become a lawyer?” and
I remember myself giving a reply, “I honestly don’t know, what I only know is I
want to be a lawyer.”
It was Friday afternoon, last week, when I received a text message from a friend “G masuicide nalang gid ko guru. Di ko na bal.an himuon ko.” I was alarmed and shocked not knowing what to do. Earlier that morning, around 3am, that friend woke me up and told me how the supposed to be great night turned into a horrible nightmare, when she and her friend were handcuffed and brought to the police station. After an incident happened in one of the disco bars in the city, they were fined with the amount of 10,000 pesos, their belongings were confiscated, and they were threatened that a criminal case will be filed against them. For a 19-year-old student, the whole thing is very traumatic. Where can they get the whole amount of 10,000 pesos that instant? What will happen next if there is a case filed against them? Can they still graduate this year? Worse, they do not want anyone from their family to know about what happened. You do not need to ask them if there is something wrong, because it’s too obvious. The burden financially, emotionally, morally and physically is written all over their faces. They did acknowledge their mistakes and they are very much willing to settle things, hoping against hopes that no case will be filed against them.
I can feel them. But I know something is wrong with how everything transpired. Why is there intimidation, abuse of power and illegal confiscation of belongings? I know I have to do something. I browsed my phonebook, composed a short message and sent it. Few minutes later, I am confident that everything will be alright. Good thing I have friends like Atty. Anfred Panes (a private practitioner lawyer), Gian Bermudo (who has a friend in the Human Resource Department of that disco bar) and David Abraham Garcia (the son of Deputy Regional Prosecutor), who are very willing to share their legal opinions and whatever help they can provide. After a series of phone calls, exchange of text messages, legal discussions and settlement talks, finally everything was settled – in favour of us (sorry can’t disclose the whole thing).
This personal experience of acting as ‘counsel’/mediator is challenging yet thrilling. The delight of reading the minds of the other party and formulating your next move to counter their plan of actions is overwhelming. My favourite part? It is when they will not agree with us and they kept on insisting their own and we kept on resisting and they told us they will pursue the filing of the case and we laid our last card by saying “okay, if you want to file a case, go ahead. We know where we stand. We already talked with a private lawyer and a prosecutor, and we also know where you stand. If we can’t settle this amicably, we do not also have a choice but to file a case against the manager as well.” I saw shocked faces; they did not expect it for sure. I felt triumphant. Of course, I was bluffing! My god, the kids cannot afford to file and be filed with a criminal case. But we do not have a choice but to apply the art of bargaining. The mood was then changed, and our proposal was adopted. Thanks to the BIG help of Gian, Kuya David and Atty. Panes. This whole experience made me realize that in the real world, it is not ‘what you know’ but it is more of ‘who you know’.
I am happy to see those happy faces of my friend and her friend again. They kept on saying their endless ‘thank yous’, but what they don't know is how thankful I am also for the pleasure of having this opportunity not just to apply what I know but to see myself stand for what is right and fight for my friends. This also answers the question, why I want to become a lawyer.
I want to become a lawyer, because if people know that you are a lawyer, they will listen. Otherwise, they will put the law in their hands for the prejudice of the unfortunate ones. With what happened, if we didn't tell them that we had a lawyer, do you think they will sit down with us and talk for the settlement? I doubt. As what had earlier transpired, they abused their power and harassed these two vulnerable kids. All of the sudden, I know my purpose. I want people to listen to me, not for myself, but for justice to prevail.
With the knowledge of what is supposed to be right, the courage to fight for it and a little charm I clasped, I know lawyering is for me. I don't care about the things I gave up for law school. I know and I am sure I am doing what I really want to do with my life, and I am confident that I am on the right path. It’s hard. This whole law school thing is definitely not just any other ‘biga’. But I will take whatever it takes to be called a lawyer. It's a long way to go, but with determination and faith I know I can be your Atty. Ariane Joy S. Bobillo in hot pink pumps someday (fingers crossed).
It was Friday afternoon, last week, when I received a text message from a friend “G masuicide nalang gid ko guru. Di ko na bal.an himuon ko.” I was alarmed and shocked not knowing what to do. Earlier that morning, around 3am, that friend woke me up and told me how the supposed to be great night turned into a horrible nightmare, when she and her friend were handcuffed and brought to the police station. After an incident happened in one of the disco bars in the city, they were fined with the amount of 10,000 pesos, their belongings were confiscated, and they were threatened that a criminal case will be filed against them. For a 19-year-old student, the whole thing is very traumatic. Where can they get the whole amount of 10,000 pesos that instant? What will happen next if there is a case filed against them? Can they still graduate this year? Worse, they do not want anyone from their family to know about what happened. You do not need to ask them if there is something wrong, because it’s too obvious. The burden financially, emotionally, morally and physically is written all over their faces. They did acknowledge their mistakes and they are very much willing to settle things, hoping against hopes that no case will be filed against them.
I can feel them. But I know something is wrong with how everything transpired. Why is there intimidation, abuse of power and illegal confiscation of belongings? I know I have to do something. I browsed my phonebook, composed a short message and sent it. Few minutes later, I am confident that everything will be alright. Good thing I have friends like Atty. Anfred Panes (a private practitioner lawyer), Gian Bermudo (who has a friend in the Human Resource Department of that disco bar) and David Abraham Garcia (the son of Deputy Regional Prosecutor), who are very willing to share their legal opinions and whatever help they can provide. After a series of phone calls, exchange of text messages, legal discussions and settlement talks, finally everything was settled – in favour of us (sorry can’t disclose the whole thing).
This personal experience of acting as ‘counsel’/mediator is challenging yet thrilling. The delight of reading the minds of the other party and formulating your next move to counter their plan of actions is overwhelming. My favourite part? It is when they will not agree with us and they kept on insisting their own and we kept on resisting and they told us they will pursue the filing of the case and we laid our last card by saying “okay, if you want to file a case, go ahead. We know where we stand. We already talked with a private lawyer and a prosecutor, and we also know where you stand. If we can’t settle this amicably, we do not also have a choice but to file a case against the manager as well.” I saw shocked faces; they did not expect it for sure. I felt triumphant. Of course, I was bluffing! My god, the kids cannot afford to file and be filed with a criminal case. But we do not have a choice but to apply the art of bargaining. The mood was then changed, and our proposal was adopted. Thanks to the BIG help of Gian, Kuya David and Atty. Panes. This whole experience made me realize that in the real world, it is not ‘what you know’ but it is more of ‘who you know’.
I am happy to see those happy faces of my friend and her friend again. They kept on saying their endless ‘thank yous’, but what they don't know is how thankful I am also for the pleasure of having this opportunity not just to apply what I know but to see myself stand for what is right and fight for my friends. This also answers the question, why I want to become a lawyer.
I want to become a lawyer, because if people know that you are a lawyer, they will listen. Otherwise, they will put the law in their hands for the prejudice of the unfortunate ones. With what happened, if we didn't tell them that we had a lawyer, do you think they will sit down with us and talk for the settlement? I doubt. As what had earlier transpired, they abused their power and harassed these two vulnerable kids. All of the sudden, I know my purpose. I want people to listen to me, not for myself, but for justice to prevail.
With the knowledge of what is supposed to be right, the courage to fight for it and a little charm I clasped, I know lawyering is for me. I don't care about the things I gave up for law school. I know and I am sure I am doing what I really want to do with my life, and I am confident that I am on the right path. It’s hard. This whole law school thing is definitely not just any other ‘biga’. But I will take whatever it takes to be called a lawyer. It's a long way to go, but with determination and faith I know I can be your Atty. Ariane Joy S. Bobillo in hot pink pumps someday (fingers crossed).
*this reminds me that I also became a
victim of a person who abused his power and authority over me. I was once
stalled in the “he’s the big man, you are just a student” set-up. I once became a prey of injustice because I
was just a little voice and nobody wanted to listen.
Wow! That was really inspiring. Congratulations on your 'first case'? hehe. Maybe destiny mo nga talaga maging lawyer. Congrats again. At alam ko na ngayon kung sino pwede kong tawagan sakaling maagrabyado ako. hehe
ReplyDeletehaha, thanks doc. pero wag naman muna ngayon, pwede tapusin ko nalang muna yung four years? :))
ReplyDelete