Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III has urged new graduates of the University of the Philippines College of Law to be part of the solution to the country’s problems and to change the perception that lawyers use their knowledge to further injustice.
“Do not be a part of the problem. Be a part of the solution. When you practice your profession never allow yourself to be used as a bribe-giver,” Senate Pres. Aquilino Pimentel III said in a statement.
Pimentel, former bar topnotcher and UP alumnus, was invited to be speaker in his alma mater’s commencement exercises and encouraged UP law graduates to avoid temptations brought by “money, influence, and power of the privileged sector of our society.”
“You will be born as lawyers into a world where lawyers are more reviled than admired. Reviled for the perception that their knowledge of the law is being used to further injustice and to enrich themselves even as they may also be admired for their knowledge of the law,” Pimentel said.
“…Reject the reasoning that since the other side is doing it, then you should also be doing it in order to level the playing field,” he added.
He also urged them to restore the faith of Filipinos in the justice system and rule of law.
Citing the 2015 Rule of Law Index of the World Justice Project (WJP), Pimentel said that the delay in resolving criminal cases and the duration of civil cases in the country are the most significant or serious problems of the civil and criminal justice in the Philippines, as cases can take nearly two decades to come to a final resolution.
He also cited civil and criminal justice in the Philippines as the worst aspects of the rule of law in the country — even worse than corruption in government.
“…Justice is denied either through lengthy delays or the outright sale of decisions. Because of this, the law is no longer seen as a majestic tool for justice, but as a deplorable tool for the powerful to abuse the powerless,” he added.
Pimentel graduated from UP Law in 1990 and topped the Bar examinations that same year. (Azer N. Parrocha/PNA)
