UP legal eagles take poor women, kids under their wing

When an inmate languishing in the Correctional Institute for Women wrote an appeal to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno about the slow progress of her case which was being handled by the Quezon City Public Assistance Office, Sereno knew exactly whom to turn to—her sorority sisters in the UP Women Lawyers Circle (Wiloci).

The woman—let’s call her Delia— was being detained on a drug charge, having been caught in the home of her common-law husband, the father of her child, during a raid conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. In her desperate letter written in Filipino, Delia told Sereno that she had no involvement in the drug trade at all and did not actually live with her partner, a drug pusher. She had gone to the house to ask for money for her child and was arrested simply because her husband was not around. She was worried about her child, who was being cared for by her old and sickly mother.

Delia is representative of most of Wiloci’s clients—impoverished women and children unaware of their rights. It was precisely to defend, assist and educate such women that the Wiloci was founded in 1947 by the late Judge Corazon Juliano Agrava at the request of then President Manuel Roxas. Wiloci’s legal services laid the groundwork for the first Court of Juvenile and Domestic Relations.

Wiloci counts among its members some of the most high-powered women lawyers in the country, including all but two of the women Supreme Court justices, senators, heads of major government offices and senior partners in major law firms.

Defending of a ‘DH’

Its free legal advice and counseling service is handled by some of the most accomplished women lawyers in the Philippines. The current president, Diana Franco, provides legal advice to a domestic helper in her dispute against a neighbor, a security guard; quite a departure from her expertise, since she is a leading family law practitioner, having transitioned to this more satisfying practice from corporate law in an investment house and a two-year stint in a San Francisco law firm.

Catherine Manahan, who is in charge of legal aid, is a consultant in the Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc Law Office, and her expertise lies in corporate law and the formidable area of taxation.

When necessary, especially in the case of pauper litigants, Wiloci provides legal representation.  The costs of litigation involving pauper litigants are paid by Wiloci, but all cases, whether for indigents or not, are handled by Wiloci lawyers with the same dedication with which they pursue lucrative-paying cases.

Prosecuting Jalosjos

Wiloci’s most famous case involved a statutory rape charge against former Rep. Romeo Jalosjos in which the victim was a child of 12. The case was successfully prosecuted by three family law experts—Katrina Legarda, Lourdes Cruz-Matters and Minerva Ambrosio.

Several cases currently being handled by Wiloci volunteers also involve rape and sexual harassment. A case of statutory rape and trafficking, with echoes of the Jalosjos lawsuit, involves a municipal mayor who lured a 12-year-old to his rest house. Because of the influence of the mayor in his locality, the case was transferred to Manila.

A case of sexual harassment was filed on behalf of a college student against an associate dean in one of the most prestigious universities in the country. A third case illustrates the danger of friendships formed with strangers through text messages and Internet chat rooms. In this instance, a young girl became a text pal with a man who invited her to a party in which she was drugged and gang-raped.

Wiloci coordinates closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Women’s Desk and the Child Protection Unit of the Philippine General Hospital because of the trauma involved in rape. In most cases, victims have to undergo psychological counseling to prepare them for the rigors of a rape trial. In cases of incestuous rape, the DSWD provides temporary protection for the victim.

Help for OFWs

The increasing number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has also brought about an increase in a different kind of cases—illegal recruitment, trafficking and collection of benefits from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

Another aspect of the Wiloci’s activities involves legal aid and literacy. With funding provided by Hyundai Asia Resources Foundation Inc., it recently compiled a reference and training manual for barangays on selected socioeconomic laws, and laws on women and children. Many elected barangay officials, according to Manahan, are not aware of these laws, much less that their implementation starts with the barangay. Another manual details the benefits due disabled persons, which are much less known than those for senior citizens.

Psychic reward

According to Franco, Wiloci is organizing a group of legal experts in family and matrimonial laws to be an accrediting arm for lawyers who intend to become fellows or experts in family law. This will give prospective clients the confidence that their lawyer is well-versed and up to date in all jurisprudence concerning family issues.

Wiloci survives through donations and fund-raising, and its staff could not be leaner. Volunteer lawyers are not paid, except for their transportation expenses. Their compensation is purely psychic—the knowledge that a poor person has received justice in spite of the imperfections of the Philippine justice system and, for those who operate in the rarefied air of corporate law, the opportunity to experience the more personal aspects of legal service.

Wiloci holds office at the TOPS Building, 2589 Santa Clara corner Leyva and Syquia Streets, Sta. Ana, Manila, with tel. no. 3538762.