Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. NINO JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III challenged the new batch of aspiring lawyers to help restore the public’s trust in the country’s justice system and rule of law.
This as Pimentel, a former bar topnotcher, received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of the Philippines. In 2012, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) also conferred honoris causa on the senator.
“Together, we must restore the faith of our people in our justice system and the rule of law,” Pimentel said during the commencement exercises of his alma mater on Monday.
The senator from Cagayan de Oro City urged the UP law graduates to shun temptations of money and power and instead, help address the long delays in the resolution of cases.
Lawyers should not be part of the problem, but part of the solution, said Pimentel, who finished law from UP in 1990 and topped the bar examinations in the same year.
“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. 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,” Pimentel said.
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“That is simply a palusot (an excuse) to do an illegal act and violate our professional ethics in order to get what one wants with the least amount of effort and inconvenience. Always remember, the end does not justify the means. Just be faithful to the Lawyer’s Oath. Do no falsehood, do not promote or sue any groundless, false or unlawful suit, nor delay any man for money or malice,” he said.
Pimentel also lamented that many Filipinos have become victims of lengthy cases, only to receive an erroneous decision.
“People often experience what I call a double-whammy: very long cases and, at the end of the long process, a wrong decision. Due process, which used to be defined as a day in court, has become a decade in court,” he said.
“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 said. IDL