Human Rights Lawyers invite young barristers to the vocation of 'People Lawyering'

The Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) is inviting more young lawyers to answer the vocation of people’s lawyering to help them address the increasing number of human rights violations in Mindanao.

Atty. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, UPLM secretary general, said the UPLM was “born in answer to blatant violations of human rights in Mindanao.” However, Zarate laments that while there is an increasing number of people who are in urgent need of their services, not many lawyers opt for the career path of “peoples’ lawyering.”

Although there is an estimated 50,000 lawyers in the country, Zarate says many of them have chosen a “traditional” career path in government through prestigious posts like prosecutors and judges in the judiciary system or the even more lucrative “corporate lawyering” to serve the country’s top 1,000 corporations.

Many of them prioritize a house and lot or a car above service to humanity,” Zarate noted. “In Metro Manila alone, some 1,000 lawyers are graduated every year. If we can only get one out of ten of them into people’s lawyering, we should consider ourselves lucky.”

Atty. Frederico M. Gapuz, UPLM chairman, says many of his contemporaries who fought for their countrymen’s human rights during the martial law years have now accepted jobs in government or are now retired, hence the need for a new generation of lawyers to replace them in ‘peoples lawyering.’

Very often, many of our clients don’t have any money to pay for our services so they pay us in kind,” Atty. Jose V. Begil, Jr., UPLM deputy secretary general, told media in a press conference called by the group last weekend in a local hotel in this city. “So be prepared to receive a chicken, or a bunch of fruits or bananas as payment.”

Thus, Begil said the UPLM is also engaged in advocacy to promote careers in ‘people’s lawyering’ among the country’s young lawyers. The organization is composed of some 70 lawyers, paralegals and law students in the major cities of Mindanao

We don’t confine ourselves to our offices or the courts,” Begil said. “We also immerse ourselves with our clients and their communities, as well as other similar groups which share our vision and aspirations.”

Among these are the Bangsa Moro Lawyers Network (BMLN), Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), Saligan, and other alternative law groups, such as the Protestants Lawyers League which the UPLM is now helping revive.

As part of its capability-building as an organization, Gapuz said the UPLM would soon be organizing chapters in General Santos, Marbel, Pagadian, Digos, Zamboanga City, Cotabato, Central Mindanao and Davao del Norte.

A plan to organize a national union has been tentatively set for Cebu next month while the UPLM general assembly is expected to be hosted by Cagayan de Oro City this coming July.

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