By: AJ Rodriguez
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We often imagine lawyers of high-caliber intellect, eloquence, professionalism, and drive. Being a lawyer is considered as one of the most prestigious jobs in our society since it has a lot of influence, power, and wealth. Years of study would surely transform a law student to become a skilled lawyer. The process is quite rigorous and many will not be able to pass the proverbial eye of the needle. New lawyers would often take the path of private practice by applying to established law firms or being an in-house corporate legal officer; others, the public practice path with the Department of Justice, Solicitor General, Supreme Court, and the like.
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It is called “alternative lawyering.” In the Philippines, alternative lawyer groups were established during the martial law period when a large section of Philippine society were underserved by legal professionals mainly due to poverty and lack of access. One of the groups established was called SALIGAN or “Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal Inc.” The group was established as a non-
government organization doing developmental legal work for the marginalized, disadvantaged, and exploited sectors of Philippine society. Its main objectives were to promote legal empowerment, to continue legal education, and to advocate for special interests.
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Understandably, alternative lawyering is not a popular path for lawyers because most clients are taken on pro bono. Other than that, the cases are often complex and difficult to win since it involves facing large corporations with vested interests or the State itself with its thick bureaucratic entanglements. Surprisingly, some still heed the call and choose to dedicate their professional skills towards the marginalized. One of them is Atty. Aison Garcia, who after graduating from UP College of Law and passing the bar examinations back in 2006, started to work at SALIGAN. After finishing his Masters in Commercial Law at the Queen Mary University of London, he joined the Angat Buhay Program of the Office of the Vice President back in 2016.
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Atty. Aison shared his experiences and his motivations in choosing to become a alternative lawyer with almost two decades of practicing law. I decided to come up with a list based on our conversation on why a young lawyer, or even a law student, should consider alternative lawyering.
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- Flip-flops are okay with clients
“No, I don’t mean wearing slippers while you are doing zoom calls,” Atty. Aison said as he narrated his experience in wearing slippers when he went to the communities. Going out to the field meant wearing what the locals would normally wear. A lawyer need not bring out his well-pressed barong to meet with his clients. A shirt, jeans and sandals would be perfectly fine. Sometimes, it is even encouraged to make the clients and community members feel at ease.
One of the most memorable trips he had was to a fishing community in Zambales. He accompanied the fishermen on their fishing trip and they surprisingly got a large haul of fish. When they got back, the fishermen offered him half of the catch for the day as a tradition. They told Atty. Aison that his presence was very lucky to them. He appreciated the gesture but politely refused the offer.
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- Experiencing feasts
Indigent clients would usually lack the money to pay for the services of the lawyers. However, this does not mean that they would not reward the efforts of the lawyers such as Atty. Aison. In exchange for his time and services, the community would often prepare simple feasts for the visitor, usually consisting of local delicacies lovingly prepared by the locals. These were often the highlight of a visit of alternative lawyers. During meals, people become more open and comfortable as they share their hopes and dreams for their families and communities. Meals can make even the most impoverished and marginalized individuals feel that they are living dignified lives, especially when they are with guests.
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3. Realizing travel goals
Alternative lawyers have the opportunity to travel to new and interesting places, be it in a far-flung barangay in the mountains or a coastal community that you need to travel for a day to go to. These communities rarely get to receive visitors and really make sure that the visitors are well taken care of. One of the more memorable trips Atty. Aison made was in an island community in Palawan at Agutaya – one of the most remote islands in the Philippines. The trip would often take a whole day of traveling via planes, vans and boats before you arrive.
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.4. Becoming a peace-maker
Litigation work is certainly a part of an alternative lawyer’s day-to-day activities. Often, it leads to adversarial encounters where both parties try their best to out- maneuver and out-smart the other. In alternative lawyering, they often advise clients to find solutions that are less adversarial. Atty. Aison shares that they also work on empowerment, legal education for the communities and advocating for policies through the various instruments of the government including filing of precedent determining cases such as upholding the rights of indigenous peoples, the rights of members of mining communities, children and women’s rights, among other legal advocacies. He even shared that these kinds of advocacy often happen behind the scenes because there are big interests involved. He lamented that it was often a tough fight in going against big corporations and groups with vested interests. One significant victory that he shared, that he is still quite proud of until today, was the victory that they helped bring to the Sumilao farmers of Mindanao, who walked from Sumilao to Manila to fight for their lands. With the help of Atty. Aison and other lawyers, they were able to resolve the land issue that has plagued the farmers of the community for generations. At the same time, the landowners were also able to come up with a peaceful resolution together with the farmers. At the end of the day, everybody wins.
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- To learn more
Doing the work of an alternative lawyer brings you to different areas of legal expertise. These are not the typical work that a law student will encounter during his law studies or what a normal lawyer would have to deal with. Although all lawyers are required to keep abreast with the current developments in legal practice due to the implementation of the mandatory continuing legal education program, alternative lawyers learn about different aspects of human life and society on a more practical level.
Many times, clients of alternative lawyers have little understanding of their rights and how our justice system applies in our daily lives. They have little appreciation of the concept of human rights or the bill of rights. Alternative lawyers are sometimes defined as lawyers who work “with” the poor for their main goal is empowerment. Empowerment is often a two-way street where both parties help each other grow and become better versions of themselves. The poor and marginalized that alternative lawyers work with are often full of wisdom with the more practical things of life since, more often than not, they need to work harder just to survive. Farmers know and understand well the weather patterns, agrarian inputs, land and soil quality, irrigation requirements, harvest cycles, post-process facilities, produce handling, among other things. These are some of the things that farmers can teach an alternative lawyer when they are working together. The possibilities are endless for growth and learning.
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6. Changing lives and fighting for freedom
Atty. Aison shared that when he was working with agrarian reform beneficiaries, they would often act with fear when dealing with traders or landowners about agrarian matters since they can be charged with estafa or theft, among other crimes, if the landowners and traders can offer some form of evidence to the fiscal’s office. This practice results in the farmers just accepting the terms dictated by those who work with them.
Upon understanding these concerns, SALIGAN together with Atty. Aison pushed for reforms with the policies through the Congress. Finally, their advocacy paid off with the passing of the R.A. 9700 Amendments to the CARP Law of 1988. This law included Section 19 wherein all agrarian and agrarian reform disputes shall be solely under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agrarian Reform for administrative resolution. In other words, agrarian disputes are essentially decriminalized and the farmers will have one less thing to worry about when going about their livelihoods.
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- Champion true democracy
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said that “a real democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely” – and thus, the real safeguard to democracy is education. Alternative lawyers give a lot of emphasis on legal education for the masses. Those who have the least in life deserve more in law – this is the essence of a true democracy. Everyone who participates in a true democracy should be able to have a basic understanding of both their rights and obligations to society.
Atty. Aison shares that most of our social ills originate from the failure of the people to be accountable for our obligations to each other and not recognizing that each and every person has innate rights that deserve to be respected under the law. Education is the first step to this and therefore it is considered as part of the central work that alternative lawyers do. A real democracy is one that is run by an enlightened people – fully aware of our rights as well as responsibilities as a citizen.
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Alternative lawyers are different but also the same as with any other lawyer – they come to fight for the truth, for fairness and for justice. Perhaps they approach it in a non-traditional way. In my conversation with Atty. Aison, I came to appreciate that while we live in a world that is not always just and even extremely difficult at times for many of our fellow human beings, I find consolation in knowing that many lawyers still choose to walk the difficult path to practice the legal profession. As a venturing law student, I know that I still have a long way to go, but thanks to lawyers like Atty. Aison, I know that the path towards the fight for justice may be arduous, but it will eventually direct itself towards its ultimate end as long as there is at least one who is willing to fight for it.