I think I need a few minutes to hold my breath. Or perhaps someone should pinch me a little to assure me that what is happening here is indeed real.

            For  nothing in my career as a lawyer has prepared me for this occasion---a UP law alumnus standing standing before all these great Bedan lawyers  on their alumni homecoming.

            Although I must hasten to add that I did my pre-bar review class at San Beda during the time of Dean Ledesma in 1967 which makes me feel that somehow I have Bedan law genes in my lawyer’s constitution.

            In this room alone you have more than enough Bedan lawyers who can ably perform the task of addressing this forum this evening.

            From this law college have come some of the best minds that ever graced the academe, the legal profession, the legislative Department and the Supreme Court.

            To this day Justice Florenz Regalado holds the unsurpassed record in our Bar examinations; Justice Jose Vitug is unexcelled as the author of the great Pandect on Civil Law; Justice Eduardo Nachura holds the rare distinction of having served all three branches of government, beginning  as Education UnderSecretary, moving on to Congressman, and finally capping his career as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

            In public service, if there is someone we could all  proudly proclaim as a model, one with the virtues of a Thomas More---minus of course the martyrdom, for he is still very much with us---is our good friend  Senator Rene Saguisag, a  patriot and true  public servant, a champion of human rights.  It was Rene who initiated me into the priceless volunteer work of Mabini, the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism, Inc, and beyond.

            In the same class we all remember our esteemed friend of happy memory, Raul Roco, who distinguished himself as a  senator and later as Secretary of Education. He will remain in our memory and our affections as the passionate advocate of many advocacies and author of many important pieces of legislation.

            Like Rene, Raul will be remembered for fighting  hard for human rights, notably women’s rights. He fought valiantly for those rights to the point where our women had no choice but to confer upon him the title of “honorary woman,” and he was proud to wear it.  Many Bedan friends will continue to cherish Raul as one of the best presidents we never had.

            It doesn’t end there.

            In the running headlines of today, some of the most celebrated names we read are those of Bedans, whether we are talking of current cases before the Supreme Court or current cases before the Commission on Elections. In the Department of Justice, we have Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who has in a very short time created a name and legal reputation for herself, while in the Comelec, we have  Chairman Sixto Brilliantes Jr. administration who is out to prove that  meaningful electoral reforms are possible and could hold the key to faster economic and social progress.

            It is not only in the high-profile public positions that we find distinguished San Beda Law alumni. They are everywhere---in the various layers and branches and agencies of government and the private sector.

            When I addressed the association of government lawyers some months ago,  I was welcomed by a Bedan, a talented lawyer who now serves as our Government Corporate Counsel, Atty. Raul Creencia.

            In the various agencies I head, whether as Chairman of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns, Chairman Emeritus of Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking, or head of the Task Force against illegal recruitment, I have the privilege and pleasure of working with so many able and dedicated Bedans.

            All this makes me feel all the more unworthy to be addressing your homecoming. On the other hand, I take it as a sign of your great generosity.

            It means I could walk in and out of the precincts of your College and your alumni association without fear of being discriminated against, despite my UP Law credentials. I appreciate that generosity.  In return, I promise not to do anything to disturb your  recent record in the NCAA Games.

            But if Bedans seem to cut a high public profile these days, it is only because they are in the thick of the task of nation-building. This is as it should be.  For we should be all in the thick of nation-building.

            And this is where I come to the point of these very brief remarks.

            I promise to be brief, but hopefully to the point.

            We are witnessing today some of the most important developments in our recent political life. They concern all of us, our future, our present, and our recent past.

            We cannot be indifferent to these events.  Our countrymen everywhere are drawn to them because they affect their personal lives, how they are to be governed at any point in their history, and how they would subject the powerful to accounting while they are in power, and after they are out.

            The common man has to feel he is part of this process in order for him to hold the firm conviction that government and the entire justice system exist to look after his rights and his interests.

            We in this hall on the other hand have an inescapable  and irrevocable stake  in these developments because by the mere fact of our being lawyers, servants of the law and justice, we have to make sure that any precedents created today will  strengthen, not  weaken, the standards and traditions of law and justice in our country for all the years to come.

            Some legal critics have sometimes accused us of having allowed ourselves to become a lawless society. And that such lawlessness often comes not only from the distinctly lawless elements, but even from those who are supposed to implement the law.

            We have to make a serious effort to break away from that impression, to show that such perception is wrong.  Or that, if that has been true in the past, it is no longer so.

            The law is harsh, but it is the law.  We must now enforce the law, no matter how harsh it is, especially when the common good cries for it, just as a physician must prescribe strong medicine if ever and whenever the patient needs it.

            As a Bedan lawyer, Atty. Rene Saguisag once said: “We are trained to take positions, firmly, as a matter of conviction, ready to face the consequences believing that in all things God be glorified.”

            Bedan lawyers can do no less, having been immersed in the Benedictine values of faith in god and love of the truth.

            This is not the easiest thing to do, even for the most popular  government. This is why we who are servants of justice and the law must do everything we can to help the state administer the law justly, even in the most difficult circumstances.

            For as every lawyer knows, it is not enough for the state to be just; it must be seen to be just.  And where the nation is divided on the justness of certain official acts, the opposing sides should be able to turn to us, lawyers, to assure them and help them see where justice truly lies.

            Thank you and good evening.