The Study of Power

Originally published in the March 2005 edition of ThePalladium for my column Legal Personality.


I will never forget these strong, albeit simple, words from a speech that Atty. Medina ardently delivered during the First Alternative Law Groups National Conference: he said, "Lawyers are powerful people". Indeed they are. How else would you characterize an individual who, by his mere words, can send another human being into the darkest and filthiest corners of prison while sapping every ounce of dignity left in him? How else would you describe somebody who can stand before the leaders of this state and convince them that the indigenous tribes of the highlands should be left undisturbed to live in and preserve the lands of their ancestors? These godlike characteristics cannot be taken lightly. The ability to seal the fate of another individual or group of human beings is no small thing that we can just toy around with. The choice on whether to preserve an endangered culture or to relocate entire communities is a both gift and a curse. This is power – and to a great extent, we already have this power even as non-members of the Bar – because we chose to study law.


We, as law students, acquire power every single day. Every statute we master, every judicial decision we comprehend is another weapon and shield that we can use for or against another person. But every weapon can only be as good as its wielder. It can only follow the will of its master. We all have the same weapons at our disposal but it is our duty to decide how they will be employed in battle. We, legal warriors, are free to choose our banners and adversaries – sometimes, they even choose us. We can choose to charge as we hold our heads up high or we can choose to hide in the shadows and strike our unsuspecting victims with treachery. We can use this power to hoard vast amounts of riches for ourselves or we can use it to generate collective wealth by empowering those who surround us. We can use this power to teach those who are defenseless or we can choose to annihilate these ‘easy prey’. We can adhere to the law of the survival of the fittest or we can choose the creed of interdependence and communal survival.


Sooner or later, we will all have to make these choices, not only about which side of the battlefield we will be fighting on but also the methods we choose to employ to win this war. Whom we fight for and whom we fight with will be greatly affected because of this power that we yield. The law is a tool, a weapon – it can do great good or cause great suffering depending on the hand that wields it. We all have to take part in the war, whether we like it or not. The refreshing waters and the blood of our country are in our hands. What happens in the next 20 or 30 years is our burden, our responsibility – it is our problem to solve.


It will, ultimately, be a matter of conscience, discipline and attitude – a continuing choice that we have to make over and over again. We can watch our own backs and eventually be kings of a desolate wasteland or we can find our way together somehow and become citizens of a realized utopia.


We are all warriors. The law is our sword and our shield. We are the generals in this struggle and we choose whom we crush and whom we serve. This onus is a direct consequence of our power. When we chose to be students of the law, we chose power – but we chose to be burdened with difficult decisions as well. Some of us will eventually have to choose sides in the future; some of us already have. But whether we choose to meet our enemies in or outside court, rest assured, we will all be on the same battlefield either as keepers of the peace or instigators of ruin.


So to all of my powerful friends and colleagues... may we have a good fight and may we believe in what we fight for.