THE second Sunday of the 2016 Bar examinations was marked by a protest by a group of human rights lawyers who objected to the Supreme Court decision allowing the burial of strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
While the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) called for a “Black Sunday” protest against the Court’s controversial decision by wearing black shirts, the over 6,000 Bar examinees did not heed the call, and most of them instead opted to wear their respective law school colors.
Nonetheless, the NUPL and other groups like Samahan ng Mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), Karapatan and Karma proceeded with their “Black to Block” protest action.
The lawyers and activists and victims of Martial Law held up banners saying “Respect and uphold the rule of law,” “Never forget” and “No hero’s burial for the dictator” as the Bar takers and their supporters made their way to the venue at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in España, Manila.
Police did not allow protesters led by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate and former lawmaker Neri Colmenares to stay in front of the UST gate, and they had to go on the other side of España to hold their program. Colmenares was among the petitioners in the Supreme Court case.
Earlier, the NUPL called on the law graduates taking the exams to wear black shirts on Sunday.
The group said law graduates have a duty to use their knowledge and skills to defend justice in spite of “the Supreme Court decision; the lawyers who [like Marcos the dictator] legalize cronyism, corruption, human rights abuses, tyranny, oppression and exploitation by using or abusing the law; the seemingly partisan and abstract court decisions; the twisted laws during the Martial Law era and beyond.”
“Studying the law, taking the Bar, and becoming a lawyer, becomes relevant and meaningful only when it serves justice, takes notice of the judgment of history, confirms self-evident truths, and sides with the oppressed: in short, when the knowledge and skills learned in law school are used to ensure that justice is achieved,” the group said.
The country needs good lawyers, especially now that “the law is being downtrodden and diminished by skewed reinterpretation,” the group added.
The NUPL said their black protest represents not only their grief over the Supreme Court ruling but also their commitment to help change the stance of those favoring the burial for Marcos.
“We wear black today while you take your Bar to mourn and protest the way justice has been diminished again with no compunction. But we also wear black to signify that we will not forget this dark night in our legal history,” they said.
“Our rage is as dark as the night; our memory just as long. We will continue to rage as we mourn. But we will help change things. Who knows, we might, with the power of the people scorned, even be able to put sense in the heads of the gods and show their way clear.”
Lastly, the NUPL advised the Bar takers to do well because from their ranks will come new lawyers “who will exorcise the demons in our midst, dead or living. Your people—and Lady Justice—are waiting for you.”
Marcos was a known record-holder in the Bar exams, topping the 1939 bar exam while in jail for the murder of his father’s political rival Julio Nalundasan.
In its decision last Tuesday, the Court voted 9-5 and upheld the order of President Duterte to allow the burial of Marcos in the heroes’ cemetery used for soldiers and former presidents.
The Court ruled that there is no law prohibiting Marcos’ burial at the LNMB.
It also rejected the claim of petitioners that Duterte’s decision was motivated by his debt of gratitude and payback to the Marcoses for supporting his presidential candidacy in the elections last May, saying they failed to establish factual basis for this.