Speech of Senate President Franklin M. Drilon
Philippine Bar Association
Law Day Celebrations and Induction Ceremonies
Intercontinental Manila, Makati City
September 30, 2014

 THE RULE OF LAW AND THE ROLE OF LAWYERS

Thank you very much. To my friend Nonong Cruz, you will be a good introducer during political campaigns if I were to run as president. Unfortunately I will not. So you will miss that opportunity.

Let me formally greet our new president, Enrico O. De Guzman, our immediate past President, Beda Fajardo, past presidents officers and members and the newly inducted members and trustees of the Philippine Bar Association, friends, ladies and gentlemen, a good evening.

At the outset let me formally congratulate Enrico O. De Guzman, for his assumption of the Presidency of the oldest and most prestigious private bar organization in the country.

I remember Rico as a young associate in ACCRA. In the beginning, he was a diamond in the rough, so to speak. But way back then, I already saw his potential. I took him under our wings and trained him personally. I am proud to claim that I played a role, no matter how small, in shaping the character of Rico in his formative years as a lawyer. Congratulations Rico, you have come a long way.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Philippine Bar, let me begin by telling you a story. A doctor, an engineer and a lawyer were arguing about whose profession was the oldest. The doctor boasted, "Remember how God removed a rib from Adam to create Eve? Obviously medicine is the oldest profession."

The engineer confidently replied, "But before that, God created the heavens and the earth from chaos in less than a week. You have to admit that it was a remarkable feat of engineering and that makes engineering an older profession than medicine." Without missing a beat the lawyer smiled and asked, "And who do you think created the chaos?"

Levity aside, thank you for this invitation to join you this evening. It is an honor and privilege to share my thoughts, ideas and insights with the men and women who have a deep appreciation of the rule of law.

Friends, it is the law that governs and is above all of us. No one should be above the law. No one must be denied its protection. And everyone who flouts with the law must not go unpunished.

The rule of law is crucial to the success of a nation’s economic, social and political transformation. The establishment of genuine democratic and political institutions, and the creation of participatory and accountable systems, are all anchored on the rule of law.

Without the rule of law, there is no genuine democracy. An equitable and strong legal system is a cornerstone of democracy. One cannot exist without the other. The rule of law assures citizens that their basic rights as human beings are protected. The rule of law reminds us that government authority comes from the people, and must be exercised by the people’s duly elected representatives. It is also a safeguard against arbitrary and capricious governance.

In 2009, I had the privilege of speaking before you during your annual induction of officers, where I inducted into office Ombudsman Sonny Marcelo. I implored each one of you to look deeply into our society and, through the prism of democracy, examine thoroughly the events then shaping the destiny of our nation. It was a difficult time, as irregularities abound and anomalies proliferated in the government, which called for our serious reflection.

I recall dissecting the anatomy of the previous administration’s failure to uphold the rule of law. First, there was lack of commitment on the part of the government, manifested by the obvious reluctance of our anti-corruption agencies to prosecute cases that involved big names in government. Second, there was lack of political will as the authorities were hostage to selfish interest and even captive to their own personal interest. Lastly, there was selective application and arbitrary enforcement of law.

Today--five years since I stood before you--we can assert that we have a flourishing democracy. Today, more than any other time in the past, we see the active participation of the citizenry in our nation’s political life. Transparency and accountability in all government transactions is the order of the day. Respect for the rule of law, which is indispensible to a working democracy, is the norm of our public institutions.

In a span of four years, I am proud to say that, to a significant extent, we have managed to turn things around. Today, the Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report for 2014 to 2015 showed that the Philippines climbed to 52nd from 59th place out of 140 countries in the world. More significant are the findings of the WEF Global Competitiveness Report, I quote:

The Philippines continues its upward trend. The country’s gain of 33 places since 2010 is the largest over that period among all countries studied. The results suggest that the reforms of the past four years have bolstered the country’s economic fundamentals. The trends across most of the 12 pillars are positive, and in some cases truly remarkable. In the institutions pillar, the Philippines has leapfrogged some 50 places since 2010. In particular, there are signs that the efforts made against corruption have started bearing fruit. In terms of ethics and corruption, the country has moved from 135th in 2010 to 81st this year. The recent success of the government in tackling some of the most pressing structural issues provides evidence that bold reforms can yield positive results relatively quickly.

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Likewise, the consistent upward movement of our standing in the Transparency International’s Annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since 2010 confirms our progress in our campaign against graft and corruption.

The remarkable improvement of the nation’s political and economic health has been attributed to the relentless efforts of the government to fortify our institutions, encourage efficient government spending, and promote transparency and accountability.

Recall that this administration was swept into power in 2010 on the platform of good governance and the mantra “kung walang kurap, walang mahirap.”

It is on this platform that we authored a key governance measure, the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, to curb the abuses and excesses that hounded our GOCCs for many years. It is heartwarming to note that it has been cited by credit rating agencies as a landmark piece of legislation that would instill discipline among state enterprises. And I am very pleased to learn and share to you that that in 2013, thirty eight (38) GOCCs remitted almost P28 billion to our national coffers.

Reforms call not only for strong political will but also for additional resources. We passed the Sin Tax Reform Act to increase revenues from tobacco and alcohol products for universal health care agenda. With the passage of the law, the additional excise tax on tobacco and alcohol amounted over 50 Billion Pesos last year.

The passage of the aforementioned laws is a manifestation of the government’s determination to implement reforms seriously, no matter how difficult they may be.

Ladies and gentlemen, with less than two years before the close of the 16th Congress, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are working even harder on our legislative agenda that supports this administration’s development and good governance agenda, and provides our roadmap for accelerated, sustainable and inclusive growth. We are determined to adopt policies and pass laws that would accelerate infrastructure development, improve business and investment climate, ensure energy security and increase public investments in education, health and other social services.

Good Governance. A frail Sandiganbayan and Ombudsman translate to a weak justice system. If we are truly serious in our fight to eradicate the culture of corruption that impedes democracy and the rule of law, we should put in place much-needed reforms in the Sandiganbayan and Ombudsman.

With its current structure, the capacity of the Sandiganbayan to decide cases efficiently and promptly has been stretched beyond its limits. The litigation of graft cases filed at the Sandiganbayan usually takes five (5) to eight (8) years before they are resolved. The proposed Amendments to the Sandiganbayan Law seeks to introduce innovations that are geared towards the speedy disposition of cases, such as introduction of the concept of justice-designate, modification of some voting requirement, and transfer of “minor” cases to the regional trial courts. In this leg of our work, we are assisted by no less than former PBA President and former Ombudsman Sonny Marcelo whom I would like to acknowledged for all the help he has extended.

Corollary thereto, we are also working on strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ombudsman to discharge its function as “protector of the people” in a speedy manner.

Alongside these measures that would toughen our public accountability institutions, we are proposing the extension the prescriptive period for the prosecution of graft cases from the current 15 years to 20 years. Our justice system can only be a strong deterrent against possible malfeasance if we demonstrate that no matter the passing of years, a crime remains a crime and those who committed them be held answerable.

To guarantee judicial independence and so as not to undermine the quality of judicial appointments, we are working on a bill that proposes that members who have served two full terms shall be totally disqualified from reappoint as regular member of the JBC.

Another good governance measure in the field of business is the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which seeks to address the illicit shipment of goods by instituting electronic processing of import and export, simplifying the customs procedure for ordinary citizens, and increasing the operating flexibility of the Bureau of Customs. With a stronger organization and citizenry armed with proper knowledge of the process, I am certain that we can combat smuggling, which, in 2013 deprived our government of an estimated P200 Billion in revenues.

Addressing Poverty. While we have been achieving tremendous growth rates, our poverty incidence and unemployment remain high. We shall, therefore, continue the Conditional Cash Transfer program, which was recognized in a recent World Bank study for its effectiveness.

Investment in Human Capital. Alongside our agenda to enact measures that would promote ease of doing business and encourage more investments to help generate more jobs, we shall continue increasing our investment in human development.The national budget for 2015 would reflect that investment in our human capital – our people. This remains the government’s highest priority.

Education Budget. Education will still get the biggest share of the budget with P365.1B for 2015.

Health Budget. We will increase the budget of the Department of Health to P102 billion from its current level of P90.8 billion, part of which shall fund the upgrade of our hospitals, and the Philhealth program. With the boost in generated revenues from the Sin Tax Reform law, the government will be able to increase the premium subsidy for the National Health Insurance Program to P37 billion in 2015.

BOT and PPP. To improve the present framework for Public-Private Partnership and to attract more investments, we would consider including other PPP modalities such as joint ventures, concession agreements and management contracts. We would close policy gaps such as inter-connectivity issues between two or more infrastructure projects.

The economic cluster submitted to us recently the proposed amendments to the PPP Built-Operate-Transfer Law which we will be working on when we come back to session in October.

Economic Policies. To advance our business sector, we are working on several measures that would allow the influx of investments in the country such as the Fair Competition Act. Nonong suggested that you in the PBA should take a good look because this is the first anti-trust legislation that we will be enacting since the Revised Penal Code simple provision on monopolies and competition and restraint of trade. The Fair Competition Act is now in advanced stages of debate and we should be able to pass it before the end of this year. The House will also be tackling their own version of the bill and we are expecting that by first quarter of next year this bill will become a law.

It aims to promote economic efficiency in trade, industry and commerce through the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and anti-competitive mergers; the Cabotage Law, which allows greater competition in coastwise trading and drive down the cost of transporting cargo from one local port to another; the Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives, which seeks to harmonize 186 laws that provide numerous fiscal and non-fiscal incentives and subsidies to foreign and domestic investors, we will review them to avoid redundant and overlapping incentives and cut revenue loss.

Amendment of Economic Provisions in the Constitution. We support the effort in the House of Representatives to push amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution phrase by inserting the “unless otherwise provided by law”, so we should be able to review our economic policies without the need of amending our Constitution. We support this approach in amending our very stringent economic policies, in order that we could keep pace with a fast-paced economic environment.

Given that we only have less than two years, I am sure that you, who are sitting there, would say that this is a tall order. Even rocket science could not figure out how this could all be done given the limited time. However, the economic cluster submitted the drafts of many of these economic legislation to us only this month. We have no choice but to give it our best shot.

Since the beginning of the Aquino administration, we have all been working hard to free our people from the shackles of poverty and give them more choices and opportunities to lead productive and fulfilling lives, thus enabling them to take control of their own destiny.

As I end, I propose a paradigm shift. Lawyers occupy a position of influence that pervades every aspect of our society. Our profession has always been a subject of interest for people outside of the legal community.Capitalizing on our status in the community, it is about time that we become the leading voice in the discourse on what measures should be adopted by the Legislature to help us build on our gains. We should be agents of change.

I trust that the members of the Philippine Bar Association are with us in our journey toward the achievement of our development aspirations. The challenge before us now is to ensure that the reforms that have been painstakingly put in place will be sustained,and the country’s economic train continues to run smoothly and efficiently. If we can make that happen, I am confident that our dream of seeing an economically and politically strong Philippines -- a nation highly-respected by the international community -- will become a reality in our lifetime.

With that let me thank you all for this opportunity to share with you my thoughts this evening. And I hope we can all do our share at nation-building so in the future, when we see a more progressive country with a more productive Filipino people, we can all say that we achieved our dreams, because we all did our share.

Thank you very much.