High Court Bans Lawyer
of the Poor Indefinitely
A 74-year-old-lawyer has
been championing the poor’s cause in their conflict with landlords and
powers-that-be. For questioning the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of
San Miguel Corporation, he was banned from law practice by the high
tribunal indefinitely.
By Karl G.
Ombion
Bulatlat
BACOLOD CITY – Lawyer
Francisco Cruz, 74, married, a native of Morong town, Bataan (47 kms north
of Manila), was due to retire in a year. But instead of getting all the
honors and benefits he deserves for defending the poor and fighting
alleged irregularities in high court in all his life as a lawyer, he was
ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) under “indefinite suspension.” And all
because he accused the SC justices of corruption.
The old but still
feisty lawyer received a nine-page resolution of the SC last April 21. The
en bank resolution, signed only by the Clerk of Court Luzviminda Puno,
stated that Cruz “had been found guilty of both direct contempt of court
and gross misconduct as an officer of the court and member of the Bar, and
prohibited from practicing law until otherwise ordered by the Court.”
|
Lawyer Francisco Cruz (extreme
right) in a legal session with the Escalante farmers & fisherfolk
facing eviction orders Photo courtesy of
the Bacolod Social Action Center |
The high court
justices said that they had to invoke their “plenary disciplinary
authority” against Cruz for claiming that “there is a lot of corruption
around involving justices.”
The high tribunal’s
action stemmed from Cruz’s alleged stinging reactions to the court’s
handling of the case of his clients. First, he expressed doubts in the
authenticity of the SC en banc resolution of April 5, 2005 penalizing him
for his alleged misconduct. The resolution, he had said, did not bear the
signatures of the justices. Then he accused the high court of “desecrating
legal and jurisprudential norms” for upholding the Court of Appeals (CA)
reversal of the lower court decision dismissing the complaint of Robert
Ang against his clients.
Fighting a corporate giant
Cruz was a lawyer for
six petitioners in a case of compliance of lease purchase agreement filed
by Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) with the La Carlota Regional
Trial Court (RTC) sometime in mid-1990s. The six petitioners apparently
received farm tractors on lease purchase from SMC chair Eduardo “Danding”
Cojuangco, Jr. for supporting him in his presidential bid. The petitioners
however returned the equipment after finding that they were not in good
condition.
But the RTC dismissed
Ang’s complaint including his two motions for reconsideration. In 2001,
the CA reversed the lower court’s decision. Irritated by what he thought
was “irregular,” Cruz filed a review on certiorari on Sept. 15, 2003 and
another motion for reconsideration on Jan. 12, 2004 with the SC. But the
high court denied both motions, asserting “no reversible error had been
committed by the Court of Appeals.”
This prompted the old
lawyer to file two separate pleadings entitled “A Lawyer’s Query” and “A
Practicing Lawyer’s Plaint” in 2004 where he complained against the SC’s
“desecration of legal and jurisprudential norms.”
Changing the rules
In his plaint, Cruz
questioned the rules of procedures used by the two high courts. He also
questioned the giving of due course by the CA without notice of hearing in
violation, he said, of the Rules of Court. He expressed confusion why this
and all other violations had been glossed over by the SC. He asked whether
the “rules of court (were) changed to accommodate the San Miguel mogul.”
He lamented that
while he was expecting the SC to respond to his queries and charges in his
two pleadings he was instead handed down an indefinite suspension.
A
lawyer of the poor and exploited
A graduate of the UP
College of Law,
Cruz passed the Bar in 1955. Barely four years as legal researcher at the
Senate, Cruz moved to Bacolod
City, where he became the manager-legal counsel of the Luzon Surety
Company Inc. It was also in Negros that he married a Bacolena.
In Negros, Cruz was
touched by the deplorable conditions of the sugar workers, inequality and
injustice in the province. Convinced that something should be done for the
alleviation of the poor and the correction of social injustice, Cruz saw
the Church, which was active then in various social actions, as an
effective venue to render services to the poor.
In 1969 he
volunteered as legal counsel of the Social Action Center (SAC) of the
Diocese of Bacolod. It was through the SAC where he was remolded and
embraced the plight, struggles and aspirations of the poor, especially the
sugar workers. He got entangled with big landlords, private armed goons,
and the military as he gave legal services pro bono to poor farmers and
sugar workers.
Aside from his work
in the diocese, Cruz also became active in various humanitarian civic
clubs and the cause-oriented organizations, such as the National Alliance
for Justice, Freedom and Democracy (NAFJD), Justice for Aquino and Justice
for All Movement (JAJA), Kaakbay, Bayan and human rights organizations. He
became the first coordinator of the Free Legal Assistance Group (Flag) in
Negros, and later as its vice-chairman for Visayas.
His commitment and
dedication for social justice earned him, among others, commendation by
Judge Segundino Chua to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; the St.
Sylvester’s Papal Award for meritorious act in 1985; and the Aurora Aragon
Quezon Award for Peace Advocacy and Peace Making in 1997.
Reacting to the SC
order of suspension, Bishop Vicente Navarra, the clerics and staff of the
Diocese of Bacolod expressed shock, saying how can it be done to “a good
man, who has faithfully served indigent clients not just for free but even
spent his own resources for travel, food and other expenses.”
A SAC staffer who has
been assisting Cruz for years said, “The suspension of Cruz is a big loss
to us, especially the thousands of our people in basic Christian
communities who have availed of his free and good legal assistance.”
Badge of Honor
Archie Baribar,
Cruz’s long time colleague in Flag and in the Civil Liberties Movement (CLM),
said that the SC action is “understandable, but by all means, it is
tantamount to slaying the champion of the poor and exploited, and
therefore depriving them of the most sincere and courageous service they
could get from a lawyer.”
Integrity, dedication
and sacrifice for the poor, no matter what the price, is Frankie’s badge
of honor, Baribar added.
Another CLM member,
veteran human rights lawyer Rolando Villamor said: “Cruz has just
demonstrated his firmness and consistency in fighting for the cause of the
poor and the oppressed, no matter who is hit. If he had had fought
fiercely the martial law regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos,
there’s no reason why he should remain complacent and silent over
irregularities in the state courts.”
No
use for appeal
Despite the
expressions of shock and protest, Cruz has remained calm. “I am not angry,
nor sad. I am not ashamed either. I just wanted to prove my point to them
(SC) and the public. Which I did, and I am happy about that,” he said.
Asked if he would
appeal the order before the same high court, Cruz told Bulatlat
that he is reluctant, saying “There’s no use for appeal, because I know it
will not succeed. …Their power is overwhelming. I will just work outside
the court.”
“It is time to
consider retiring from the practice of law,” he also said. Bulatlat
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