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[av_heading heading=’ JUST ANOTHER DAY | Do we need another lawyer? ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2017
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SINCE the dawn of civilization philosophers have written about which are the most noble professions for man, and with a few deviations they have been almost synonymous in saying that the Teacher, Healer and Soldier are the three most noble professions of all.
These three professions were mentioned in no particular order but on a personal note I say that the Teacher is the most noble of all as without the Teacher we will have no Healer or Soldier.
Of course, if we have the most noble, which profession is the most despicable? The Tax Collector tops the list, with the Lawyer somewhere near.
The current population of the Philippines is 103,617,047 as of Monday, May 22, 2017, based on the latest United Nations estimates.
And according to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) there are 40,000 registered lawyers as members. The IBP is an organization wherein all lawyers are required to register.
Added to this current membership of 40,000 lawyers are the 3,747 new lawyers who passed the recent Bar examinations conducted by the Supreme Court. These new Bar passers, as they are commonly called, just took their oath so this makes the total of lawyers in the Philippines to 43,747.
The Philippines has a population of 103-million plus natives and a 43-thousand plus population of lawyers which roughly estimates to about one lawyer per 2,000-plus Filipinos.
If all 2,000-plus Filipinos would suddenly have the need to have something notarized then a long queue to this single lawyer’s office is certainly expected. But that’s not the case (pun intended) as in all probability out of this 2,000-plus natives only a small percentage would ever need a lawyer in their entire lifetime.
In fact a huge majority of these 2,000-plus Filipinos would finish their shelf lives without ever needing the services of a lawyer.
Which brings us to this question: Are lawyers a necessary fact of life?
I suppose to a certain extent yes but that would depend on your way of life or lifestyle. If you are Leila “frailties of a woman” de Lima the services of a lawyer is not only de rigueur but certainly a matter of life or death.
However, if you are a surfer in Baler or Siargao or a scuba diver in Puerto Galera a lawyer is the last thing you need.
In the aftermath of super typhoon “Haiyan” or “Yolanda” in the local parlance, the people of Tacloban City certainly do not need a lawyer.
In a post-apocalypse scenario a veterinarian is more relevant than a lawyer.
Out of the total of 103,617,047 Filipinos there are, according to the Philippine Medical Association, 130,000 licensed physicians in the country, but only 70,000 are active in the profession.
In a recent interview in CNN:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — “The Philippines is short of 15,000 doctors to be able to adequately meet the health needs of Filipinos each year,” the Health Secretary said.
“We’re producing only 2,600 a year,” Department of Health secretary Paulyn Rosell-Ubial told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
Ubial, who traveled with her team to Cuba in August to observe that country’s excellent health care system, pointed out that Cuba had a ratio of one doctor for every 1,075 patients.
So there you have it, according to the Secretary of Health, the Philippines is having a shortage of doctors.
I certainly would agree there are far-flung areas where babies are born and people dying without even seeing a doctor and this happens all over the country.
You know I have never heard the Secretary of Justice complain that we have a shortage of lawyers; you can certainly hear a lot of people say that we have an overpopulation of lawyers.
I’m not saying that we do away with the legal profession as it is also an important component of a civilized society but certainly not a component that people cannot live without.
Lawyers were born out of people intruding into other people’s space, which created the need of some form of mediation to settle disputes avoiding violence. If people respected each other’s space then the need for someone to act as mediator would not be necessary.
If there’s one place where the need for lawyers is de rigueur it is probably in Congress as the only specific duty of a legislator is to make laws and if you are not a trained lawyer you end up making a fool of yourself like Magdalo party-list representative Gary Alejano.
Come to think of it, Vice President Leni Robredo is supposed to be a lawyer but her obvious unfamiliarity of the laws of the land makes one wonder how in the world she became a lawyer.
So do we need another lawyer? Nah, probably not as there are far too many of them ending up as “notary public” chasers at the back of city hall. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
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