Last week, I stayed over with an old friend's home. Her mom, Tita O, and I got to talk. She asked me if I was enjoying my work and the career path that I've chosen. Just as I was explaining to her the tribulations and perks of my work, my friend for 18 years walked in. It was then that I realized that most of my friends, family and relatives don't know what it is exactly that I do or that I chosen to do.
So what is it exactly that I do?
I work for the Legal Rights Center, a non-government organization founded by students who graduated from the UP College of Law. After the martial law era, when NGOs came to fore to address the many issues that plagued the country, these students realized that one sector that have been brushed under the rug were the indigenous peoples. We belong to the Alternative Law Groups. I am what we call an 'alternative lawyer'.
My official designation in the organization is "Staff Lawyer" under the Research and Policy Development Team. My job entails me to be up to date on the latest policies, bills, laws, rules and regulations and news on various topics from human rights, to environmental law, to land rights, to international law, to indigenous peoples, to rural communities, etc. I sometimes attend Congressional hearings on bills pertaining to these topics and present our two cents' worth (or at least sit there and pretend I know what's being talked about). I also go to the hinterlands, to the mountains, to coastal communties, to far-fetched places, crossing rivers, streams, riding habal-habals, horses, trekking on foot, etc. (seeing the best and worst of the country) so that I can know firsthand what the community is going through and to let them know the laws which directly affect them, to give them a fighting chance against large-scale transnational corporations which threaten them or have already displaced them from their homes. So this would also entail giving paralegal trainings, lectures, and on-the-spot legal advice.
Other times, I speak with a mic in front of me pointing out what's wrong in the system and other laws, and how these affect the lives of millions. So that's part advocacy work. The other part is also networking with other groups, peoples, and organizations which have common standpoints on a particular subject.
Every so often, I will also dip my fingers in litigation work or handle a case or two.
Aside from this, what I guess can be said to be the most challenging part of my chosen path is to put it all in through the different methods and modes of research, and write it down, and criticize, comment, and/or recommend policies which would hopefully change the system that we are moving in today. In short, I can, through my organization and vice versa, be a big headache to the government and to those who abuse the rights of many.
By the way, I also go to work in slippers, tank tops, and shorts, keeping a spare pair of pants in my cabinet so in case I need to meet someone I can be somewhat 'presentable'.
A lot of times, it's stressful work. Not only from the stress of workload, but also from the sense of responsibility and, I guess, from the
iska part of me which dictates that I have to give back what I have received...to somehow continue the legacy what UP stands for.
Cheesy, but it's true.
Others may say that I am being ideal and foolish. But my work brings me the closest to the reality of politics, corruption, poverty and desparation. It may be cheesy, idealistic and foolish, but, then again, I do believe in the phrase "the children are our future". And as i once blogged about it, law students couldn't be any more the future than what and where they are now. We are those who will and who are blazing the trails of the present. We are the ones who will determine how things will go. We are now the ones paying for the sins of the past. And no matter how corny and cliche it may sound, this is our challenge.
