SEASON OF FRIENDSHIP
Mar. 29, 2007

From the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, one would find the following timeless words:

“ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven..

… a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to embrace and a time to refrain; a time to tear and a time to mend; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.”

For the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, its 33rd year was one great memorable season. It was a season of friendship.

It was, borrowing the words of scripture, a time to heal. To build. To laugh. To embrace. To mend. To love.

It was, indeed, a time of peace.

It is, therefore, but fitting that we mark the culmination of the IBP’s 33rd year in the City of Cagayan de Oro.

In this City of Golden Friendship.

The 11th National Convention of the IBP could not have found a better venue.
Thank you, Cagayan de Oro. You did not only extend to us your hospitality. You gave the IBP more than that. You set before us a mirror of who we are. And of what we can still become.

During this season of friendship, the IBP looked within itself and reached out outside its organizational walls. Looking within is a difficult task unless one is a friend to oneself. This is because looking within could reveal truths that one might find difficult to accept.

Confident of its friendship with itself, the IBP did look within. And found not just the internal rifts and the inevitable discord. More important we found the exceptional strength to rebuild.

The pillars of the strength to rebuild have names. The pillars of strength go by these names:

1. Executive Vice President and Governor for Central Luzon Feliciano M. Bautista;
2. Governor for Southern Luzon Jose Amor M. Amorado;
3. Governor for Greater Manila Alicia A. Risos-Vidal;
4. Governor for Bicolandia Felimon C. Abelita III;
5. Governor for Eastern Visayas Manuel P. Legaspi;
6. Governor for Western Visayas J.B. Jovy C. Bernabe;
7. Governor for Eastern Mindanao Bernard L. Dagcuta;
8. Governor for Western Mindanao Rogelio B. Garcia; and
9. Officer-in-charge for Northern Luzon Abelardo C. Estrada.

Honorable members of the Board of Governors, on behalf of the IBP membership, I thank you for the strength. I thank you for being the IBP’s pillars and strength. I thank you for this Season of Friendship and Rebuilding.

Confident of our friendship and strength within, we reached out during this season.

We extended confident hands in goodwill and renewed our partnerships with various sectors.

And we raised clenched fists in conviction as we faced the issues that threatened to plant seeds of enmity among the people we are vowed to serve.

We extended our hands to the oppressed and to the underprivileged sectors. To the Filipino soldier who serve in our frontlines beyond the call of duty. To our international partners in the legal profession. To our local partners in the aspiration for clean, honest and fair elections.

We raised our fists against corruption. Against abuse. Against ignorance.

We did both without fear. We did both with aggressive optimism. And only because we closed ranks. Only because you gave the IBP national leadership the support and encouragement needed to tap and mobilize our collective strength.

To every IBP member, therefore, I say “thank you” on behalf of your Board. Thank you for the support and encouragement. Thank you for a productive season of rebuilding within and of reaching out.

And now, there is another friend whom we must all thank.
The great English Statesman Benjamin Disraeli had a different way of defining friendship. He said:

“The greatest good you can do another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him, his own.”

In our presence today is a Filipino with vast riches. Not material riches, perhaps. But intellectual, spiritual and moral riches. In the experience of his leadership in the Highest Court of the land, he did share these riches with us, as he did with the rest of the Nation.

But more than that, Chief Justice Reynato Puno helped us discover our own riches – as lawyers and servants of our people.

In one of his speeches before the IBP prior before he assumed his current post, the Chief Justice blurted out these words, and I quote:

“Refuse to be indifferent to our problem of poverty! But let us not only be indifferent; let us make a difference for the poor who are many; let us make a difference for the poor who are many; let us strike a blow for equality of the many with the few. Democracy can succeed only if it is egalitarian in creed and in deeds.”

With those powerful words, the Chief Justice underscored two important truths: first, that indifference is the antithesis of friendship; and two, by rising to the call of friendship with our countrymen – as he has done - we can make a difference.

To be a friend and to make a difference. Mr. Chief Justice, those words will forever ring in our hearts. Those words are your priceless gifts of friendship to us. For in that prose, you revealed to us, in the words of Benjamin Disraeli, “our own riches”.

Thank you, for the wisdom, Mr. Chief Justice. And thank you for the friendship of a mentor, a leader and for the inspiration that you selflessly and generously lend to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

That friendship and that understanding of our strength and riches are key to the resilience of the IBP.

It is too early for personal farewells. There are things yet to be done. But as I count the days before the leadership of the IBP is turned over to one more able, may I just leave these words as a token of my gratitude for the support received from you by the IBP national leadership.

And I quote from the immortal composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, who said:

“Never shall I forget the days spent with you; continue to be my friend as you will always find me yours.”

Thank you so much! Let’s enjoy our stay here in the City of Golden Friendship.

Mabuhay ang Integrated Bar of the Philippines!

Mabuhay tayong lahat!