A Lawyer’s Crusade

Published December 3, 2017, Philippine Panorama

It’s rare these days to meet a group of committed lawyers who cling to a bible verse, “The little things you do to the least of my bretheren, you do it for me.” Many lawyers appear only to bask in their power over clients, their astronomical fees, political influence, and their fame. So when I met a different breed of lawyers, I had to take a long look at who they really were and where they got their convictions.

The National Association of Lawyers for Justice and Peace (NALJP) was founded 36 years ago by lawyer Jesus L. Santos from Marilao, Bulacan. He is happy being in the shadows seeing how his law firm, now 47 years old, is firmly established after decades of hard work and commitment to help the marginalized. And the NALJP, still rally to their sworn oath — to help the poor and marginalized find justice, their founder and now chairman’s guide in life.

Santos is still friends with tycoons like Ricky Razon, whom he helped in his ICTSI but he wants to be remembered more for his grassroots advocacies, as with his lawyer members. The roll of honor of the Lawyers for Justice and Peace include Charlie Tumaro of Quezon City, Vincent Jariol of Iligan City, Tito Gastardo of Cebu, Camilo Cabero, counsel of the Chinese General Hospital Dennis Timjap of Makat City, Michael Gabriel of Quezon City, and Tricia S. Santos of Jesus I. Santos Law Office, secretary general of the association.

Although he can boast of his long-time acquaintance with big-time prominent business and influential political personalities, Santos does not. He takes more satisfaction from and pride in talking about his pro bono cases, such as the one filed by members of the CoGEO, a confederation of government employees who sued the GSIS management not so long ago for not making public the firm’s billion-peso investments. What happened to these funds, he wants to know. They are the hard-earned contributions of the members, he stressed.

Whatever time is left for him in this world, Santos sincerely wants to devote it to helping others who can’t help themselves legally. Helping the poor and marginalized find justice may sound trite today when there are many issues dividing society and most every do-gooder wants to be a champion of the oppressed. But Santos is spending every waking hour (“Who can tell how much more time He will give me?” he asks) on a cause he passionately believes in— the preservation of the 62,000 hectares of the Angat Watershed Reservation that spans several provinces, such as Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and parts of Sierra Madre.

To say he is obsessed with preventing the denudation of the watershed by unscrupulous corporations or individuals who have managed to get “logging clearances” from the DENR, the local government or some political bigwigs is an understatement. To this day, the issue still riles up the soft-spoken Santos because, as he pointed out, the trees being cut in the name of commercialization and greed means less water supply for Metro Manila and more danger to the barangays that will be flooded in the event of strong typhoons. Just one big tree cut and careening down the rushing waters is enough to flood barangays, he notes. The watershed was once upon a time lush with huge trees, such as narra, apitong, and kamagong.

Angat Dam is vital, supplying 90 percent of raw water for Metro Manila through the facilities of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. A concrete water reservoir embankment, it irrigates more than 28,000 hectares of farmland in Bulacan and Pampanga. The Angat Watershed must be protected and preserved without question, Santos stressed. It’s everybody’s responsibility!

Angat Dam in Barangay San Lorenzo took several years to build at a cost of R315.344 million in 1967. The watershed has been eyed by greedy loggers ever since, although cutting trees in the area is strictly prohibited by law. The law has not prevented illegal logging in the watershed, causing disastrous impact on hundreds of families, such as what happened in 1978 during typhoon Kading, when the three gates were opened simultaneously without warning and the rampaging waters flooded the barangays around the dam. Civil suits were filed against the NAPOCOR in the Regional Trial Court of Malolos. Foremost was the one filed by the NALPJ’s Jesus Santos, a former “aguador,” who rose from poverty to be a leading legal luminary committed to justice for the marginalized.

I found out that his parents did not receive any formal education so their son, prompted by big dreams, struck it out on his own in Manila. He worked his way through school as a bus station “aguador,” cleaning buses and carrying water around. It was while doing this, as a working student, that he finished his law studies. He was soon lawyering for the poor folks. After a few years of pro bono legal work, his breaks came, thanks to lawyer Norie Poblador, who saw something special in the determined young Bulakeño and helped him professionally.

Santos’s most prominent pro bono case was to represent the victims of the Angat Dam flooding, thanks to NAPOCOR’s release of massive amounts of water. After many years, Santos’ pleading in behalf of the victims made it to the Supreme Court, and justices led by Justice Vicente Abad Santos noted that had the opening of all the three spillways been made earlier and gradually, there would have been no need to open all of them without warning: “What made the situation worse was that the spillways were opened at the unholy hours when residents were asleep. The plaintiffs all testified that they were never given any warning.” The Supreme Court decision on the case became a landmark ruling as it ruled the government could be sued if it engaged in business. The victory was bitter-sweet for the affected families but they are forever grateful to lawyer Jesus Santos and his volunteer lawyers who pursued their case doggedly, free of charge.

He attributes his successful career and lifelong advocacies to a “deep faith in God, clean conscience, clear mind, and prayers, prayers, and more prayers.” His law office, Jesus I. Santos Law Offices, is now run by his granddaughter Tricia who shares her grandfather’s passion for helping the poor.

Christmas to Santos is special as this is the time he shares his blessings with over a thousand of his poor neighbors in his hometown. It’s a tradition the Santos family has kept, sharing throughout the years, “whether we have excess or just enough. The Lord repays the givers.”

Trust and a good reputation are precious, Santos mused, so he guards the trust given to him by clients, big or poor, with his life. One of the big breaks he got early on in life was winning the trust of an elderly woman in Navotas, who had a very big estate. She needed his legal advice, so he worked for her who turned out to be a generous benefactor to him. Before she died, she made him manager of the entire estate and that brought up his professional standing as a lawyer. He also became the personal lawyer of journalist Teodoro Valencia, the late mayor Nemesio Yabut, and other prominent personalities.

But this crusading lawyer likes to remember a deaf mute victim he once helped. She was a house helper of an engineer who raped her. He refused to recognize the baby that was conceived because of the rape. Santos lawyered for the poor woman pro bono and with the help of DNA test paid for by him, she was able to get financial support from her rapist.

Santos credits former DENR secretaries Sonny Dominguez and Jun Factoran for doing more than their share in trying to preserve the watershed from illegal loggers. What about other secretaries and governors, we asked him, Santos made a face and we understood. Promises, promises, and more promises. Even NAPOCOR at one time tried to cut several thousands of trees for their electric posts but that was also against the law. Santos’s group filed a case and the cutting was stopped. Many others have tried chopping trees in the Angat watershed over the years. Some succeeded in bringing out prime hardwood, others were stopped by the NPAs and by the filing of injunctions by Santos’s group.

Recently, Bulacan Governor Willie Sy-Alvarado assured Santos that he has asked the DENR provincial director to stop the cutting of trees in the watershed. It’s a vindication for Santos’s group as the illegal cutting has been going on, despite their any protestations. Alvarado also promised to summon NAPOCOR, MAYNILAD, MWSS for an explanation why he wasn’t consulted on the illegal cutting of the trees in his province. He will ask the IBP Bulacan chapter and NALAJP to find out what other legal moves can save the watershed.

The NALJP lawyers are still the voluntary legal watchdogs for the Angat Watershed. Santos does not tire of reminding DENR, the Bulacan officials, and even Malacañang just how important the area is for millions of Filipinos. Lawyering for the rich has made Santos life comfortable now but, as he says, “I reach out to the little ones who can’t afford my fees. God finds a way. Always.” Santos and his volunteer lawyers have shown that the poor and marginalized can have their day in court too!