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Lawyer talk - CTALK By Cito Beltran - The Philippine Star » News » Opinion


Lawyer talk
CTALK By Cito Beltran
The Philippine Star
Updated July 22, 2011 12:00 AM


Unless the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Supreme Court steps in, chances are we will soon be hiring lawyers based on their ability to blabber instead of their skills at being a lawyer.

In like manner we might as well elect Senators on the basis of their interrogation skills as well as being lawyers for the prosecution.

We will also have to be careful about choosing a hospital because you’re never sure if they are an institution of healing or earning.

I don’t know if any of you have noticed these strange turn of events where so-called professionals and institutions represent a particular field or business but often conduct themselves in such a different nature or manner.

For instance, hospitals are supposed to be institutions of healing and medical attention. Somewhere along the way, they evolved and became institutions of learning for would be doctors and nurses.

Then they expanded their territories and incorporated F&B facilities by having their own cafeterias and flower shops. Then they decided to be lessors and started renting out space for coffee shops, banks and drugs stores etc.

The ultimate transition is that many hospitals are now “real estate companies” that sells “units” in their high-rise buildings to doctors who wish to be on the hospital’s list of accredited medical “consultants”.

In the old days, doctors were invited and provided with a private or common “clinic”, today it isn’t enough that you are a licensed medical practitioner, you are also required to be an “Investor”. At a going rate of P3 to P5 million plus per unit, hospitals are turning out to be a lot smarter than the Ayala, DMCI and SM Prime.



While that may be smart business sense, it spells disaster for health care in the Philippines.

No one has really noticed because in general we all pay a measly P500 consultancy visit to most doctors. But the real bills come when you need to pay P10,000 to P25,000 for an anesthesiologist, P20,000 to 100,000 to a surgeon etc. etc.

I used to wonder how physicians even in 2nd or 3rd class municipalities could dare to charge such excessive fees, but after learning how much money they spend to have a clinic in several hospitals, I guess it is fair to say that they too get opened up or sliced once in a while.

Unless you’re a loyalist like my friend Doctor Alex, chances are every good doctor has had to invest P3 to P5 million in at least two or three hospitals. That being the case, they are now investment managers as well as physicians!

From healing to learning to eating and now to earning, no wonder big business is getting into the hospital business.

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There was a time when eloquence and elocution where trademark skills for lawyers. But over and above the gift of gab, every aspiring lawyer knew that real lawyering was about knowing the law and using the law as well as evidence or testimony to substantiate your claim or position.

I find it tragic, that many aspiring and currently well-known lawyers are known because of their air time exposure, their bla-bla-bla abilities and thick faced self-promotion rather than their “score cards” inside the court rooms or their professional skills.

Yes I now that lawyers also need to be bold, may be even shameless in the defense of a cause or a client. However, when lawyers willfully use the media to promote themselves, their politics, and their law firm, it won’t take long before the good, the bad, and the ugly all fall into one barrel called chum or fish bait.

Many in media have noticed how lawyers now actively seek out or use “media opportunities” by volunteering their legal services because of the high visibility factor, while others use media encounters allegedly to inform the public but are in fact more interested to promote themselves to the public.

Recently a number of lawyers involved in some high profile cases have even gone to the extent of instigating their own media events or attracting the media by launching off “incendiary comments” or accusations, knowing this attracts flies to the dung heap.

Perhaps it is high time that the IBP and the Supreme Court gave the matter some serious thought and observation. It would be very unfair if some “ambulance chaser” rose to the top of the food chain simply on spittle and not mettle.

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The honorable members of the Senate might be congratulating themselves on how they interrogated past and present officials of the PCSO. To say that they took pleasure in grilling their catch of the week would be an understatement.

However, they would also be wise to watch their steps since some people have noted that they practically acted as prosecutor and judges over actual and perceived crimes of PCSO officials.

One thought in particular came to mind over the interrogation. Why is the Senate pre-empting investigations and court procedures on matters that must and will ultimately be brought to court?

Logic and legality tells us that the DOJ or the Ombudsman should conduct the investigation, file the cases and based on all that information, Congress or Senate can craft the comprehensive bill or law. Laws can be made even after the fact, but when they interrogate before the judicial bodies do so, no legislation can correct such abuse and miscarriage of justice.

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