ALL that the Senate and the House of Representatives can do – in behalf of Francisco Juan Larrañaga, a Spanish-Filipino sent to the death row for the rape and murder of the Chiong sisters in Cebu City, is have the party concerned petition the Supreme Court to allow retrial before a collegiate body, such as the Court of Appeals, in response to letters from the visiting Spanish Inter-Parliamentary Union delegation members to Senate President Drilon and Speaker De Venecia for help. These IPU members are insisting on Larrañaga’s innocence and alleging procedural lapses in the case. Official legislative intervention from either or both chambers of Congress will legally not do here, having their separate power. My suggestion is: Get a brilliant trial lawyer to rectify the procedure.
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Only 1,659 of 5,249 passed the last bar examinations. Now, how many of them would go into trial practice, instead of getting themselves employed in private companies or government agencies? Most often, it is the men lawyers who go to court and try cases, while the women lawyers stay in their law offices doing research work, drafting documents, and preparing pleadings, etc. Very few of them go to court and engage in trial combat with opponents who are mostly men lawyers. In many bar examinations in the past, the number of successful girl bar takers often equaled the boys who took and passed the bar. But on the average, there were more girls than boys who topped – and some even topped as number one. All new lawyers know the law, but what about applying it in court combat?
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Considering today’s legal education, the three sectors involved in producing lawyers: (1) Law Professors, (2) Service Provider of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Service, and (3) Bar Examiners should focus their teaching, motivation, reviewing, and training more on the practice of law. Almost all judicial matters and their processes are now being done electronically by computer and Internet. After the Supreme Court inaugurated E-Learning, lawyers, judges, and justices can access to laws and jurisprudence of our country or of those abroad. Now evidence can be presented electronically. Soon, filing court pleadings and notarization will be by electronics. Since lawyers can’t try cases electronically in court, they need skills in trial techniques to survive.
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This may sound as an advertisement, but I feel it’s time I impart to the young lawyers and the old-time and experienced law practitioners who haven’t had the opportunity to learn and apply some of the new and old psychological theories and disciplines that could be applied by lawyers to equip them with the tools and techniques that will give them an edge over others in court advocacy and in the overall practice of law. Those subjects might be published here shortly. Since I am not growing any younger, I might register as a special MCLE provider to lecture on those subjects before putting them in writing. The subjects may include, General Semantics, Neurolinguistic Programming, Essentials of Hypnosis, Psychology in Cross-Examination, Writing to Win, etc. You Interested?
