Francasio Delfin, 72 years old, married and who studied until grade 5 used to be a Baranggay Tanod in

Leyte. He has been in prison for 17 years for the crime of rape. According to him, he was wrongly
charged with rape. During his time as a Baranggay Tanod, in one of his rounds he caught his daughter in
a house with two other people who were involved in the selling and distribution of drugs and was using
his daughter to aid them in selling them. He admonished and forbade his daughter from associating
herself with this people which his daughter complied with. In retaliation, these people filed a case
against him for rape and while there was no evidence that he committed the crime he was held guilty.
He filed an appeal and was told that there’s a big possibility that he would win it but because a PAO
lawyer left him in the middle of proceedings, his case did not push through. With this, instead of getting
another lawyer he lost hope in his case and decided to accept his fate. Currently, his papers are already
being processed for executive clemency and is awaiting results.

Christian Anthony Royo, 34 years old and graduated with a degree criminology has worked for 7 years in
New Bilibid Prison and is currently assigned in minimum prison. His work usually involves making sure
that the inmates comply with the rules and also to process papers for the inmates. When asked about
his work, he says that the work in jail is routine since the inmates that he handles are already used to
prison life. Though he may want a different job, he believes that having work is more important rather
than finding work that you likes as he already has a family.

Expectations:

The jail visit was different than what I expected. When we were just planning the visit, I imagined that
we would go this dreary place where people are bitter and angry. I imagined that it would be a place
that was dirty and smell bad. Thus, when we arrived I was surprised. Based on what I saw, there was a
whole community in there and the place was not that bad. Though we only saw the outside part of the
prison I was pleasantly surprised that there were grounds for them to do exercise, that they had
television in their cells and that the inmates can go out from time to time. I found it comforting that
these people, even if they have committed crimes are at least given small concessions for their well-
being.

What struck you during your visit?

The resilience of the inmates stood out the most for me. The inmate that I interviewed was not guilty of
his crime and suffered for it for 17 years. He lost the opportunity to grow old with his family, to do what
he wanted with his life and to enjoy the pleasures of liberty. And yet, when I ask him how he feels about
what happened to his life he says that he has long accepted it and has learned to live with it. It was
astounding to me that he was not angry for being unfairly treated. When I heard what happened to him,
even I was angry because I was thinking what if this happened to someone I knew or a relative, or
worse, what if it happened to me. The fact that this man can accept his fate and have faith in God and
be happy is a lesson and an inspiration to me.

When he told me that he had the chance to be free because on appeal the decision would’ve been
overturned but his PAO lawyer left him in the middle of the proceeding made me feel angry. Angry that
he had suffered for 17 long years just because a lawyer was too lazy to do his job. This man paid 17
years for the lawyer’s neglect. It just doesn’t cut it. He had a duty with this man, more so because this
man was more susceptible to injustice because he was uneducated and had no financial capacity. Even if
he knew he was innocent, he had no means to prove it as he is ignorant of the legal remedies that the
law can provide. We’ve always said in our discussions that lawyers are guardians of the law and
advocates of our clients. This is even written in the Code of Professional responsibility for lawyers:

Rule 18.03 - A lawyer shall not neglect a legal matter entrusted to him, and his negligence in connection
therewith shall render him liable.

And in the Lawyer’s Oath:

I will not wittingly nor willingly promote or sue any groundless, false or unlawful suit, or give aid nor
consent to the same; I will delay no man for money or malice, and will conduct myself as a lawyer
according to the best of my knowledge and discretion with all good fidelity as well to the courts as to my
clients; and I impose upon myself this voluntary obligations without any mental reservation or purpose of
evasion.

Every lawyer, before they start the profession agrees to perform their duties to the best of their abilities
because we knew that the job of a lawyer can change lives. In this man’s case, it was for the worse
because his lawyer did not perform his duties. The sad part is that when I talked to my blockmates about
this man’s story and lawyer, they all had similar stories. It means that there are a lot of lawyers like that
who have caused many people unnecessary anguish just because they were too tired to do their job
right. The injustice of it outrages me and makes me think, why is there no one giving punishment to
these lawyers? The only reason I can think of is that they turn a blind eye to it.

Lawyers and doctors are at par in the profession. If doctors neglect their duties because they are tired
and accidentally amputate the wrong foot of a patient, they are immediately reprimanded by the body
governing them. Amputating a wrong foot and making a person suffer through 17 years will probably be
more or less be of equal weight and yet there is no one punishing these lawyers. Lawyers have no right
just to decide to let someone suffer even if they know this person is innocent. It is contrary to common
decency and does not speak of good moral character. A normal person who has good moral character
would not allow that to happen, more so with a lawyer. But it appears that society has accepted the
corruptions in the character of most lawyers. As such, I believe that sanctions must be strictly
implemented to lawyers in neglecting their duties and at the same time there must be stricter guidelines
in determining the character of prospective lawyers being admitted to the profession.

On the jail guard

The jail guard that we’ve interviewed seems to care for the prisoners. It appears that though he is
dissatisfied with his job and quite bored he is not as strict to the prisoners because at the end of the day,
he understands that the prisoners have already been suffering for a long time and that small favors like
being able to go out of the prison compound from time to time to buy stuff is fine. He respects the
inmates and tries to be as friendly to them as possible specially since most of them are already old.