ASEAN integration and the legal profession

(Speech of Senate President Franklin M. Drilon on the 12^th ASEAN Law Association General Assembly Delegates’ Luncheon in honor of ASEAN Chief

Justices and Heads of Delegation at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel on February 27, 2015)

I am deeply honored to be in the presence of esteemed justices, judges and lawyers in the ASEAN region. Whenever I am in a room full of lawyers, I am reminded of a question that was asked of me some time ago. The question goes, “What do you call one thousand lawyers tied together in the middle of an ocean?” The answer, “A good start.”

Levity aside, I am convinced that being in this room, in the presence of lawyers who are united in the ideal of ASEAN integration is, just like that old lawyer joke, a good start.

In the Philippines, the legal profession plays an important role in our nation’s growth. Lawyers are at the forefront of governance and business. It is not surprising that many Filipinos dream of becoming a lawyer. There are about 66 Thousand lawyers in the Philippines. Every year, about 6 Thousand take the Bar Examinations. Of this number, only about 20 to 30% succeed.

Yet, for all the power and glamor associated with the legal profession, there is a need to understand what being a lawyer truly means. This question is important in an era of globalization and integration. The traditional lawyer, who is used to dealing with legal issues within the four corners of his country, is being challenged to go beyond the borders of the legal framework that he is trained to navigate.

I have been a lawyer for more than four decades. I began my career as a private practitioner, together with Ed Angara and Ave Cruz, where I got to experience the work of a so-called traditional lawyer. I worked with clients to pursue and protect their interests. Through this, I learned that the legal profession is essential to the dreams and aspirations of people, whether they be interested in the development of their property, or the protection of their life and liberty.

I am fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve the government in various capacities. As Secretary of Labor and Employment, I used my legal training to balance the interests of capital and labor. As Secretary of Justice, I instituted reforms in the criminal justice system. As Executive Secretary, I assisted the President in running the government and handled the administrative side of the law. 

I am also blessed to be able to serve as a senator, and now as Senate President. Here, I learned the importance of policy-making. That laws are intended to uplift the lives of people. That in order to craft laws that will create the conditions necessary for our people to live their dreams, it is in being a listener, more than a legal gladiator, that our goals are achieved.

Thus, it is my position that a lawyer should adopt the mentality of an arbitrator or mediator. I believe that the best mode for resolving conflicts is through dispute resolution, and not courtroom litigation. The procedure resolving conflicts, where the winner takes all, should pave the way for a method of harmonizing competing interests that aim to achieve a just solution. This approach is more consistent with the need to respect the agreement of parties, especially in commercial transactions.

Our duty is not to exacerbate conflict, but to avoid it. Our duty is not to find competing interests, but to find a space where interests can coexist. While competition is undoubtedly a catalyst for development, it is in cooperation that more can be accomplished. It is in this spirit of cooperation that I view our role as lawyers in ASEAN integration.

My dear friends, it is fair to say that this is the decade of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The ASEAN is increasingly the choice destination for investments in Asia. A list of 20 fastest growing economies in the world, recently released by Bloomberg, includes five member countries of the ASEAN.

Home to some 712 million people, with an increasingly highly-educated workforce; a nominal GDP of $2.4 trillion in 2013; and abundant natural resources, ASEAN has what it takes to become a formidable economic force in Asia.

ASEAN is at the heart of the Asia Pacific region. It is situated across major trade routes with $5.3 trillion in global trade passing through its waterways each year. Clearly, ASEAN is a driver of global economic growth.

In 2013, while the world’s GDP growth was at 3%. The ASEAN was at 4.9%. The Asian Development Bank estimates the bloc’s GDP growth at 5.6% in 2014, up from 5.3% in 2013. At current growth rates, it is predicted that ASEAN would become the fourth-largest market, after the EU, U.S. and China, by 2030.

Now is the time to cooperate to maximize the economic growth in our region. With our shared goal of expanding our economies, shared desire for excellence, and shared dream of providing a quality of life that is worthy of our people, the ASEAN region will become a force to be reckoned with in the international stage. Together, we are stronger.

Full ASEAN integration, however, poses a challenge to every ASEAN member country. The existing legal framework may not be sufficient for the region to achieve a completely free exchange of goods and services.

As part of our preparation for integration, we passed a law that would allow the Full Entry of Foreign Banks in the country. Foreign investors can now look to their trusted banks to facilitate transactions in our country. With this law, we encourage the inflow of foreign capital and other foreign direct investments, not only in the banking industry, but in other industries as well. With this law, we will see the Philippines ease into integrated financial and capital markets in our region.

We have started identifying areas where the current laws will not suffice. The Philippine Congress will shortly enact an anti-trust law, the Fair Competition Act. This proposed measure will have the effect of promoting economic efficiency in trade, industry and commerce through the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and anti-competitive mergers. We will also pass legislation that will Allow Foreign Vessels to Transship Foreign Cargoes between Philippine Ports. This law will allow foreign vessels to call at multiple ports, and allow importers and exporters to co-load containers/cargoes in foreign ships going in and out of the Philippines. This will further open our market to competition, bring down transport costs by sea, and enable the country to fully utilize the supply chains for products. Next month, we will start the debate on the passage of a stronger enabling law for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in order to provide the most appropriate framework to mobilize the private sector to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain infrastructure projects and services.

We also intend to establish institutions that would support our move towards liberalization. We will create two new offices: a Philippine Trade Representative Office, which will serve as the country’s central agency tasked to formulate a cohesive trade strategy and, second, a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), to support the development of our ICT systems, and put us at par with ASEAN economies which have cabinet level departments for information and communications technology.

ASEAN integration also poses a challenge to members of the legal profession. As the integration calls for a free exchange of resources, we must ask ourselves: what does integration mean to the legal profession? What is its impact to the practice of law? In this era of integration, the ASEAN lawyer must learn to navigate multiple legal jurisdictions.

In the Philippines, the practice of law right now is limited only to Filipinos. However, there are now efforts in our Supreme Court to liberalize the profession. There is a proposal to welcome foreign lawyers in the Philippines to assist their clients in international matters and cross border transactions. As a response to the need for the legal profession to be in tune with the ideal of ASEAN integration, the proposal for liberalization also allows for collaborative work between Filipino and foreign lawyers where the matter or transaction involves both domestic and foreign law. Further, the proposal also has a procedure for registration, whereby foreign lawyers and firms may be able to assist their clients in cross border transactions where the Philippines is involved. This proposal also requires foreign lawyers to live up to the standards and principles of lawyering in the Philippines, a practice that requires loyalty to the rule of law, and fidelity to the cause of the client. These are values that, I am certain, are shared by all lawyers in the ASEAN.

It is my hope that this move to liberalize the legal profession in the Philippines reaches fruition. I believe that this is a solid first step in making lawyers in the Philippines key players in the ASEAN integration.

While the practice of law in the ASEAN region may be a challenge, the liberalization of the legal profession will ultimately benefit the region as a whole. Cross border transactions will require businesses to be represented in several ASEAN countries to assist them as they move from one country to another. The liberalization of the practice of law will allow them to choose the lawyers who have a full grasp of their businesses or interests to represent them in cross border transactions. As the integration does away with the ideas of borders and barriers, the traditional concepts of forum in the creation and execution of transactions, are also being erased. This facilitates the ease in perfecting and executing contracts.

As lawyers, our duty is to create the kind of legal environment where integration and cross border transactions are possible and successful. If we are truly the builders of the infrastructure necessary for our clients to dream, and to see their dreams flourish, we have the duty to go beyond the four corners of our own country’s laws, and represent our clients, wherever they may be, to protect  their interests. This duty can be fulfilled not in the traditional mode where lawyers must cross swords and compete. Rather, it is only in cooperation that we will be able to become transnational lawyers.

Cooperation, I therefore submit, is the key to the liberalization of law practice.

The liberalization of the practice of law in the ASEAN benefits businesses and interests in the region. The long-term effect of a legal profession that recognizes no territorial boundaries goes into the success of the ASEAN integration itself.

The work of lawyers is linked to the growth of economies.

We are agents of development.

We are in the position to effect change.

We have the honor of becoming key players in the ASEAN integration.

We have the privilege of being instruments to the improvement of the lives of millions of people in the ASEAN region.

We are being called to go beyond the borders of our nations, and to create change in the grand scale.

We must, as lawyers, rise to the challenge.

The ASEAN Law Association must be a leading voice as we examine the impact of expanding markets, and enhanced globalization, on the laws in our respective countries.  It must be a proactive and constructive force to help sustain this era of strong economic growth, so that all member countries would reap the rewards of regional integration.

The ALA must be an active mouthpiece for the legal profession, as it brings to the courts, and to the legislatures, the major concerns of local and foreign businesses.

A major challenge for the ALA is to ensure that local economies continue to thrive and take advantage of the many benefits of increasingly bigger markets.  Moreover, with the same level of passion, ALA must ensure the observance of the rule of law in the entire ASEAN region. Lastly, ALA should be a leading voice in bridging the gaps in the ASEAN’s varied legal systems.

In this endeavor, being here today, to learn from each other and to build lasting ties, is indeed, a good start.        

We are on the verge of change.

It is an honor to witness it; to work for it; to live for it; with all of you.

Thank you very much for allowing me to share my thoughts on the ASEAN integration and the legal profession with all of you. Good afternoon.