Teaching labor laws for some nobler purpose

I have a feeling of pride and a sense of accomplishment, that for 40 years now, I have been teaching law, mostly labor laws, with passion and great sense of mission. I did not do it for the salary (for it was mostly pittance) or for glory (for nobody applauds a night class professor in the less known and less affluent law schools in the country).

I did it for some higher, nobler purpose; to help build a culture of industrial peace based on justice between labor and capital. I dedicated my four decades of night working hours so that I could help build the character, not just mold the minds but also the hearts and conscience of labor leaders, HR managers and arbiters, conciliators, and even congressmen and DOLE officials.

Indeed, I claim some sort of achievement that some of my former students are now members of Congress, others became judges, labor arbiters, DOLE undersecretaries, and regional directors. Others chose to be labor leaders, trade union propagandists and organizers. Still others have joined big multinationals as their personnel and HR managers.

All of them still profess the principles I taught them; respect for labor rights and human dignity, recognition of management prerogatives, and obedience to the rule of law. I taught them how to maintain a balance between labor rights and employers’ prerogatives.

I taught them how to help build the nation by upholding the national policies of economic freedom based on the partnership and social cohesion among government, labor, and capital. I taught them to promote industrial peace as a means to preserve jobs and assure protection for workers, while respecting the businessman’s right to reasonable returns for his investments.

I molded the character of men and women who believe in the inherent goodness of the human person, even amidst the most difficult adversities. I gave them options for the preferred modes of dispute settlement, instead of strikes and lockouts, to choose conciliation, mediation, social dialogues, and collective bargaining negotiations, and voluntary arbitration.

Now in my late sixties, I feel some sense of joy as I look back to forty years of devoted service to humanity, some sense of happiness that I did not spend my evenings drinking, gambling or engaging in some carnal pastimes. I did fill my nights with eventful interactions with young future lawyers who shall become apostles of truth and justice, who shall defend either the rights of labor or the prerogatives of management.

But I am sure they will support the path of peace and justice. I am still teaching today, even if I have difficulty climbing stairs to my classrooms. I still enjoy the beauty of reason and logic and the search for truth and for what is right, in a world of many wrongs and distorted realities. In the twilight of my life I am still teaching. And as long as there are law schools that believe in me and my passion and competence, I shall always report to my law classes, even when I can hardly walk. I am not doing this for the money. I am doing this because deep in my heart, I am pursuing a nobler purpose.