Kaban ni D_BystandeR: ANG TALAGSAONG KAHAIT SA SALABOTAN NI JUN DAVIDE

It was a shining glory for Hilario Davide Jr., who was just recently accepted to the BAR on March 3, 1960, that  he was able to victoriously win the fight in defending the case of his father, Hilario Sr., whose appointment as City Superintendent of School of Lapu-Lapu City was caught in the web of a political fight between Carlos P. Garcia and Diosdado Macapagal, who declared Garcia's appointments when he was defeated in their presidential election that they were all "midnight appointments" and therefore invalid. But the brilliance of his son, who would later on become our Chief Justice of the Supreme Court could be shown in this particular case where, if not for his exemplary wisdom for successfully articulating the salient points of the case, he could not have made it his jumping board to other celebrated cases that only reinforced his rare legal dominance that would entitle him to other high government positions - as COMELEC Chairman - and finally to become the Chief Justice of the SC under President Cory's administration. And, if I may add, the case of my niece handled by Jun Davide before he became COMELEC Chairman was a sign of how he successfully carried himself as a dominant figure in winning practically all the legal cases that he handled. And another case related to Jun Davide's towering figure as a legal luminary during his early law practice was towards the late 1960's when a co-worker of mine in a shipping company asked for Jun's legal assistance because my friend noticed he was subjected to "harassment" by our personnel manager because my friend was active in the campaign to unionize our co-employees. (My friend acquired extra personal "closeness" to Jun because he was Jun's personal barber - a kind of "sideline" that made my friend's expertise close to his clients.) Reading that letter of Jun addressed to our Personnel Manager I was tempted to ask my friend for a copy of that letter that I kept it very dearly that I was able to show it when my eldest son became a lawyer 20 years ago.

Footnote: This comment came out in The FREEMAN last Nov. 29, 2014,, in connection with a news report  entitled,  "Hilario Davide Sr., the fighting school superintendent."