Fr. Joaquin Bernas SJ for ombudsman – man for others, legal eagle

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Fr. Joaquin Bernas SJ for Ombudsman

fr. joaquin bernas sj for ombudsman

Man of God, legal maverick keeps his faith in the law of man
By Alya Honasan
Inquirer
First Posted 10:29:00 05/14/2006

Published on page Q1 of the May 14, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

MORNING sunlight is dappling the leaves of the trees outside the Jesuit Residence inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City, and the nation’s recently christened “guru of destabilization” is basking in the almost ethereal glow, talking about good things.

“One of the reasons I joined the Jesuit order is because of their belief that man is good, and the world is good,” says Reverend Fr. Joaquin Guevarra Bernas, SJ. Then he laughs, an easy, hearty chuckle that emanates from his belly and somehow cushions this intellectual giant’s gravitas, bringing him back to earth and within our reach. “That, and the fact that we’re all really nuts.”

Hardly what you would expect from a prophet of doom, but anybody who assumes that this priest, lawyer, constitutionalist, teacher and respected amicus curiae—literally, a “friend of the courts”—is one-dimensional is destined for trouble.

Ask Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, the man who christened Bernas with the aforementioned monicker.