The
Bible tells the story that God tempted or tested Abraham to take his
only begotten son ISAAC, whom he loved, to the land of
Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering. When Abraham had
prepared everything for the sacrifice minus the lamb,
Isaac asked, “My father, “behold the fire and the wood: but
where is the lamb for a burnt offering”.? Abraham answered, “My
son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:… (Gen.
22:7-8) Abraham had the heart of God when he agreed to offer his
only begotten son he waited for 100 years to be born
(Gen. 21:5).
Abraham
immediately obeyed without any word of complaint. He
had complete trust on God’s command. No questions asked. He
trusted God that whatever God commands will turn out finally to be
good for him. This makes Abraham “the Father of Faith”. If we
want to be blessed like Abraham who “was very rich in cattle, in
silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:2), let us be like Abraham who was
obedient, trusting God, and a man of patience and perseverance.
Those
employed either in the government or in the private sector stick to
their jobs expecting and hoping that when they reach retirement age,
they will receive a monthly pension till they die. Those retirees
who are endowed with wisdom who feel that they will not live long
after their retirement, elect to receive in lump sum their retirement
pension usually for five years for those in the government, so they
can invest it and generate more income and enjoy immediately what
their money can buy while they are still alive. If they die earlier
than five years, the government or the GSIS (Government Service &
Insurance System) cannot get a refund. If they survive after five
years, like the now made famous in the Corona impeachment case,
Justice Serafin Cuevas, they continue to receive a monthly pension
until their time is up by the will of the Lord. David said, “My
times are in your hands; …” (Ps. 37:15 NIV).
Delving
on retirement pay and the provision by God (Jehovah Jireh), when I
was a young and struggling lawyer, as I did not know yet about what
Christians call a “heart’s desire”, I had the ambition to
become a judge or perhaps a justice so when I reach retirement age
which is 70 years for judges and justices according to a special law
on retirement passed by the Congress of the Philippines, the majority
of whom are lawyers, I was thinking, by then, I can relax, eat, drink
and be merry till I die! But God did not will it that way for me.
“You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail”
(Prov. 19:21 NLT). Notably, for other employees both in public and
private, the compulsory retirement is at age 65 only.
My
opportunity to join the government service came when my former boss,
Atty. Leopoldo M. Abellera, the classmate of the late President
Ferdinand E. Marcos at the University of the Philippines, and an
acknowledged successful law practitioner in Davao Region in his time,
invited me to join him at the Board of Transportation (BOT) inasmuch
as from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) he was
appointed by President Marcos Justice of the Court of Appeals and
concurrently the BOT Chairman which is now the LTFRB (Land
Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board). It has been said
that Justice Abellera never decided any case because he devoted his
time and effort at the BOT. There must have been much “treasure”
at the BOT, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Matt. 6:21).
The
offer was attractive financially and with opportunities for
advancement in government service, and probably a good stepping stone
for a judiciary appointment, considering the very close relation of
Atty. Abellera with President Marcos, but I know that politics is
unstable, unpredictable and very temporary. I did not like to leave
my private practice of law which was then picking up, and I thought
that should politics turn the other way, I did not like to start from
the beginning once again. When President Marcos was deposed, in
retrospect, I was not mistaken in my decision. Truly, the Word of
God is true that: “Thou will shew me the path of life: in thy
presence is fullness of joy; at the right hand there are pleasures
forevermore” (Ps. 16:11 KJV). This is buttressed by what King
David said, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and
he delighteth in his way” (Ps. 37:23 KJV).
Henry
Sy, the majority stockholder and practically the owner of SM, the
largest mall and No. 1 taxpayer in the Philippines said, “Success
requires hardwork and it does not come overnight”. That
great inventor of the incandescent lamp, Thomas Alva Edison, said,
“Success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration”,
Success is the product of hardwork.
The
history of my private practice of law has been long and tedious by
human standard.
By
the grace of God and through dedication, hard work, perseverance and
patience, I was able to build enough clientele to keep me very
busy six days a week, so that more often, I can go home only after
eight at night, just like Gen. Douglas MacArthur during his time, in
spite of the fact that I have five (5) associates (including my
daughter Atty. Susan and son Atty. Neil). By God’s providence, I
was also able to build a two-storey fully concrete law office
building in the heart of the City of Davao, Philippines, on a 650 sq.
m. lot. which God allowed me to acquire in 1988. The whole second
floor is my law office while the ground floor is rented by commercial
establishments. However, always in the evening of my memory, I keep
on asking myself, when I become too old and no longer able to
practice my profession, where will I get money without being
dependent on, or a burden to, our children?
By
God’s grace and provision, again, when I was nearing the retirement
age of a judge or justice that I ambitioned in my youth to be, from
out of the blue sky, a satisfied client referred to me a group of
landowners in Dujali, Sto. Tomas, and Carmen, Davao del Norte,
Philippines, who formed a cooperative named DUSCAR banana
cooperative. DU – for Dujali, S-for So. Tomas and CAR – for
Carmen (DUSCAR). This cooperative of lowly farmers engaged my
legal services because they have been sweet-talked by a
businessman-farmer to convert their lands into a plantation of
exportable Cavendish bananas, so that in three years they will become
millionaires. Of course, all of them were excited to become
millionaires. In the process, he borrowed the amount of P60 million
from a bank as initial working capital to pursue and implement his
banana plantation project, secured by a mortgage on the lands
of the farmers. One paragraph of the Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) between the innocent farmers and the businessman-farmer is that
for as long as the loan in the bank is not paid, the
farmers will only receive P10.00 per 13.5 kg. box of exportable
bananas.
The
trouble came about because the loan was not paid by the
businessman-farmer as stipulated in the MOA covered by the mortgage
because he used the income in the plantation to build a palatial
home, bought a backhoe for his use in his personal business; also to
buy expensive brand new SUV vehicles for his business, personal and
family use, charging all gasoline and maintenance expenses and all
maintenance expenses on the farm from the farmers and to pay the
salaries of numerous security guards he hired to guard the banana
plantation from thieves of harvestable fruits, but leaving the
amortization of the bank loan irregularly paid. The interest due was
not fully paid and naturally the principal remained P60 million.
While the businessman has been enjoying the multi-million income of
the farms converted into banana plantation, the income of the
landowners at P10.00 per 13.5 kg. box of exportable bananas ranges
only in few thousand pesos which will not even suffice for their
daily needs. They could not even send their children to school
anymore. Some of the farmers told me that they have to eat cooked
Cavendish bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, because they can
no longer afford to buy rice. Naturally, the next inevitable thing
to happen was that their mortgaged lands will be foreclosed by the
bank.
To
cut short a long story, I decided to file a case for rescission or
cancellation of their contract with the businessman. However, the
next problem was that they did not have money to pay the filing fee
of the case in court which was quite substantial and my appearance
fee per day of hearing considering that the case will be filed in
Tagum City which is 54 kilometers away from Davao City, Philippines,
where I hold office. Anyway, this was provided through their
cooperative contributions, and I graciously agreed to prosecute their
case without asking them an acceptance fee or without having any
agreement on my fee in the meantime that victory for them was
not yet certain, remembering what King Solomon said in Prov.
31:9 “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause
of the poor and needy”. Finally and fortunately by the
grace of God, the contract was cancelled by the court. They are
now dealing directly with the bank and are now updated in their
amortization payments.
I
recommended them to SUMIFRU, a reputable international buyer and
exporter of bananas, like DOLE-STANFILCO, to be their exclusive
banana buyer. For my attorney’s fee, we agreed in writing
that it shall be $.05 cents per 13.5 kg. box of banana that is
produced in the banana farms for the next 15 years. This is now the
answer of God to my heart’s desire of having a monthly pension
which is equivalent to the monthly pension of an RTC judge for the
next fifteen years, if, by God’s grace like King Hezekiah of the
O.T. who lived for an additional 15 years, I survive that long.
Thus, God’s timing is always perfect. He is never late but
sometimes even advance. Indeed, it is true that when we “take
delight in the Lord, he will give you your heart’s desire”
(Psalm 37:4 NLT). Also, it is true that God is Jehovah Jireh (God
who provides in his time in mysterious ways).
The
chairperson of the cooperative told me that some of the futuristic
thinking banana farmers raised the issue in Cebuano dialect: “Unsaon
na lang kay tigulang na baya si Atty. Cariaga, kinsa man ang
mag-servicio sa ato?” (In English, what will happen later
because Atty. Cariaga is already old, who will then continue the
legal services that we will need?). I asked her, what was your
answer? She said, “Don’t worry, he has three children who are
lawyers.” The wise King Solomon said: “A good man leaveth an
inheritance to his children’s children: x x x (Prov. 13:22 KJV).
Joyful really is the reward of serving the Lord with delight with
love of neighbor as the primary consideration and in
serving those who are poor and needy who cannot plead their
cause.
So,
the conclusion of the matter is what Jesus said: “Take therefore
no thought for the morrow: for morrow shall take thought for the
things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”
(Matt. 6:34 KJV). In another version, “Let the day’s own trouble
be sufficient for the day” (RSV). Trust in the Lord, and do
good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give
thee the desires of thine heart” (Ps. 37:3-4 KJV). Delight in
serving the Lord and look after the needs of your poor and needy
neighbor, using your God-given talent, ability and skill, and the
LORD will take care of you. God “will never leave you, nor forsake
you” (Heb. 13:5). God will surely provide.
(FGBMFI Davao City
Chapter Bulleting, September 8, 2012)
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