“Atty. Conception?”
It was July 9, 2013, and the Chief Justice was calling from her bench. She was addressing Atty. Girlie Noche, who had just presented her oral arguments against the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, a highly divisive bill signed into law seven months prior. The hall was packed; the atmosphere was electrifying.
The misplaced accent was fortuitous, however. The pro-life lawyer on the spotlight, whose full name is Maria Concepcion, remembered that her second name translates to having a child—the very essence of which was why she was standing alone in front of the Supreme Court (SC) en banc defending the right to life. She learned she was not singular in that fight, however. She glanced at the top of her podium. There was the letter from and the picture of Bishop Javier Echevarría she received a few minutes before the Justices piled into the chamber.
Almost a year ago, she met the then Prelate of Opus Dei when she attended a conference in Rome. That time, Bishop Echevarría has already heard some news about the RH debates going on in the Philippines. He told Atty. Noche when they coincided at the crypt of Villa Tevere (Opus Dei’s central headquarters), “Tell everyone I’m praying for everyone. I’m praying for the local Church, and I’m praying for your fight (against the RH Bill)….”
“At that moment in the crypt,” someone pointed out to Atty. Noche when she returned to the Philippines, “Everyone was with you there. St. Josemaría. Bishop Alvaro del Portillo. Bishop Javier. Abuela.* Tía Carmen. Dora.” Could she say that she was alone?
Atty. Noche looked at the Chief Justice. What followed was a five-hour non-stop grilling by all 14 justices, which the Dean of the UA&P Institute of Law described as “intense, extensive, humiliating, and humbling.”
“I was touched when the bailiff, during the process of interpellation, walked toward the podium and poured water into my glass, sensing that I needed to drink but I did not even have the time to do it,” the native of Taal, Batangas wrote in a letter.
The oral arguments opened wide the road of sorrow for the anti-RH petitioners, which included private individuals and family-oriented organizations like ALFI (Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines, Inc., of which Atty. Noche is the president). The anti-RH position was “popularly unpopular.” Hardly anything written came out to support their efforts. Mainstream media scrutinized Atty. Noche’s performance before the SC. Even prior to the arguments, when she sought assistance from lawyer friends in filing a petition questioning the constitutionality of the RH Law, she received discouraging answers.
“I was not optimistic, or perhaps I just did not want to think about it anymore,” she said, referring to the petition she filed. “I just wanted to satisfy myself that at least I did it.”
Under the weight of the opposition, she almost caved in. The frenzied preparations landed her in the hospital for pneumonia. She was not left to despair, however. A week after the arguments, the SC issued an order extending the status quo ante order indefinitely.
From there, it was a slow and uphill battle, but consolations came in many sorts. The help that poured in from friends was generous, and the interest shown by pro-life experts here and abroad was tremendous. On April 10, 2014, the SC ruled that the RH Law was not unconstitutional, but it affirmed the anti-RH arguments on four main issues: right to life, right to health, family, and religious freedom. Moreover, the SC affirmed that life indeed exists at fertilization and that the protection of the life of the unborn starts at fertilization, not implantation.
The pieces of the puzzle started to fit for Atty. Noche. “I majored in Biology. For the longest time, I ask myself, ‘Why did I waste four years—with my parents paying for my tuition—if in the end I was to become a lawyer?’ This is it.” She is to use science to defend life. An icing on the cake is to be reminded that her mother’s name is Natividad, which translates to birth. Her father is Jose.
Three years after the oral arguments, and after the recent loss of her only sibling, Jose Jr., another caress from God lifted up her spirit. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) conferred on her its highest award, the Jorge Barlin Golden Cross, for her “outstanding and genuine service” to the Church, “exemplifying the ideals” of the first Filipino bishop Barlin.** She is the fourth and only woman recipient of the said award.
“When Archbishop Garcera (chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission for Family and Life) informed me over the phone about it, I could not speak. I do not even know Jorge Barlin,” Atty. Noche smiled.
In a ceremony on January 28, 2017, CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas gave the award to Atty. Noche at the Pius XII Center in Manila, where the bishops held their plenary meeting. In her speech, she thanked the 100 or so bishops present for giving her the blessing years ago at the same venue a day before the oral arguments on the RH Law.
At that time, I had no idea what lay ahead—I just believed that the collective blessing anointed me for the mission I was sent to embark on. It was a duc in altum moment for me—I did not realize how deep the waters and how fiercely strong the currents could be. It was difficult and trying indeed to espouse and defend a popularly unpopular position and I had to struggle through waves of emotions that almost crushed my spirit.
Today, I stand here before you totally overwhelmed, with a deep sense of gratitude – my heart overjoyed. I feel most unworthy to have been blessed with the task of upholding the sacredness of every human life. I am extremely grateful to God for the singular opportunity to put my legal knowledge and skills at the service of Life, and I could not have done any less. I believe that our efforts have provided an arsenal of Hope, for the Unborn and our Mothers.
In the wave of emotions and human frailties that beset me as I travel along this journey, this recognition comes as a most welcome consolation and a much needed boost and inspiration to spur me on.
The fight for life still goes on. At present, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), upon order of the Supreme Court, is set to conduct public hearings on contraceptive drugs and implants in a bid to get the temporary restraining order on them lifted. The Supreme Court just affirmed in April 2017 the TRO on the registration, procurement, and distribution of contraceptive drugs and implants seen as abortifacients.
Atty. Noche and the other pro-lifers are not going anywhere, however. “This is what I always think: I am a lawyer. When I die, what will I tell our Lord? How will my accounting go? What will I say? What did I do?”
*St. Josemaría Escrivá is the founder of Opus Dei. His closest collaborator, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo (now Blessed), became his successor and the first prelate of Opus Dei. Blessed Alvaro was succeeded by Bishop Javier Echevarría, who passed away on December 12, 2016. Abuela refers to St. Josemaría’s mother, Dolores, whom the faithful of Opus Dei consider as their grandmother. Carmen is St. Josemaría’s sister, and Dora del Hoyo is the first assistant numerary of Opus Dei.
**Jorge Barlin was born on April 23, 1850 in Baao, Camarines Sur. He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1875 and on June 29, 1906 became the first Filipino consecrated bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. He died and was interred in Rome, Italy in 1909.
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