The Law of the Good Man as Our Generations Law

Harvard Law School 2007 Student Commencement Address

Oscar Franklin Barcelona Tan (Philippines)
Delivered June 7, 2007, Langdell Hall

Dean Kagan, Vice-Dean Alford, professors, classmates, families, and friends. Let
me first thank my family, who crossed twelve time zones to be with us. Let me
thank my father, who was once a poor boy from our province of Negros Occidental
in the Philippines. He lost his parents during his childhood, then moved to the
capital and slept on my aunts couch to study law at the University of the
Philippines. I do not know if he dreamt then that he would one day watch his eldest
son graduate from Harvard Law School, but I want him to know that I love him and
hope he is proud of me. Let me thank my law dean, Raul Pangalangan, who was
like a second father to me in the University of the Philippines, and is fortunately
present here as a visiting professor. I learned all I know about integrity and
principle from these two men.

Let me also thank our tireless graduate program staff. Assistant Dean Jeanne Tai,
Nancy Pinn, Heather Wallick, April Stockfleet, Curtis Morrow, Jane Fair Bestor,
Chris Nepple, Valentina Perez, Ashley Smith, and Sarine Der Kaloustian: This year
would not have been possible without you. But let me thank all of you in the
Harvard Law community for truly making us feel part of it. I know I am part of it; I
was featured in the Parody.

Not so long ago, I went to John Harvards for the first time with the British, who
began chittering in an alien language. I later discovered it was actually English the
real English. I complained I was not used to cold, but a Saudi Arabian reminded me
that you can fry eggs on a sidewalk in Riyadh. An Italian gave me tips on women
because Italian men are the worlds greatest lovers, with the disclaimer that their
style does not work on American women. A Malaysian was asked to explain the
religious significance of the color of her hijab, or headscarf. She would answer: It
had to match her blouse. And I learned more than I ever cared to about American
culture: I spent a week in Jamaica with Andy Knopp and Mike Pykosz.

Soon, we found that great substance that unites any law school: alcohol. On New
Years Eve, a Belarusian handed me a glass of vodka, but scolded me when I began
to sip it. Sipping, he emphasized, is not the Slavic way. I shared a Frenchmans
champagne, a Peruvians pisco sour, a Brazilians caipirinha, a Mexicans tequila,
and a Japaneses sake. And I learned how even weak American beer enlivens an
evening when you drink it with the Irish.

As for me, I come from the Philippines, a former American colony best known for
Imelda Marcoss shoe collection. I remember being a six-year old watching my
parents walk out of our house to join the crowds gathering to depose the dictator
Ferdinand Marcos and form human walls against tanks. I remember being a twenty-
year old in a different crowd deposing a different but equally corrupt president.
It was liberating to hear how a Chilean danced with crowds in the streets when
Pinochet was arrested. How a South Korean prosecutor proudly stated that his
country has sent two former presidents to prison. How a Brazilian, when he was six
years old, was taken by his father to see a million men clamor for direct elections in
Rio de Janeiro. How a Bhutanese wants to help shape her constitution after her king
voluntarily gave up absolute power.

Friends, my most uplifting thought this year has been that the more we learn about
each other, the more we realize that we are all alike, and the more we inspire each
other to realize our most heartfelt yearnings. My single most memorable moment
here came when I met South African Justice Albie Sachs, left with only one arm
after an assassination attempt during apartheid. My classmate stood up and said:
South Africa is the worlds second most unequal country. I come from Brazil, the
worlds most unequal country, and I admire how the South African Constitutional
Court has inspired the progress of human rights throughout the world."

A hundred and ten years ago, it was said here that law is defined by the bad man,
who cares solely about how to avoid being thrown in jail. Apologies to Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes,* but our generation defines law by the good man. The
German Constitution emphasizes human dignity, in a continuing repudiation of
Nazism. The South African Constitution promises equality, in a continuing
repudiation of apartheid. The Philippine Constitution, a continuing repudiation of
the Marcos dictatorship, promises social justice and the Philippine ideal that he
who has less in life should have more in law." Even in the United States, the
younger Fourteenth Amendment set the stage for the end of segregation.

Countless other developing countries in Asia and Africa have constitutionalized a

broad array of socioeconomic and environmental rights. We have thus outgrown the
concept of law as passive restraint. Rather, law is now aspiration, law is now the
catalyst that seeks to realize the full human potential of billions of good men
brought low only by poverty, bigotry, oppression, and conflict.

The good mans primacy is felt just as strongly in international law. Modern
instruments, even those lacking binding force, have bolstered our concepts of rights,
from economic rights to indigenous peoples rights to the rights of the child. The
vigor seen in todays expansive constitutions must find its way into these
international challenges. How can rights to biodiversity be asserted given an
intellectual property regime that allows Indian basmati rice to be patented in a key
export market? How can rights to environment become reality given developing
countries with large populations and meager resources? How must the right to labor
of migrant workers be protected given their vulnerability to countless abuses?

At the least, law must enable nations to dialogue on equal terms. At present, for
example, the Filipino people are indignant that a United States Marine appealing his
conviction for rape is detained not in a Philippine jail, but in the United States
embassy. My people cannot reconcile this affront with the fact that even after our
big white brother Douglas MacArthur retreated from the Philippines,** my country
exhibited the fiercest resistance in the Pacific War.

I cannot deny that our generations issues will be complex, but I can guarantee that
they will never be abstract, not after having a classmate who was an Israeli army
drill sergeant, nor after watching my Chinese and Taiwanese classmates celebrate
the Chinese New Year together, nor after having a classmate chased by gunmen out
of Afghanistan. In fact, when George W. Bushs speechwriter visited, my Iranian
classmate introduced himself, Hi, Im from an Axis of Evil country." And when he
was told that the speech made a distinction between the Iranian government and the
Iranian people, he said thank you and replied, When we call you the Great Satan,
we also make a distinction between the American government and the American
people."

This is how Harvard has changed us. We thank our beloved faculty for raising our
thinking to a higher, broader level. But even the most powerful ideas demand
passion to set them aflame. The passion we ignite today is fueled by a collage of
vignettes that will remind us in this crucible of life that our peers in faraway lands
face the same frustrations, the same nation building ordeals, the same sorrows, and
ultimately, the same shared joys and triumphs.

How do a mere 700 change the world, even with overpriced Harvard diplomas?
Before a battle in Chinas Spring and Autumn Period, the legendary King Gou Jian
of Yue was presented with fine wine. He ordered his troops to stand beside a river,
and poured the wine into it. He ordered them to drink from the river and share his
gift. A bottle of wine cannot flavor a river, but the gesture so emboldened his army
that they won a great victory. We of the Class of 2007 shall flavor this earth,
whether we be vodka, champagne, pisco sour, caipirinha, tequila, sake, Irish stout,
or Philippine lambanog.

Thus, my friends and this includes our American classmates who will soon lead
the worlds lone superpower let us transcend our individual nationalities and
advance law as the law of the good man in the international order. In this, let us
affirm that we are citizens of the world. Maraming salamat po, at mabuhay kayong
lahat.*** Thank you and long live you all.