Ruby Tower

In 1968, an intensity 7 earthquake rocked Manila causing the collapse of Ruby Tower in Binondo,

killing hundreds of people.

The Ruby Tower collapse served as an eye opener in disaster management. Later that year, the

Marcos administration established the National Committee on Disaster Operation which eventually

evolved as the Camp Aguinaldo-based Office of Civil Defense.

Next came the National Disaster Control Center, the forerunner of the National Disaster

Coordinating Council, the highest policy making body on disasters in the country.

The earthquake’s epicenter was located in Casiguran,Quezon (now part of Aurora province). The

earthquake of 1969 is deemed as the most destructive quake in the Philippines prior to July 1990

Luzon killer earthquake that spawned a tsunami that reached as far as Japan.

Philippine Bar Association

The Philippine Bar Association is the oldest voluntary national organization of lawyers in the

Philippines. It traces its roots to the Colegio de Abogados de Filipinas organized on April 8,

1891 and the bar association organized by American lawyers in the Philippines in 1900.

The Colegio de Abogados de Filipinas consisted of all lawyers residing in Manila and those

mentioned in Sections 468 and 469 of the Royal Decree of January 5, 1891. The

organizational meeting was held at the Audiencia building under the presidency of

Magistrado Eduardo de Orduna of the Audiencia de Manila. Jose Juan de Icaza, who was

among those elected to the first executive board, was appointed Decano by the Gobernador

Heneral. Shortly after organization, the Colegio adopted its estatutos which, among other

purposes, incorporated the association and granted it juridical personality and quasi-judicial

powers, and created a tribunal to try and discipline its members for offenses punishable with

reprimand, fine, or expulsion.

During the Philippine Revolution that started in 1896, many members of the Colegio joined

the revolutionary movement. Apolinario Mabini, a Colegio member, became known as the

brains of the Philippine Revolution. After the revolution, Felipe Calderon, who drafted the

Malolos Constitution, reorganized the Colegio de Abogados de Filipinas.

The American occupation of the Philippines brought American lawyers to the country in

1900. They organized themselves into an association similar to the American Bar

Association.

On June 24, 1904 under the inspiration of Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano, the Colegio de

Abogados de Filipinas and the association of American lawyers in the Philippines merged to

form the Philippine Bar Association. An American, Thomas L. Hartigan, was elected as the

first president of the PBA. Distinguished members of the PBA at that time included Felipe

Calderon, Gregorio Araneta, Felipe Buencamino, Rafael Del Pan, Ramon Diokno, and Juan

Sumulong.

The split in the ranks of the PBA in 1913 due to difference of opinion regarding the Judiciary

Act was patched up in 1917. The PBA was reorganized and was governed by an executive

board of eleven (11) members who elected the president, two vice presidents, a secretary,

and a treasurer.

Jose Abad Santos was elected President of the PBA in 1924 and was re-elected several

times. He was appointed Secretary of Justice, and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

On May 2, 1942, he was executed by the Japanese for refusing collaboration. The fall of

Intramuros on February 24, 1945 destroyed the PBA building at Aduana and Arzobispo

Streets.

On August 1, 1946, upon proposal of the PBA, the Department of Justice issued

Administrative Order No. 162 adopting the Canons of Judicial Ethics, patterned after the

Canons of Judicial Ethics of the American Bar Association.

On March 27, 1958 the Philippine Bar Association was formally incorporated as the direct

successor of the Colegio de Abogados de Filipinas. The incorporators were: Federico Agrava,

Jesus G. Barrera, Francisco T. Dalupan, Enrique M. Fernando, Ricardo C. Lacson, Martin B.

Laurea, Manuel Lim, Leoncio B. Monzon, Francisco Ortigas, Jr., Roman Ozaeta, Claro M.

Recto, J.B.L. Reyes, Jovito R. Salonga, Lorenzo M. Tanada, and Jorge B. Vargas.

On September 19, 1959 President Carlos P. Garcia proclaimed September 19 every year as

Law Day. Since then the PBA celebrates and holds its induction of officers on Law Day.

The City of Manila donated to the PBA its building site in 1965. The postwar PBA building was

constructed in 1966 but the earthquake in Manila in 1968 destroyed the building.

The PBA joined the nation in condemning the proclamation of martial law in 1972, mourning

the assassination of Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. on August 21, 1983, and welcoming the

return of democracy on February 25, 1986. During martial law, the PBA investigated various

violations of human rights and successfully won cases for the release of many detainees.

On September 8, 1988, the PBA transferred to its present Makati office.

The PBA opposed moves to amend the Philippine Constitution. In 2001, some officers and

members of the PBA actively participated in the prosecution of the impeachment case

against the incumbent President.

On Law Day, September 19, 2003, the PBA rallied everyone to “Let the Supreme Court

Remain Supreme and The Rule of Law Continue to Rule”. The PBA is one of the petitioners

that questioned the second impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide,

Jr. On November 10, 2003, the Supreme Court declared the second impeachment complaint

unconstitutional.

The PBA condemned the bestial massacre in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009 of 58

people (mostly women, two of them female lawyers, and some journalists) and called on the

authorities to punish the murderers.

The PBA was the lead organization that questioned the “midnight appointments” before the

automated elections on May 10, 2010.

The PBA commended the Senate, sitting as an Impeachment Court under the fair and firm

leadership of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, for its May 29, 2012 historic decision

(voting 20 for, 3 against) to remove from office the Chief Justice.

The PBA continues its constant watch to uphold the Rule of Law.