LEGALLY ARTISTIC, ARTISTICALLY LEGAL

By Generoso Ignacio S. Jacinto 

After waiting for a couple of minutes, you are finally seated by the lady in a corner with a table good for two people. As you sit and make yourself comfortable, you look around and try to drink in your surroundings. A quiet coffee shop in Shang, cosy in a sense, very conducive to studying, you think. As you look around more, you see that the seats are mostly occupied by either solitary students poring through thick books, or corporate looking gentlemen discussing matters over a cup of coffee.  You take note of these details and try to recall the few times you have met the gentleman you will be interviewing. It seems to meet your expectation of a lawyer. He would most likely want to work in a silent place as he finishes his work.

You try to keep the mindset that you will be meeting this person in a totally different perspective. This time, your meeting won’t be personal. This time, it will be purely professional. Suddenly, you hear someone call your name. You turn around and see a man with arms outstretched, smiling at you. So much for the “mindset” you wanted to keep. As you both sit down, you look at him closely. He does not exactly meet your professor’s “he must be a serious person” theory. But then you think looks can be deceiving. It doesn’t mean that he is wearing a bright colored polo shirt and rubber shoes, he isn’t serious. Right? There are a thousand reasons why he chose to wear that certain outfit for this interview. You shake away these thoughts and try once more to keep a clear head on who you are interviewing. He is, after all, Atty. FD Nicolas B. Pichay, a lawyer and a creative writer at the same time.

Back when you were considering who to interview for this feature article, Atty. Nick already came into your mind. You thought back then that he would be a good person to feature in the field of arts and culture. You even had the perfect angle for your article: how a person practicing a very serious profession such as law can manage to be at the same time a multi-awarded creative writer, creating literary pieces which are not at all that serious. It seems very paradoxical, and you wanted to be the one to tell the world his secret. But then you thought, you probably have to know more about him before his lawyer and creative writer phase to fully understand how he managed to harmonize both fields.

BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

You take note that Atty. Nick is very open about his childhood. He said that although originally from Linay, Zamboanga (where his family moved from the Ilocos region), he grew up with his Tiyang Caring, the sister of his father, in Metro Manila. He was sent to Manila, despite being far away from Zamboanga in the 1960s, so that he will not contract the virus that spread like an epidemic at that time. Eventually, his stay with his Tiyang Caring became more permanent, with him jokingly saying that his Tiyang and other relatives did not want to return him anymore.

In his elementary years, he studied at San Beda College. He said that early on, his teachers noticed that he had a penchant for writing. They encouraged him to write and join contests, some of which he won. Looking back to the interview, these early wins of Atty. Nick somehow foreshadowed how he would eventually be a multi-awarded creative writer. These wins made him feel both happy and proud. But he said that other than writing a lot back in elementary, he also learned to read more. “A lot of teachers (made me) interested in reading kasi writing and reading goes together. If you read a lot then most likely you will also like to write as a form of self expression” he said.

Going to the Philippine High School for the Arts in Makiling came as a surprise to his Tiyang Caring. “It came as a surprise when he showed us that he was accepted in the Philippine High School for the Arts as a scholar of then First Lady Imelda Marcos” she said when you interviewed her. It tallies with what he said earlier on how he auditioned to enter the prestigious high school without informing anyone in his family, especially his Tiyang Caring. You take note of the fact that he studied in a high school dedicated to the arts and surmise that this is probably one of the early indications of his inclination to creative writing.

After graduating from the Philippine High School for the Arts, he then moved on to study at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he initially took Theater Arts as a scholar of Dr. Lucrecia Kasilag. “(But) Even as I was taking up theatre, my Tiyang Caring kept saying ‘you should take something else because you will not be able to live being a writer alone’” said Atty. Nick. Asked later on why, as Atty. Nick fondly calls her, Tiyang Caring said so, she said “I hope nobody gets offended with what I will say, (but) writers do not rise financially compared to other professionals”. And so he heeded his Tiyang Caring’s call and took up units in Political Science. You thought that this could be another sign, this time for his inclination towards law. But you are later on disappointed after learning that he just took up units in Political Science since “it was the most convenient (course to take)”. You sigh in desperation, wondering if there was any indication ever that he would eventually become a lawyer.

As if in response to your mental question, Atty. Nick starts narrating how he eventually got into law school. He told you that he initially did not want to go to law. He did not personally know what a lawyer did, and if he wanted to do what lawyers did. “When you’re young naman you do not know what to do. You think you just want to take a vacation”. But his Tiyang Caring did not stop nagging him to take up law. He eventually took the Law Aptitude Exam (LAE) for the UP College of Law, and passed.  He said that after passing the LAE he thought his Tiyang Caring would eventually stop nagging him and allow him not to take up law. “(But) they said you should go to the first year law class because can you imagine a lot of people want to be a lawyer and take up law in UP but they didn’t pass and you passed and if you pass that chance it is nakaka-sayang” said members of his family. With this in mind, he said, he took up first year, striking an agreement with his family that if he did not like law school, he could quit. “I didn’t like (law) and they kept saying ‘No no no you just continue!’ until finally I sort of enjoyed it already, graduated, took the bar, and became a lawyer!”

THE LAWYER

After learning some of the important details of his early life, you now move on to asking Atty. Nick more about his career as a lawyer. You find out that he is currently working at the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines as the Service Chief of the Legislative Research Service. His task, which you found on the website of the Senate, includes conducting “researches and studies on major legislation, policy issues, and other specific legislative concerns of the Senate”. You also took note of the fact that his office “prepares opinions, analyses, briefing papers, and other forms of technical research”, which you immediately linked to his creative writing.

But before his current career at the Senate, Atty. Nick already worked as part of former Senator Edgardo Angara’s legislative staff in the 1990s. In an interview with Director Joy Yuzon, a co-worker and former classmate of Atty. Nick, you learned more about his work ethic as a lawyer.

She told you that when they first worked together, Atty. Nick was a new lawyer back then, tasked to attend committee hearings, do research, and prepare committee reports for the committees Sen. Angara chaired. She was familiar with Atty. Nick’s creative side, having seen him as a student back in their law days. Although serious in his studies as a lawyer, he still had a light side, she recalls, sharing a memory of Atty. Nick during “Malcolm Madness”, where law students had an opportunity to spoof their professors. She noted that Atty. Nick turned out memorable reworked covers and skits during this time, bringing out his creativeness. She recalled that although Atty. Nick took a break from his Senate job, she still bumped into him at the National Center for Culture and the Arts where he was a consultant, a testament to his affinity to the arts.

He then worked as an Intellectual Property Rights lawyer. He saw this phase of his life as one of the challenging parts of being a lawyer. Going after counterfeiters naturally entailed many dangers to his life. He naturally became stressed due to these numerous death threats, which eventually led to him temporarily leaving his profession as a lawyer to recuperate from his heart bypass and  cancer procedures. “Too much stress is harmful” he said.

After his narration of his work as a lawyer, you ask him what he finds most fulfilling as a lawyer. “A lot of things in our society are cropped up by law. So if you know the law and you know how to reason using the law (it’s called legal logic), you will not only understand how the world works but you will also be able to make it to move in the way you want it to move”. Intrigued with his answer, you move on to explore the lighter side of Atty. Nick.

CREATIVITY AT WORK

Moving on to discover Atty. Nick’s creative side as a writer, he quoted his former mentor Virgilio Almario, saying “the history of poetry is a history of breaking out”. You think that this quote is very appropriate since in order to create works that are not at all serious, one must breakout from all forms of normality and feed in fun to work.

You learn that he tries to write both in English and Filipino, being proficient in both languages. He even tells you that given the chance, he would even write in Ilocano and Bisaya, should he learn to write in either dialect. He tries to be as diverse as possible in his works, trying to transcend all classes of potential audiences.

When you asked him what kind of literary pieces he writes, he said that it is mostly for theatre and poetry. He is quick however, to add that not everything he writes, he shares to everyone. “Some of my writings I keep to myself, some I share to some friends only, some you share it with your FB or blog. I think it is ingrained in me that when there is something I want to talk about I write it”. Asked what inspires him in writing, he replies “A lot of stuff inspires me, sometimes I read the newspaper and I say ‘oh this makes a good play’ or sometimes something happens to me on that particular day, I’m sad or I’m happy or I’m anxious then I have this urge to write it”. He stresses that a creative writer cannot rely on inspiration to work, saying that “sometimes you don’t accomplish much kasi ‘di ba inspiration does not come on a regular basis, sometimes it may come once a year, twice a month, sometimes none at all”.

MERGING THE TWO

Researching on the works of Atty. Nick, you chanced upon a poem of his entitled ”Tanaw Mula sa Court of Appeals”. You thought it sounded a bit related to law and decided to ask him more about it. And true enough, that particular poem came about because of his experience at the Court of Appeals. “It tackles the separation of classes, parang on one hand there is this justice system from the point of view of someone who is trying to figure out what is happening by just looking at the view and finding how unjust the ordinary and normal life is parang you don’t have to look far to encounter an injustice because right outside the window of the Court of Appeals you already find an injustice happening” he said, explaining how his perspective of law and justice affected the way he formulated his poem.

You also find out that it is not just law that has an impact on his creative writing. Even the arts help him in his job as a lawyer. The example he gives to you is the process of writing his court pleadings. He says to you that he thinks of it in terms of play production. “Pre-trial is actually pre-production and then trial is actually production and then pleading is actually post-production.so you know I always try to make both of them make sense by incorporating what I know from one field to another”.

“The legal profession has provided me with a lens by which to view the world” he said. According to Atty. Nick, being a lawyer provides him with a different perspective, especially when writing literary pieces.

FITTING THE PUZZLE

What makes Atty. Nick renowned in the literary world is the fact that he is a Palanca Awards Hall of Famer. You are not really familiar what this means, and so you ask him more about it. He explains to you that the Palanca Awards is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards a writer can ever get. To be awarded is like a rite of recognition to the literary world. “But to win the Palanca is not the challenge. It is being inducted in the Hall of Fame”. You asked him more about it since it sounded a bit intriguing. He further explained that to be part of the Hall of Fame, one must win at least five first prize Palancas, a testament of one’s adeptness in creating literary masterpieces.

You immediately followed up on his creating literary masterpieces by asking what extremes he reaches when creating works. For him, an extreme he would consider is playing with the audience’s emotions, confusing the viewers which emotion must be felt in certain parts of his plays. “But you never really know what extremes you have reached yet, since you cannot define exactly what an extreme is”. You further ask him if he thinks his tackling diverse topics in his writings are a bit risqué, and he replies that in writing, you really have to sometimes breakout from the norms.

You discover that he is of the ideology that literary pieces must be used to express certain ideas. He cautions writers, however, that if they are poorly written, then they fail as literature. “Practice, push yourself until you know that you have done your best. It is hard work, writing is hard. It cannot be a past time, it is not a hobby, you have to keep on doing it if you want to be a writer” says Atty. Nick when asked to give a message to aspiring writers.

After a few more minutes of chatting after your interview, you finally part ways. But in your parting, you know that your work isn’t over yet. You know deep down that there is still something more to Atty. Nick. It doesn’t seem complete.

BEYOND LAW AND WRITING

According to his Tiyang Caring, Atty. Nick is a totally different person outside his work. Although you cannot disturb him when he is working, even to give him food, the few times he has time to spare, he spends it with her. “He stays with me for a whole day at the mall which pleases my barkada and confessor, who says I am very blessed” says his Tiyang Caring.

His Tiyang Caring says he has shown that he can work both law and the arts together, and so she believes she has no regrets whatsoever in raising him. Director Yuzon shares the same sentiment on how Atty. Nick balances law and creative writing, saying “His work ethic as a lawyer and creative writing method complement each other.  In my humble opinion, it’s a formula that works well and produces well-written literary pieces”.

He admitted to you that early on he tried separating his persona as that of a lawyer and that of a creative writer. He eventually saw that it is best to incorporate both into one personality, using Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an example of whom he does not want to be.

You asked him then who he is. And he answers you with a smile: “I believe I am a creative lawyer”.

**All quotes have been printed in toto

**The author would like to thank the following for graciously answering the interview questions:

      Atty. Nicolas Pichay, the subject of this feature article,

      Ms. Caridad Pichay, his loving tiyang, and

      Director Joy Yuzon, co-worker at the Senate and former classmate