I read your column the Sydney Connection by Romy Capilitan (Aug. 21) about your understanding of the death of Atty. Archer Baldwin Martinez. I was appalled and disgusted at your totally unwarranted and incredibly misconceived description of Atty. Martinez as being one of the attorneys that you described as “Only the high and mighty can hire the bright and talented lawyers. The exorbitant fees are beyond the reach of ordinary citizens”.
Since you have apparently never met Atty. Archer nor bothered to inquire about his reputation not only as an attorney but as a real person, I wonder what prompted you to smear his name with such malice. What made you decide to tar his reputation with the brush of black paint that other lawyers should wear? Do you think that all lawyers are the same?
I personally know him because he wrote my Last Will and Testament. I am not rich and barely even middle class in income yet he wrote (and re-wrote three times) my will and charged me less than it would cost to go to the dentist.
He was kind, considerate and patient with me and my forgetfulness each time I met him in his pleasant but simple office which reeked not of wealth or splendor but just simple dignity.
And I was not the only ordinary person there. Four other people, two of whom could only be considered on the marginal side of the income scale, waited patiently on simple and non-ostentatious couches to see him after me.
Atty. Martinez was patient, pleasant and kind, truly a gentleman, someone you felt comfortable and fortunate to meet in these times of the chaos and turbulence seen in even small cities such as Dumaguete where “gentleness” is no longer common.
So I would ask that you do your homework and inquire about some one’s real reputation before using the majesty of your journalistic brush to tar another person’s name without even bothering to check on the facts of that person’s life and how he lived it.
Writing without checking on facts does very poor service to not only your own but also to the reputation of all other people working as journalists (whether professional or just recreational in that profession).
You have tarred the name of a very good, honest and decent man and in so doing, have done a disservice to all people who regularly write in newspapers like you.
With dismay at your display of great dishonor, I am
Miriam J. Davis
Swine Nutrition consultant
Permanent Resident of the Philippines since 1975
