A Grade 12 student who dreams of becoming a lawyer shared that one thing he has done in his life “worth remembering” was sending letters to his legal idols this year.
Hans Aleksi Kasilag, a student journalist pursuing the Humanities and Social Sciences strand at a senior high school in Quezon Province, answered a question sent to him in CuriousCat, an anonymous question-and-answer social networking site.
Responding to a user who asked what he has “done lately that is worth remembering,” Kasilag answered: “Writing letters to my legal idols.”
He previously caught the media’s attention when he wrote letters to human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero and Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Caguioa.
Kasilag also penned a letter to Vice President Leni Robredo who replied through a correspondence. This was pinned on the former’s Twitter account.
Diokno in September shared that the student wrote to him to seek advice for aspiring lawyers.
The human rights lawyer told Kasilag to “be dedicated,” work on his “speaking and writing skills” and to “always keep in mind what the law is for.”
“This, perhaps, is the best way to prepare for the legal profession: to always do what is right and fair, and to convince others to do the same,” Diokno said.
He added that some of his advice to Kasilag and to other aspiring lawyers was passed on to him by his father, the late senator Jose Diokno, who is regarded as “the father of human rights advocacy” in the country.
Escudero likewise responded to Kasilag’s letter in September.
The provincial governor told him that being a lawyer means having the “opportunity to give voice to the voiceless and to stand up for those who are wronged.”
“Being a lawyer is not just about prestige and glam. When you become a lawyer, you are in a position to help individuals, groups, and organizations, especially those who are oppressed and abused,” Escudero wrote.
Caguioa also gave Kasilag an advice and urged him to hold on to three things: “Grit”, “excellence” and “heart.”
“I have so far learned that we do not go into meaningful professions for self-interests, although surely, we all may have started there. I’ve found that we eventually must find a cause outside of ourselves to fight for, a reason beyond our own desires to believe,” the magistrate wrote.
“My only hope is that your generation finds it sooner, and that you muster the quiet courage and resilient hope to pursue it,” Caguioa added.
In her message, Robredo told Kasilag to remember that being a lawyer is to be a “nation-builder and a champion for what is right and just.”
“Know that every step—every lesson, every book, every truth you assert, every inch you are able to push back against injustice—is a step closer to helping this country move forward,” the vice president said.
“When the path seems too difficult, remember that you were made for these times—to pave a better normal for our country; one that is humane, and fair, and just,” Robredo added.
Aside from his dreams to become a lawyer someday, Kasilag shared on Twitter that he also hopes to become a Supreme Court justice. He retweeted a post that featured the tweets of four personalities who declared their dreams and later made them come true.
The posts, compiled by physician Jai Cabajar, featured tweets of Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, television personality Maine Mendoza and Filipino-American model Kelsey Merritt.
It also featured a Facebook status from internet personality Macoy Dubs or Mark Averilla.
“Proclaim niyo lang pangarap niyo,” Cabajar wrote on Monday. His post has since gone viral with more than 85,000 likes, 7,500 retweets and 37,500 quote retweets as of this writing.
Wurtzbach previously tweeted of promising to earn the Miss Universe crown for the Philippines while Merritt claimed of walking in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which she did in 2018.
Mendoza also expressed that she found actor Arjo Atayde a “cutie,” years before they officially became a couple.
Averilla, who is now a content creator and a host of a noontime show, likewise claimed of appearing on television as “one of the sought-after comedians.”
READ: ‘Nag-manifest’: Macoy Dubs makes ‘you’ll see me on TV’ post come true after 2 years
Two years later, he is now a host of TV5 Network’s “Laugh Out Loud” alongside Billy Crawford, Alex Gonzaga, Bayani Agbayani, K Brosas, KC Montero and Wacky Kiray.