The judge is free and contented

Friday, December 30, 2011

HE CUTS a dapper figure at the Hall of Justice and this 61-year-old family judge is enjoying his weekends savoring a life that is free and single.

“There was never really a serious effort of getting married,” he quipped, admitting that he did have relationships before but is now contented as he is. He exerts no effort to find that other half, at all.

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“I am not a very serious person. I found out that taking life easy is the key to a peaceful life,” he said, which is opposite of what people would think judges are.

He takes everything in stride, he said, and this makes for a satisfying life.

“Despite my work, I can still laugh. I am not consumed with my work because I live a stress-free life,” he said.

He used to hang out a lot with his friends, but now, he prefers to spend his weekends in his farm.

“So after work every Friday, I proceed to the farm and come back home Sunday afternoon,” Ibarreta said.

He built a farmhouse there in 2005 and thus can stay the whole weekend enjoying the quiet life and savoring the fruits of his “hard work and sacrifice.”

He believes that he has earned people’s trust and respect as a judge because he treats both accused and complainants fairly, saying not all accused are guilty and not all complainants are real victims.

Ibarreta took up law in Ateneo de Manila after graduating in college in Ateneo de Davao in 1970.

After passing the bar, he worked at the legal office in the Office of the President from 1975 to 1987. He was a solicitor general from 1986 to 1987 and had his private practice for a year in Manila.

He became presiding judge of the Municipal Trial Court in Carmen-Sto. Tomas in 1989.

“The opportunity to be appointed just came, so I accepted it,” he said.

After six years of serving justice to Davao del Norte residents, he was appointed as the presiding judge of RTC Branch 8, one of the three family courts in Davao City, which he serves until the present.

He said the procedure in a municipal court and family court is almost the same so he did not need much adjustment with the transfer.

He describes himself as a man who “never cries over spilled milk.” He said whatever life has for him; he accepts it as it is.

“You play with the cards that you are dealt with,” he said.

This carries him even through the bad times, he said, because in those bad times, there could have been worse.

It is in the same perspective that he views his bachelorhood.

“If destiny allows, accept it, but if not, why worry about it?” he said, but was quick to add, “Look at me, I do not worry of sending children to school neither hurrying home for a family dinner.”

He said this is not about being selfish but being satisfied with what fate has handed him.