Atty. Luke Espiritu on Frank Chavez
REMEMBERING FRANK CHAVEZ Atty. Luke Espiritu I suspect that underneath that veneer of a tough, uncompromising, even harsh, man, Frank Chavez is a person with a soft heart. While an exacting taskmaster, who minces no words to rebuke mediocrity, he carefully, almost maternally, cultivates talent. To anyone who underestimates my skills because of my diminutive size or my humble bearing (a misjudgment to which I am perpetually condemned), I can proudly retort: Frank Chavez believed in me. To this day that is the source of my confidence as a lawyer; a legacy from the legend, from the master of the craft that no one can take. This dashing, fearsome image of an indestructible fighter, a scourge of corrupt politicians, judges and prosecutors; the one who confronted Dick Gordon at the Senate with a sharp barb, “I would rather be declared in contempt of the Senate than be declared in contempt of justice,” was human after all, not only in passing away but in life. This same warrior wa