Former Solicitor General Estelito “Titong” Mendoza, dubbed as “Attorney of Last Resort” and regarded as one of the country’s best legal minds, passed away yesterday at the age of 95.
“I’m a lawyer. I don’t choose what cases I have. Those on the wrong side are most deserving of having lawyers. I’m just doing my job and that’s what I have been trained for. I find great satisfaction performing my duty because I contribute to the administration of justice. I can assure you that I win my cases because I work hard,” said Mendoza in a 2010 interview with GMA News Online.
Mendoza served as chief counsel of former President Joseph Estrada during his impeachment trial in 2000. He was recently tapped to represent Vice President Sara Duterte in her confidential funds cases.
Mendoza served as a member of the Board of Directors in San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and the Philippine National Bank (PNB).
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile described Mendoza as “one of the best, if not the best lawyer” he met and worked with.
“Today, I lost a very, very dear friend, the complete, brilliant, luminary lawyer…I extended my condolences to his wife , Rosy, and family. I was the godfather to one of his daughters. May he find eternal peace with God in heaven,” said Enrile in his social media post.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro described Mendoza as one of the country’s greatest lawyers.
“I had the honor of working in his law firm as an Associate Attorney in the 80s and 90s. It was because of his mentorship that I learned the ways of the law, and especially standing up for what is right for the Filipino people,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Jesus Falcis noted that many lawyers would ‘lionize and glorify’ Mendoza.
He stressed that a “brilliant lawyer is one who uses his legal acumen to help bring justice, not wreck it.”
“On the strength and power of what is now called “Letters of Estelito Mendoza”, he was able to convince the Supreme Court to revive an already final and executory decision that favored 1,400 illegally retrenched flight attendants of PAL (the FASAP cases). The FASAP cases are one of the most egregious cases of flip-flopping of the Supreme Court in history – thanks to the power of “Letters of Estelito Mendoza”,” said Falcis.