Who is SolGen Lelen Berberabe?
As the political cauldron was boiling last week, the Office of the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to deny the petition of Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to block an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
Dela Rosa’s lawyer Israelito Torreon has questioned anew the legality of the ICC arrest warrant.
Whether the executive department succeeds in arresting the senator based on the ICC warrant, time will tell.
The OSG’s response to the high court was widely praised by legal luminaries, including former Far Eastern University Dean Mel Sta. Maria, who said it was a “masterpiece of coherence, logic, depth, substance and true applicability of international and constitutional laws.”
Part of the OSG’s concluding statement in its “strongly-worded” 83-page comment filed May 16 reads:
At its core, this case asks what the rule of law truly means: whether the law exists merely as a shield for the powerful when accountability finally reaches them, or whether it still carries its highest purpose which is the attainment of justice. The law was never intended to provide an excuse for evasion, nor to become a weapon wielded only by those with power. It exists so that even the voiceless dead, whose cries never reached a courtroom, are not forgotten by justice.
No amount of technical reasoning can disguise the absence of justice. Our conscience will know. The nation will know. History will know.
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The Philippines’ Solicitor General is Darlene Marie Berberabe, a brave Batangueña, whose principles and intellect are as razor-sharp as a balisong.
“The biggest challenge for me always is to make sure that the position of the government is always to respect the rule of law, to respect the Constitution,” she once told me in an interview. “The Solicitor General has the unique role of being also the tribune of the people. You are not a lawyer to any personality, but you are really the lawyer that should discern what is the good. What is good for the country, what is good for the people, what is favoring the public welfare.”
SolGen Berberabe, who introduces herself as “Lelen Berberabe” even in diplomatic functions, is a summa cum laude graduate of Philosophy of the University of the Philippines (UP) and class valedictorian of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy in 1989. She was the first female Philosophy instructor in UP, where she taught for 10 years. She graduated salutatorian of her UP Law class in 1999.
In 2023, she became the third woman to become its dean.
Lelen’s father is former Batangas City Mayor Conrado Berberabe and her mother, Luz Basco, a doctor of Medicine.
“My father was a frustrated lawyer. He is very charismatic, but he didn’t speak straight English. So when we were growing up, he was always being bashed. People were always saying something bad about our dad, that he’s not smart, etc.”
So all five Berberabe children endeavored to excel in school. Even as a child, Lelen was called “Attorney” and she became one.
Her mother Luz, on the other hand, emphasized to her children the importance of being professionals, of passing a licensure exam.
“And because we are promdi, my mother would tell us, ‘You should be professionals. Either you pass the Bar exam or a board exam. You should have a title.’ So that’s why all felt there was a need to prove something,” says Lelen.
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Lelen was an associate lawyer in Baker McKenzie Manila, Philippines with specialization on labor law, before joining Procter & Gamble Philippines, where she was a senior counsel and member of the Leadership Team.
In 2010, President Benigno Aquino III appointed Lelen as the chief executive officer of the Pag-IBIG Fund on the recommendation of Vice President Jejomar Binay, then also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.
“I didn’t know anything about Pag-IBIG Fund. I just had my courage. And then while I was CEO, we were able to double the benefits without increasing the monthly contribution. During our time it was just P100, and at the end of my term, still P100. And we also doubled the housing loan from P3 million to P6 million,” says Lelen.
Lelen is also known for her advocacy of the Samboy Lim law mandating CPR training in all high schools. Her former husband and the father of her only child Jamie Christine, basketball superstar Samboy Lim (their marriage was annulled in 2008), was debilitated by a heart attack in 2014 whose consequences could have been mitigated by CPR. The measure became law in 2016. Samboy passed away in 2023.
From dean to SolGen
“I was elected as UP Law dean in 2023. I really also felt that I never left the academe. I like to read, I like to study. And then during the pandemic, I also enrolled in a PhD (course). I finished my coursework, 33 units. I got a grade of 1.0. And I was telling my daughter Jamie who’s summa cum laude in Mathematics, ‘Anak, look at my grades. Mom is already old and you know, I got a 1.0 average for all of the subjects.”
During her 18-month term as UP Law dean, UP was able to produce a Bar topnotcher in 2024, and six students who went into the top 20.
In May 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Lelen as solicitor general during a major Cabinet reshuffle, making her the second woman after Agnes Devanadera to hold the post. Before her appointment, she was briefly considered as a nominee to the Supreme Court, an appointment she was hoping for.
Her mandate is clear to her.
“The Solicitor General is the defender of the Republic of the Philippines. So when a government office is sued, the Sol Gen is the one that defends it… (But) where the Sol Gen will think that no, this is not what is good for the people, then we will not defend your position.”
Kind & brave
Lelen and Samboy Lim’s marriage was annulled in 2008, and yet when he was debilitated after suffering from cardiac arrest during a practice basketball game in 2014, Lelen took care of him.
Their daughter, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in karate, would say in interviews, “Dad, the SEA Games gold is for you, and the summa cum laude is for Mom.”
Lelen, a former aerobics instructor who loves to bake, starts her day with a brief workout.
“You have to have that version of yourself that it’s that’s pleasing to yourself,” she believes.
Lelen was among PeopleAsia magazine’s “Women of Style and Substance” in 2025. Asked to describe a woman of style and substance, this self-confessed promdi said, “she is one who knows her worth, is not discouraged by her weaknesses, and is accepting of those as facts about herself.”
“She finds her power in knowing her strengths and finds the opportunities as well where she can contribute meaningfully to the community that she’s in. I think that being excellent at what you do is not only limited to your professional life, but I think, even more to your personal life. If you’re kind, if you’re respectful, if those values fill your being, it will show in how you smile. It will show in how you speak to other people. The kindness will really be reflected in your appearance. I always tell my daughter, ‘You can be born with beauty, you can be born with talent and intelligence. But if you’re not kind-hearted, if you don’t show respect for other people, then you’re nothing.’ Your substance really is the character, the kind of character that you develop, that you are strong, you know your power, and that you also empower other people that are around you.”
That is perhaps why she is speaking, through the OSG, on behalf of the “voiceless dead, whose cries never reached a courtroom.”
This kind-hearted Batangueña proves herself a barako when it comes to the rule of law.
