When 61-year-old Judge Crispin B. Bravo announced his early retirement to his Metropolitan Trial Court staff just before the end of 2006 he didn't know that 21 members of his legal staff, lawyers and other judges would sign a petition asking him to reconsider.

"Our years of a wholesome but strict professional relationship tempered by your strong faith in God has ... [taught us to be] potent but effective dispensers of justice," they stated in the petition. The residents of Manila agree, calling Judge Bravo a man of integrity.

A quick scan of Judge Bravo's office reveals that he is not shy about his faith. Posters and hand-written statements reflecting his Seventh-day Adventist faith dot the walls. A poster from last year's movie, "Superman Returns" has Bravo's comment, "[it is] only in God that you can be a Superman." Next to it is a Tell the World poster, easily recognizable by any Adventist, as one of the vision-values of the Adventist church.

"The Word of God is the only power and authority existing on earth," he wrote on another poster, which he signed, "Crispin B. Bravo: spiritual revolutionary."

"As a judge, I don't have the power. The only power is with God. That's what I tell the people," he responded when questioned about his public declarations of his faith. His beliefs are not altogether foreign in a country where separation of the religious and secular public realms is at best tenuous.

Standing behind a seven-inch high stack of court papers and a Bible, Bravo explained that "as a judge in the city of Manila I am compelled by the law. I have no option but to implement the law."

Bravo explained that he is guided in his profession by God's Word when "as a judge, I have discretion to make decisions in application of the law ... without whims or capriciousness."

This seemingly puzzling fusion of religious values and the civil law was for Bravo clearly explained by Jesus in the Gospels [Luke 12:17 NIV] when He said to "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

Judge Bravo does, however, factor forgiveness into his courtroom decisions. "If there is repentance; if I see that the victim is forgiving the offender, as a judge I should not be a barrier," he explained.

Bravo said the idea of forgiveness is what led him to get involved with his church's prison ministry outreach.

Since becoming a Seventh-day Adventist in 1999, Bravo has listened to numerous sermons and actively participated in spiritual discussions and Bible readings. A few years later, in 2004, he "came to realize that I could preach also, and spread the gospel of God. I could go into jail[s] and also preach the Word of God there. It was a test and a challenge to my personal spiritual life."

One Saturday afternoon Bravo went to the Caloocan City jail alone. "I asked permission to preach as a member of my church, but I also wrote a letter to the city mayor that if something happened to me, the city would have no liability should a prisoner inflict physical harm on me," he reminisced.

At least 100 inmates gathered in the chapel that Saturday. "For 30 minutes I delivered my message and when I ended, I had this tremendous feeling," he said. He explained that even though a judge, studying the Bible provided a way for him to connect with the prisoners.

The prisoners invited him back the next Sabbath. "[They] sat down, listened, observed and became friendly. Later, dialogues began and a formal Bible-study class was organized." On December 17, 2005, 66 inmates were baptized.

Now that he has retired, Judge Bravo plans to become more involved with personal ministry activities in his local church. That's if the Supreme Court reverses its approval for Bravo's optional retirement. Even though he has completed his five-year term of service and is free to retire, the Supreme Court may require Bravo to continue on due to overwhelming support for the petition. "It's all now up to their verdict," Bravo agreed.

His staff calls it a "premature retirement" that will result in a "tremendous loss to the judiciary ..." "We don't want him to go," said one of the lawyers in the four-floor office of the Metropolitan Trial Court of Manila.

For Bravo, if his retirement is upheld, his departure from the trial court will not mark a break with the legal profession. He plans to "offer legal services to human rights victims suspected as enemy of the state without strong evidence."

Judge Bravo also plans to be more involved with the plight of the poor. "The church is not [fully] spiritual if it is not helping poor people," he said.