FOR almost five years, he was at the forefront of the government?s long-running, and often unsuccessful, fight against corruption in public office.

But after falling ill due to the sheer pressure and workload at the Office of the Ombudsman, Simeon Marcelo left public service and returned to private practice in one of the most influential law firms in the country, the Villaraza Cruz Marcelo and Angangco law firm, known simply as The Firm.

If he thought that life in the private sector would be a walk in the park, however, he could not be more wrong.

?We have entered a critical time in our country?s history,? Marcelo said in an interview at The Firm?s office in the infamous LTA Building along Perea St. in Makati City.

Speaking with what seems like a newfound passion, he added that the danger the country faces now is that of a failure of elections.

?If that happens, the rule of law will disappear,? he said. ?For sure, the military will step in in a situation like that and they might not let go this time.?

By Marcelo?s own admission, this sudden surge of passion to reenter the debate about the country?s future was not something he embraced with open arms, given his recent bouts with a nagging illness.

?They call it chronic fatigue syndrome [CFS],? he said. ?The problem with this is that I?ve lost the ability to track my fatigue level.?

His illness developed during his stint heading the Office of the Ombudsman ? a constitutionally-independent agency tasked with rooting out corruption among government officials.

He recalls working on building up cases against suspected corrupt officials until the break of dawn, and even going on for days on end with little or no sleep.

?Sometimes, I?d sleep for only three hours then get back to work,? he said. ?You couldn?t let it go because they were important cases.?

One day, he said, he was invited to deliver a speech to lawyers at a hotel in Makati, when he simply blacked out due to fatigue.

?I was standing on the rostrum and my mind went blank,? Marcelo said. ?I didn?t know what to say or do.?

He recalls being saved in time by his executive assistant, who handed him his speech (which he forgot at the table), and whispered to him that it was time to deliver his statement.

After that, he said, he knew he had to seek medical help.

Soon after being diagnosed with CFS in 2005, he decided to return to the private sector and the law firm which he helped found.

?I took a sabbatical in 2006 to recover from my sickness and spend time with my kids,? he said, adding that it was a difficult change of pace necessary to preserve his health. ?My body is not as strong as it was before. I?m already in my 50s, so it?s also part of andropause.?

Marcelo relishes his time back at the Villaraza law firm, especially after its principal partners decided to rebrand and reorient the organization as ?CVC Law,? after its well-publicized falling out with its former top client, the Macapagal-Arroyo family.

He took on high-profile corporate cases like the fight between the Lopez family and the Government Service Insurance System for control of the Manila Electric Co.

?Here, we have the best resources,? he said. ?The people we hire are always from the top of their class.?

It?s a stark contrast to when Marcelo first stepped into the Office of the Ombudsman, where the competency level was low. Yet his voice betrays a firm, steely conviction whenever he speaks about his difficult days as a public servant, first as the country?s Solicitor General and then as the Ombudsman chief.

By the way things look, the former graft buster will soon be back at the forefront of public issues.

Recently, Marcelo was elected president of the Philippine Bar Association (PBA), the country?s oldest private lawyers? group.

?This means I?m going to go high profile again,? he said, in a tone that blended traces of exasperation and excitement. ?I?ve been trying to avoid that to preserve my health. I?ve been trying to just dispense advice.

?But a more active role can?t be avoided anymore,? he added ?Especially in this coming elections when we really have to take a high profile.?

According to Marcelo, he isn?t worried about electoral fraud, although the possibility is never far from his mind.

?The problem really is the possibility of a failure of elections,? he said. ?It is a low-risk, extreme impact event.

?In that movie ?Deep Impact,? they called the phenomenon [of a large asteroid hitting Earth] an ELE, an extinction-level event,? he said with a chuckle. ?If a failure of elections happens here, it will be like an asteroid strike: Democracy will be wiped out.?

Marcelo fears that a failure of elections will cause the military to step in to restore political order, as they often have in other countries with fragile democracies.

?They might come in and they might stay there,? he said. ?They will run the country for a long time like what happened in Pakistan and some countries in South America. Then it will be very hard for democratic institutions to be reborn and become strong.?

In particular, he is worried about the country?s upcoming inaugural experience with automated elections. He explained that in most organizations that shift to automated processes, these are implemented via pilot testing or parallel runs.

For next year?s political exercise, however, no such activities will be conducted by the Commission on Elections, leaving a very narrow margin for error that Marcelo fears will be exploited by vested interests.

?It?s a scary scenario,? he said. ?Even assuming that there are no sinister forces who will disrupt elections, even a 10 percent error in voting could cause a failure of elections.

?The scenario is more real ? and more worrisome ? than most people think,? he added.

Because of this, Marcelo has mobilized the PBA into action to head off that possibility.

?We?re studying the situation closely and we?re getting ready to make proposals to the Comelec and the Senate to prepare for various scenarios,? he said. ?Preparations have to be made before the elections, while things are still relatively quiet.?

His organization has also joined forces with media organizations like The Philippine Daily Inquirer, among others, to help educate the public about the upcoming polls.

?Public awareness is one of our most potent allies,? Marcelo said.

It is a daunting task, given the gravity of the situation, and this early, Marcelo is already worried about the impact it will have on his still fragile health.

The former graft buster-turned-election crusader hopes that he will be able to handle the stress with greater discipline as well as the support of his family.

?I have little choice here,? he said grimly. ?The stakes for all of us are high. The time to act is now.? ?