201503 TBT

Transcription

201503 TBT

March 2015
Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino
VICENTE JOYAS
IBP National President
ERWIN ROMMEL HEYROSA
Host Chapter
IBP Cebu Chapter President
JOSE VICENTE OPINION
RAMON ESGUERRA
Host Governor
IBP Governor for Eastern Visayas
Convention Director &
Governor for Southern Luzon
CEBU HOSTS 15TH IBP NATIONAL CONVENTION
An estimated 2,500 lawyers from all over
the Philippines will come together at the
Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino
from March 20-22 when the Integrated
Bar of the Philippines (IBP) holds its 15th
National Convention of Lawyers. This was
announced by IBP National President Vicente M. Joyas.
Convention delegates include the new officers of the IBP’s 85 chapters nationwide
who were elected in synchronized elections on February 28.
This year’s convention theme is “A
Renewal and Revival of National
R e l e v a n c e .”
The biennial
event is an occasion for the
42 year-old national organization of lawyers to take stock of the legal profession
since the last national convention held in
Davao City in 2013.
The convention includes lectures on various issues and concerns affecting the legal
profession. Members who have earned
the units required for the 5th Compliance
of MCLE (Mandatory Continuing Legal
Education) will have the units earned in
the convention credited to the 6th Compliance. (Please refer to the convention
schedule on page 3)
The convention will also see the release
of two new volumes (Vol. 38, No. 1 & 2
and Vol. 38, No. 3 & 4) of the IBP Journal.
- see page 3
What’s inside?
• NEW CIV PRO RULES ------------------------------------------------- page 5
• ASEAN PRO BONO ----------------------------------------------------- page 10
• ADVOCATE’S LIFE: GOV. DENIS HABAWEL -------------------- page 14
IBP Questions
SMARTMATIC Deal
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines
has filed a petition with the Supreme
Court to nullify Comelec Resolution
9922, which approved the PCOS Extended Warranty Proposal submitted
by Smartmatic TIM Corporation without going through public bidding.
In a 28-page petition for certiorari and
prohibition, the IBP said the Comelec
“grossly violated” RA 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act, when
it signed a contract with Smartmatic,
without public bidding, for the repair,
- see page 4
The Bar Tribune
Volume 12
Number 1
Official Publication of the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
15 J. Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Tel. No. 63.2 6313014 • Telefax No. 63.2 9100417
Website: www.ibp.ph • Email: [email protected]
Board of Governors
VICENTE M. JOYAS
Chairman
ROSARIO T. SETIAS-REYES
Co-Chairman &
Governor for Greater Manila
EDWIN O. BETGUEN
Governor for Northern Luzon
MARIA IMELDA Q. TUAZON
Governor for Central Luzon
RAMON S. ESGUERRA
Governor for Southern Luzon
AVELINO V. SALES, JR.
Governor for Bicolandia
JOSE VICENTE R.M. OPINION
Governor for Eastern Visayas
VON LOVEL D. BEDONA
Governor for Western Visayas
DALE BRYAN D. MORDENO
Governor for Eastern Mindanao
NOEL A. BEN
Governor for Western Mindanao
National Officers
VICENTE M. JOYAS
National President
ROSARIO T. SETIAS-REYES
Executive Vice President
NASSER A. MAROHOMSALIC
National Secretary
MARIA TERESITA C. SISON GO
National Treasurer
ALICIA A. RISOS-VIDAL
National Executive Director
MINERVA M.B. AMBROSIO
National Director for Legal Aid
DOMINIC C.M. SOLIS
National Director for Bar Discipline
OLIVIA VELASCO-JACOBA
National Director for Peer Assistance Program
VICTOR C. FERNANDEZ
National Director for Special Concerns
PACIFICO A. AGABIN
Chief Legal Counsel
MERLIN M. MAGALLONA
Editor-in-Chief, IBP Journal
VICTORIA V. LOANZON
Presidential Liaison Officer
MELANO ELVIS M. BALAYAN
Presidential Assistant on Chapter Affairs
PATRICIA ANN T. PRODIGALIDAD
Assistant National Secretary
GRACE P. QUEVEDO-PANAGSAGAN
Assistant National Treasurer
FLORENDO B. OPAY
Deputy Director for Bar Discipline
EMMANUEL S. BUENAVENTURA
Deputy Legal Counsel
RODOLFO G. URBIZTONDO
Deputy Director for Peer Assistance Program
Editorial Staff
AURORA G. GERONIMO
VIVIAN C. CAPIZNON
JOSE E. SAN DIEGO, JR.
Editorial Consultant
EUMIR C. LAMBINO
Layout Artist
We welcome feedback and suggestions.
Please write to [email protected].
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
Dear Compañeras and Compañeros,
This edition of the Bar Tribune brings a harvest of
inspiration and challenges as we come together to
Cebu in reflection and fellowship on the occasion
of our 15th National Convention, with the theme:
“A Renewal and Revival of National Significance.”
Amidst the pervasiveness of corruption and breakdown of social values, we see positive change that
is formidably driving renewal and transformation
in our profession.
Former IBP Governor for Northern Luzon Denis
Habawel, who is on his first term as Provincial Governor of Ifugao Province, shares insights on how
his training as a lawyer in one of the country’s topdrawer law firms has served him well. With rule of
law as personal anchor, Denis skillfully navigates
the challenging waters of local governance using
social media to inform and illuminate. We take a
peak into his daily routine and the fulfillment that
people empowerment and community participation bring.
We report on the far-reaching landmark project of
the Supreme Court – the revision of the Rules of
Civil Procedure – that is undergoing pilot testing
in selected courts across the country. Out with the
old adversarial mindset and in with new thinking –
all parties working together to find justice and not
“just tiis” and seeing the slow wheels of justice accelerate. It is way long overdue.
IBP Zambasulta Chapter President Emil Aquino
tells the story of the IBP-led ALL-IN mission to
Tawi-Tawi, including the first-ever legal aid mission to Tawi-Tawi since the IBP was founded 43
years ago! For Emil and his band of IBP Zambasulta brothers and sisters, there “ain’t no province
far enough.”
The Philippine Law Journal of the UP College of
Law celebrated its centennial year last August with
even greater resolve to be an instrument of scholarly legal discourse and legal knowledge. Modern
communication technology will play a huge role
in PLJ’s second one hundred years of service as a
thousand voices are heard in legal conversation.
Correspondent Joey Alipio, self-professed “justice
leaguer,” reports on the centennial and chimes in
with ideas of his own.
National Center for Legal Aid Director June Ambrosio updates us on the flagship mission of the
IBP – Legal Aid – and the various initiatives the IBP
has undertaken to touch base with sectors who
most need assistance in issue-based developmental legal aid, hand in hand with traditional legal
aid.
We continue to pound – at no risk of overdoing it – on the subject of legal ethics.
For two years running, the Ateneo Law
School has sponsored a forum on legal
ethics, devising creative ways and inviting
leading lights to reach out to students and
young lawyers. In the first forum last year,
Atty. Christian Monsod recommended the
book Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo, to
try and understand how good people fall
astray. In this year’s forum, sophomore
ALS student Luis Alfonso Sena reports on
the personal experiences of three leading
practitioners from the Bar and Bench.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Arturo
Brion made an important point about legal ethics in his speech at the Greater Manila Regional Convention. He invites us to
“simplify our existing jargon on ethics and
thereby contribute to its easier and intuitive understanding.” Indeed, it’s all about
how the issue resonates among us.
Justice Brion proposed to do this by using
the rule of FAIRNESS as standard. In addition, he says we should take advantage of
what our forefathers had good measure
of in the old days – the sense of HIYA.
Read about it and more in this special
convention issue and head back home refreshed and revitalized.
VICENTE M. JOYAS
National President
Chief
keyno
with
her
mend
stride
gal se
the IB
the c
publi
bersh
In wi
tion,”
point
good
form
mark
“Busi
the c
repla
in ou
Aquin
“to p
that
ance
comp
greed
the la
tinuo
Vice
mem
ippin
mess
and h
simp
but a
The Bar Tribune
CONVENTION PROGRAMME
CONVENTION PROPER DAY 1 - March 20, 2015
OPENING CEREMONIES
WELCOME REMARKS:
HON. MICHAEL L. RAMA
Mayor, City of Cebu
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
HON. MARIA LOURDES P. A. SERENO
Chief Justice, Supreme Court
IBP PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
ATTY. VICENTE M. JOYAS
IBP National President
THE CHALLENGES OF THE JUDICIAL & BAR COUNCIL:
HON. ANGELINA SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ
Member, Judicial and Bar Council (JBC)
LUNCHEON SPEAKER:
HON. JEJOMAR C. BINAY
Vice-President, Republic of the Philippines
IBP Organizing Committee meets with Cebu Provincial Governor Hilario Davide III (left).
THE RULE OF LAW IN THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA:
HON. ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice, Supreme Court
15th National... - from page 1
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will
keynote the convention on March 20,
with her speech on Judicial Reforms. In
her convention message, Sereno commended the IBP for making “significant
strides in increasing the availability of legal services to the poor” but noted that
the IBP can “do more, and better,” citing
the commitment of the IBP to set up a
public website that shall make its membership “more transparent.”
Message from PNoy
In wishing the IBP an “insightful convention,” President Benigno S. Aquino III
pointed to the gains of the government’s
good governance initiatives in “transforming the Philippines into a dynamic
marketplace and a model of reform.”
“Business and commerce improve daily as
the culture of integrity and accountability
replace the corruption once entrenched
in our bureaucracy,” Aquino said.
Aquino added that the task of the IBP is
“to promote fidelity to the institutions
that provide us with structure and balance, inspire people into believing that
compassionate service can prevail over
greed and self-interest, and help make
the law relevant to a society that is continuously evolving.”
Vice President Jejomar Binay, himself a
member of the IBP, will talk on “the Philippine Bar after 2016.” In his convention
message, Binay declared that it is “faith
and hope in the law” that can “build not
simply an outstanding society of lawyers
but above all a great Filipino society.”
MAMASAPANO MISSION:
HON. PANFILO M. LACSON
Former Senator
Joyas calls for self-reflection
At the conclusion of his two-year term
as IBP president, Joyas has called on IBP
leaders to do self-reflection on a set of
questions “to determine if we have done
what we are called upon to do.”
Joyas’s questions touch on the recurring issue of professional ethics. “Have
we united the members in the call to respond to the challenges of the constantly
evolving times and carry out their part as
agents of truth and justice? Have we inspired them to maintain a high sense of
morality, integrity and honesty?”
Joyas also wanted to ascertain how responsive the IBP has been to the needs of
its members. “Have we exerted sufficient
effort to discover, and then address, what
the members and the organization need?
Have we been an example for our members to emulate?”
Joyas also invited his colleagues to ask
themselves how they have fulfilled their
role as catalysts of change. “Have we
propelled our organization to participate
in the discussion of timely issues and
concerns of our country and our fellow
countrymen? Did we provide the necessary vision that will inspire our members
to be active in the organization and in the
organization’s collective efforts to effect
change?”
The IBP currently has 54,000 members in
its roll of attorneys. Membership in the
IBP is a requisite for the practice of law in
the Philippines. (JESD)
IBP BAR DISCIPLINE:
HON. ARTURO D. BRION
JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE:
HON. GABRIEL T. INGLES
Executive Justice, Court of Appeals (Cebu Station)
THE PEOPLE’S INITIATIVE ON STATUTORY LEGISLATION
& CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT:
HON. NERI J. COLMENARES
Representative, Bayan Muna Party-list
FELLOWSHIP
THE YOUTH AND LAW-MAKING:
HON. SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN
Representative, 1st District of Valenzuela
BROAD STROKES: AMENDMENTS
ON THE RULES OF COURT:
HON. LUCAS P. BERSAMIN
THE OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL: DEFENDING
THE INDEFENSIBLE:
HON. FLORIN HILBAY
Acting Solicitor General
PROTECTING AND PRESERVING THE INTEGRITY OF THE
BUDGETARY PROCESS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION:
HON. MARTIN G. ROMUALDEZ
Representative, 1st District of Leyte
LEGAL EDUCATION REFORM, LAW CURRICULUM,
TEACHING METHOD, THE BAR EXAMS AND PARALEGALS
Moderator:
ATTY. SOLEDAD D. MAWIS
Dean, Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law
Panel of Speakers:
ATTY. DANILO L. CONCEPCION
Dean, UP College of Law
ATTY. ERNESTO MACEDA, JR.
Dean, PLM College of Law
ATTY. NILO T. DIVINA
Dean, UST Faculty of Civil Law
ATTY. SEDFREY M. CANDELARIA
Dean, Ateneo de Manila Law School
ATTY. JOAN S. LARGO
Dean, University of San Carlos School of Law and Governance
THE SPEEDY DISPOSITION OF CASES IN APPELLATE COURTS:
HON. ANDRES B. REYES
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeals
REFORMS IN THE LOWER COURT:
HON. JOSE MIDAS P. MARQUEZ
Court Administrator, Supreme Court
PLUGGING THE HOLES OF PRACTICE FOR THE SANDIGANBAYAN:
HON. OSCAR C. HERRERA, JR.
Associate Justice, Sandiganbayan
REGIONAL PRESENTATIONS AND AWARDS NIGHT
CHALLENGES OF APPELLATE PRACTICE:
HON. MAGDANGAL M. DE LEON
Associate Justice, Court of Appeals
REFORMING AND STRENGTHENING THE PROSECUTION PILLAR:
HON. LEILA M. DE LIMA
Secretary, Department of Justice
CLOSING REMARKS:
ATTY. ROSARIO T. SETIAS-REYES
IBP Executive Vice President & Governor for Greater Manila
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
3
March 2015
Petitioners vs. COMELEC and SMARTMATIC
IBP QUESTIONS...
- from cover
refurbishment and maintenance of the
80,000 PCOS (Precinct Count Optical
Scan) counting machines in preparation
for the May 9, 2016 national and local
elections.
Instead of a public bidding, the Comelec entered into direct contracting, also
known as single source procurement,
with Smartmatic, saying it was justified to
do so under RA 9184. The Comelec cited
time constraints in preparing for the 2016
elections and the “great risk” in giving the
contract to a party other than Smartmatic, considering what it says was the highly
technical nature of the refurbishment
and repair of the machines.
The IBP filed the petition on February 18
as it joined the public clamor against the
contract, which was signed by Comelec
Chairman Sixto Brillantes on January 30,
2015. The petition was prepared by IBP
General Counsel Pacifico Agabin.
“The Comelec gravely abused its discretion in issuing the assailed resolution,”
said the IBP, “as it violates the provisions of RA 9184 by dispensing with the
requirements of competitive and public
bidding.”
Exceptions to public bidding
The IBP said that “competitive public bidding ensures transparency in government
transactions and accountability of public
officers – to insure that people get maximum benefits and quality service from
the contracts.”
Citing the provisions of RA 9184, the IBP
said that direct contracting can only be
4
justified in three circumstances: (1) the
goods to be procured are of proprietary
nature; (2) when procurement of critical
components is condition precedent to
hold the supplier to guarantee performance; and (3) when the goods are sold
by an exclusive dealer which does not
have subdealers or for which no suitable
substitute can be obtained at more advantageous terms.
Comelec claim “misleading”
While the Comelec argues that the Extended Warranty Proposal of Smartmatic
falls under the justifications for direct
contracting, the IBP says such Comelec
claim is “misleading.”
The IBP said Comelec Resolution 9922
failed to show or indicate that services
to be rendered are protected by patents,
trade secrets and copyrights owned by
Smartmatic. Entities other than Smartmatic, therefore, are not prohibited from
performing the services, the IBP asserted.
By arguing that “the Comelec Bids and
Awards Committee is constrained by tight
schedule if public bidding are (sic) to be
conducted, Comelec concedes public bidding may be done and that entities other
than Smartmatic may perform the services,” the IBP said.
The petition also saw “no merit” to the
Comelec justification that procurement
of critical component of AES (automated
election system) solution is precedent
to guarantee performance of PCOS machines. “Because Comelec failed to show
that Smartmatic is the only entity which
can provide said services, it cannot be inferred that it is the only one with technical expertise in refurbishment, maintenance diagnostics, and repair of PCOS,”
the petition stressed.
IBP: Sentinel of the Rule of Law
Speculative
The IBP also termed as “speculative” the
statement by Comelec that there is great
risk in awarding contract to parties other
than Smartmatic. “Comelec did not substantiate allegation of compromise, relying on mere surmises and conjectures,”
the IBP said.
On the issue of exclusivity, the IBP said
that because Comelec failed to establish
that refurbishment and repair are done
by Smartmatic exclusively, it cannot be
said that no suitable substitute can be
obtained at more advantageous terms to
government.
“Tight schedule”
The IBP also drew pointed attention to
Comelec’s claim of “tight time schedule”
as ground for direct contracting. It said
that under the law, time constraint is not
among the circumstances that justify alternative methods of procurement.
“Time constraint” is purely speculative,
the IBP said. It added that the timeline of
88 days to complete the process of bidding is “not inflexible” and can be shortened depending on the Comelec’s efficiency in conducting public bidding.
It said the Comelec timeline of 8 months
for refurbishment, with 40 days for inspection and diagnosis, are mere approximations which could have been properly
addressed if the Comelec pursued open
public bidding.
The IBP filed the petition with a prayer
for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO), enjoining the Comelec
from implementing Resolution 9922 and
the signed contract between the Comelec
and Smartmatic and disbursing funds for
the purpose. (JESD)
The
ing la
the
cedu
up co
The
that h
selec
in th
Maka
Dava
semi
held
and
The
cedu
start
with
Philip
a rev
and
a gra
natio
Asia
Bar
tive.
berto
The
addr
The
the e
The Bar Tribune
SC TESTS NEW PROCEDURES FOR SPEEDY CIVIL TRIALS
The Supreme Court began pilot testing last February, Rules 22 and 24 of
the draft Revised Rules of Civil Procedure, which were designed to speed
up court trials in civil cases.
The pilot testing applies to all actions
that have not yet undergone pre-trial in
selected first and second level courts
in the following cities: Quezon City,
Makati City, Angeles City, Iloilo City,
Davao City and Cebu City. Training
seminars for judges and lawyers were
held in the pilot test cities in January
and February.
The revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure is a major project of the SC,
started in 2012 when it joined forces
with the IBP, UP Law Center and the
Philippine Judicial Academy to initiate
a review of the old system of hearing
and deciding cases. It was funded by
a grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the
Asia Foundation and the American
Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative. Then SC Associate Justice Roberto Abad headed the project.
The landmark undertaking aimed to
address docket congestion head on.
The Primer on the first draft presented
the extreme urgency of the SC mis-
sion: “With about 75 million of our
people living in crowded cities, it is
no wonder that the courts in these cities are drowning in all sorts of cases.
Many of them have 1,000 or more
cases in their dockets. They hear 30
to 60 cases a day. Their courtrooms
are full with many waiting outside to
be called.”
The revised rules cover the Preliminary Conference (Rule 22) and Trial
of Issues (Rule 24). Under the new
set-up, parties to a case are required
at the outset to make a full disclosure
of known facts and submit supporting
affidavits and documents, enabling
the court to accurately identify the issues early on. This contrasts with the
old approach where the parties make
full disclosure only at the trial phase.
The new rules also aim to seek a new
approach to litigation, from the traditional adversarial mindset to one of
collective effort that seeks “to search
for truth and render justice to all.” To
this end, the draft rules require the
parties to undergo alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) before the case, if
need be, is filed in court.
in examining witnesses, considering
that the parties are required to submit
before the preliminary conference all
their evidence, already marked and
authenticated.
As backlogs and precious time underpinned the revision of the rules, the
drafters have come up with a court
document called Terms of Reference
(TOR) identified as a “central requirement” in the proposed rules.
The TOR will facilitate the work of the
court as the TOR from both parties will
include the following: a statement of
the admitted facts; a fair and concise
summary of the facts that plaintiff’s
and defendant’s respective evidence
proves; a clear statement of the factual
issues that the evidence of the parties
present; a list of competent witnesses
from either side; and a statement of
the potential or actual legal issues that
the case presents.
The Supreme Court is hopeful that
the promulgation of the new rules
will “raise the level of professionalism
of judges and counsels in terms of
promptness in starting court proceedings and meeting deadlines.” (JESD)
The revisions also equip the judge
with more power in taking a direct role
5
March 2015
IBP-LED ALL-IN MISSION TO TAWI-TAWI
(the Farthest Province Down South)
Text and pictures by Atty. Emilio Benito Aquino
President, IBP Zambasulta Chapter
IBP Gov. Noel Ben with Chapter Pres. Emil Aquino (third and second from right) distributing relief goods to over 300 families.
After serving as a major partner in
several All-in Missions (Legal, Medical, Dental, Relief Distribution and
Feeding Programs) in the City of Zamboanga and the provinces of Basilan
and Sulu, IBP Zambasulta finally set
foot in Tawi-Tawi (the “TA” in ZambasulTA) where it was lead convenor of
a dozen collaborating institutions that
served around 2,000 residents of the
province last January 24, 2015.
IBP Zambasulta Chapter President Emil Aquino
assists a Badjao child wear her new slippers. At
left is IBP Governor Noel Ben.
6
The people of the Municipality of Bongao as well as residents from nearby
islands were the targeted beneficiaries of the mission. Bongao Mayor
Jasper Que played host, opening the
Municipal building as project venue
and providing mobility, food and personnel support from its own set of
health workers to help the indigent
and marginalized lot of its populace
avail of free medical, dental and legal
assistance as well as relief goods and
food distribution.
IBP Zambasulta under the leadership
of Chapter President Emilio Benito
Aquino as lead convenor, undertook
the project in partnership with the Rotary Club of Zamboanga City West
under the dynamic leadership of Dr.
John Hernani Anacan and the Rotary Club of Bongao, the Zamboanga
Medical Society, Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Marine
Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 3,
Bongao Doctors’ Association, Philippine National Red Cross and the Naval Forces Western Mindanao led by
its Commander, Rear Adm. Reynaldo Yoma, who represented Lt. Gen.
Rustico Guerrero, the Commander of
another indispensable partner of the
mission, the AFP Western Mindanao
Command.
The IBP requisitioned and sent a team
to claim a van-load of medicines from
DOH ARMM under Sec. Kadil Sinolinding who is based in Cotabato City.
A contingent of six DOH ARMM medical staff served during the mission.
Aside from Atty. Aquino, the local
IBP lawyers were Edgardo Gonzales
(PAO Regional Director), Mohammad
Amsawa (PAO), Alicita Doro (PAO),
Anne Respall (SEC), Carl Rubio (private practitioner) and Matildo Lerdo
(COMELEC). Also with the group was
their Legal Aid Secretary Medy Midel.
The Bar Tribune
anga City West and another 300 Badjao children were recipients of slippers
with supplemental feeding provided
by IBP Zambasulta while Rotary Club
of Bongao donated educational materials.
The whole day event was covered
by ABS-CBN and ABC affiliate GBPI
TV 11. Tawi-Tawi Gov. Nurbert Sahali treated the 40 man-team and their
counterparts to a grand dinner at the
plush Sandbar’s resort as a gesture of
gratitude for the group’s selfless service to his constituents.
The IBP Legal Team consisting of PAO led by Regional Director Ed Gonzales and SEC, Comelec and
private practitioners.
With the attendance of IBP Governor for Western Mindanao, Atty. Noel
Ben, the significance of the activity
was even more enhanced, he being
the first ever serving IBP Governor to
participate in an outreach mission held
in the farthest province in Southern
Philippines. Atty. Gemma Oquendo
(Western Mindanao Deputy Director,
National Center for Legal Aid) joined
Gov. Ben in conducting an inventory
of legal aid cases of the Chapter. The
IBP and PAO lawyers offered legal
services while the Comelec and SEC
lawyers prepared an election update
and disseminated investors education
and protection materials, respectively.
The project was a resounding suc-
cess with some 2,000 residents of Bongao and adjoining islands benefiting from
the mission, broken down
as follows: 245 patients for
medical consultation, 231 for
eye check-up and recipients
of eyeglasses, 174 for dental
extraction, 65 senior citizens
underwent special checkup,
57 had undergone circumcision, 37 went under the knife
for minor surgeries, 80 for
pneumonia testing, 115 for
haircut, and 372 beneficiaries of used clothing. Over
300 pupils participated in a
children’s party sponsored
by Rotary Club of Zambo-
Chapter Pres. Emil Aquino, as lead convenor, formally
declares the opening of the All-in One Mission, witnessed
by Tawi-Tawi Gov. Nurbert Sahali (left) and IBP Western
Mindanao Gov. Noel Ben.
Mayor Jasper Que (third from right) thanks the IBP Legal Team led by Western Mindanao Governor Noel Ben (left) and IBP Zambasulta Chapter President
Emilio Aquino.
7
March 2015
LEGAL ETHICS:
STORIES FROM THE EXPERTS
By Luis Alfonso Seña
Members of Legal Ethics class of Section 2-C of the Ateneo Law
School capture the moment with Prof. Tanya Lat and Dean Sedfrey
Candelaria.
“Legal ethics is a way of life.”
ior is always a matter of choice.
Shown the door
Thus declared RTC Manila Judge
Jose Lorenzo De La Rosa, setting the
tone for the symposium “Beyond Law
School: Real Stories From Legal Experts” held February 27, 2015 at the
Ateneo Law School (ALS).
It was the second annual Legal Ethics symposium hosted by ALS, part of
the school’s “Lawyers in Balance” formation program. Organized in a talk
show format, the activity was spearheaded by members of the ALS Legal
Ethics class of Section 2-C.
De la Rosa was joined by Associate
Justice Ma. Filomena Singh of the
Court of Appeals and corporate lawyer
Atty. Jose Maria Hofileña. The guests
shared insights on ethical issues besetting the country’s courts of law,
including: the sense of entitlement
among the court employees; gift-giving, especially during Christmas; lack
of understanding of the court system
among the general public; facilitation
and gift-giving as part of the Filipino
way of life; factors that lead lawyers
to commit unethical acts; and how engaging in ethical and unethical behav-
8
“Everyone else is doing it”
As a member of the judiciary, Justice
Singh explained that she was always
against the notion of receiving any
gifts or donations for the public service her office renders. She said what
is most important is that lawyers keep
their principles intact, whatever decisions they make, especially since the
decisions that help shape society, observes Singh, tend to be dictated by
the notion that “if everyone else is doing it, then it’s okay.”
Singh advised the audience of law
students and young lawyers that from
their very first day of practice, lawyers
should already avoid doing anything
unethical because that would “set the
tone for the rest of their practice as
lawyers.”
On the matter of corruption in the legal system, Singh said that corruption
should not always be equated with
money and that it also includes “utang
na loob” to political backers, and family, community, school and fraternal
ties.
Judge De La Rosa recounted that as
a young lawyer he was once asked
in a job interview if he was willing to
corrupt a judge to secure a favorable
decision. “Of course not!” he said, and
there went his chances with the law
firm.
De la Rosa said he eventually decided
to work for a solo practitioner whose
ethical values mirrored his own. The
RTC Manila Judge told the students
and aspiring lawyers to be professional and set personal interests aside
when it comes to the practice of law.
Rise above affiliations
Responding to a question on fraternal
or organizational ties among lawyers,
De La Rosa said that the challenge
to lawyers is to rise above their affiliations, because in the end “it is you
who will make yourself a lawyer and
not your organizational ties.”
On the issue of corruption in the justice system, he said that “Corruption
often begins with the lawyers. The
S:
TS
at as
sked
ng to
rable
and
law
The Bar Tribune
person who gives the first gift that you
accept (as a judge) will be the one to
tell people about it.”
It’s about saying “no”
Atty. Hofileña asserted that ethical
dilemmas are about “saying no” and
that what makes it difficult for our culture to accept change from an ethical
standpoint is that not everyone is willing to say no.
Hofileña said that as a corporate
practitioner it is easier to say “no” if a
lawyer is part of a large law firm, but
pointed out that if a lawyer has a family to provide for, it would not be an
easy decision. The role of a lawyer,
Hofilena added, is to advise the client
properly and not be subservient.
Hofileña went on to say that corruption
in the legal system is not always about
money itself; that notions such as “the
need to be ahead of everyone else”
and “greed for power” are other forces
which lead members of the profession
to engage in unethical behavior. “Mediocrity can spawn ethical dilemmas.
A lawyer’s lack of thoroughness and
diligence can get a client into trouble.
The challenge is to do excellent work,”
he said.
American legal culture
In the open forum, Robert La Mont,
Philippine Country Director of the
American Bar Association Rule of
Law Initiative, shared that Americans
“hate” receiving gifts because of the
mutual obligation to give a gift back,
and thus, gift-giving in return for services rendered is not acceptable in
American legal culture.
He said that lawyers in the United
States have a huge incentive to report unethical behavior because they
do not want to be competing against
“sharks” in the legal profession.
All of the guests agreed that lawyers
shouldn’t worry about clients who ask
to do unethical acts because they will
be replaced by better ones. Singh said
that although society is not “pretty and
perfect”, there is still a lot of good in it
and that it is exciting times to be part
of the profession because she said
that change in the ethical sense is actually happening.
“At first you will be pilloried, ostracized; but eventually, things will improve,” she said. Singh also told the
audience to “keep feeling frustrated
and disappointed,” because in doing
so lawyers become less callous to
unethical behavior and will help spur
lawyers to “make change happen.”
De La Rosa implored the audience to
strive to do good and to change the
system instead of striving to become
rich and famous. “If you choose the
easy path, you will not last long; per-
Robert La Mont, Philippine Country Director
of the American Bar Association Rule of Law
Initiative, shares key points on American legal
ethics.
severe and you will reap what you
sow,” he said.
Hofileña concluded his talk by saying that “saying no” is what makes the
difference, and that in order to effect
change it helps to get together with
like-minded people. “There is strength
in numbers,” he said.
Left to right: Luis Alfonso Seña, ALS sophomore and article writer, Prof. Tanya
Lat, Atty. Jose Maria Hofileña, CA Justice Ma. Filomena Singh, RTC Manila
Judge Jose Lorenzo De la Rosa and ALS Dean Sedfrey Candelaria.
cided
hose
The
dents
sionaside
aw.
ernal
yers,
enge
affiliyou
and
jusption
The
9
March 2015
THE ASEAN PRO
BONO NETWORK
FOR MIGRANT
WORKERS
(A Concept Paper)
By Atty. Purificacion “Pingki” B. Bernabe
The problem of providing adequate legal
representation to migrant workers who
encounter legal problems in their host
country is pressing and widespread.
HOW WE CAME UPON THE PROBLEM
We, members of the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines, Bulacan Chapter (IBP Bulacan), a provincial or local branch of the
national bar association of the Philippines
known as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines , encountered this problem firsthand during the conduct of our international pro bono missions in Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.
How were these international pro bono
missions conducted? First, we coordinated with our Embassies in the aforementioned countries for them to contact our
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW’s) so we
can visit and meet them on a particular
date. Then, during these pre-scheduled
visits, we gave one-on-one consultations
on problems that the OFW’s have in the
Philippines and delivered lectures on laws
which address these problems.
That was the limited scope of service because of two reasons: a) we did not know
the laws in the host countries b) even if
we studied the laws of the host countries,
the restrictive policies of their respective
governments limit the practice of law
only to citizens.
Inevitably however, some of the OFW’s
we served during our one-on-one con-
10
sultations brought to us legal problems
which are covered by the laws of the host
countries which we did not know and
could only be adequately addressed in
local courts or tribunals where we could
not appear. This is aggravated by the fact
that the OFW’s cannot afford to engage
local lawyers because of financial constraints. Hence, their problems of such
nature remained unaddressed.
THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
During our trip to Singapore for another
international pro bono mission, we also
attended the Third Asian Pro Bono Conference. This was organized by the BABSEA - CLE or the Bridges Across Borders
Southeast Asia Community Legal Education Initiative which is, among other
things, an international access to justice
organization.
In the simplest terms, the network will
function by this illustration: a distressed
Filipino worker in Ho Cho Minh City who
has a problem with the enforcement of his
employment contract in the host country will be aided by a Vietnamese lawyer
who is part of the Pro Bono Network. By
reciprocity, a Vietnamese migrant worker
who is deployed in Manila and who encounters some discrimination in his work
place will be assisted by a Filipino lawyer
who is part of the Pro Bono Network in
filing the appropriate case.
In the said conference, the problem of
migrant workers and providing long-term
strategic solutions thereto were focal
points. Attending the lectures and the
small group discussions highlighted for
us that the problem of Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFW’s) which we learned during our international pro bono missions
is mirrored in the experience of migrant
workers from countries all over the SouthEast Asian Region and even beyond that.
This brings us to the very same problem
we mentioned in the beginning: how to
provide adequate legal representation
to migrant workers who encounter legal
problems in their host countries.
Drawing on the lessons learned during
our international pro bono missions, the
Asia Pro Bono Conference which we attended and the friendships formed and
goodwill generated by these experiences,
the concept of a network of Pro Bono
Lawyers all over the ASEAN Region (and
even beyond) came about.
This arrangement will be replicated in
other countries which are part of the network.
At present, there are several Filipino lawyers, law professors, a local bar association and lawyers from Malaysia and Vietnam who have signified their intention
to be part of this Pro Bono Network. We
have written bar associations in Vietnam
and a law school in that country and they
are very much willing to explore the possibilities of setting up the network and
being a part thereof. We are also actively
The Bar Tribune
recruiting other individual lawyers and
organizations of lawyers.
Once we have gathered a substantial
number of volunteers in target countries
-- Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand -- we can launch
the network on the web, while continuing
to add to our list of volunteers. We can
use social media to recruit volunteers and
to make known the availability of our services to the broadest audience possible.
Aside from the use of social media, we
will notify our Embassies and known migrant workers’ organizations all over the
ASEAN Region to give them access to our
services. At the same time, an efficient
administration of our web links and an
over-all coordinating body must oversee
the following: a) where the legal service
is needed; b) the availability of a lawyer
or lawyers’ group to meet the demand; c)
the deployment of such a lawyer to meet
the demand; and d) monitoring each case
after it has been assigned to a particular
lawyer to ensure the effective delivery of
services.
Later on, we can expand our service terri-
tory to other countries in Asia, the Middle
East or even Europe where our migrant
workers face the problem of underemployment.
At first, the problem of funding will not
pose a problem because our services are
essentially free, the lawyers are deployed
in their own country, and are not strangers to pro bono work, i.e. working free of
charge. Our first resources will be the internet and volunteerism. As the network
expands, which we expect it to do rapidly
in order to be truly responsive, we will
need logistics support for our administration and monitoring stations.
How does one qualify to be a client of
the network? We can use the general
guidelines of Means and Merit Test. Only
migrant workers within a certain income
range and with a meritorious case (as determined in a pre-screening process) may
avail of the network services. The income
range may vary per country.
The benefits of this project will be immense. There are countless experiences
of migrant workers whose contracts were
replaced by more onerous ones, once
they reached the host country. Worse
than that, migrant workers who are involved in criminal litigation languish in
jail for the longest time because of lack of
legal representation in courts. These are
just two of the widespread and pressing
problems which the network will be able
to address immediately.
CONCLUSION
The need for the immediate setting up of
this Pro Bono Network cannot be overemphasized. Recruitment of volunteers,
setting up an administrative and monitoring group and seeking funds for the purpose should be done at the soonest possible time.
Anyone interested in this initiative will
please contact the author at pingkibart@
yahoo.com, or at 063 0917 507 5769 or
044 662 4768.
Atty. Purificacion “Pingki” B. Bernabe is
the incumbent president of IBP Bulacan
Chapter.
The People of IBP:
Erlinda Ganac Sanchez
ERLINDA GANAC SANCHEZ supported herself
through college working at the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines. She stayed on after her graduation
in 1977, devoting a total of 41 years of service to
the national organization of lawyers. Sanchez retired as senior accounting assistant at the Finance
Department in June 2013.
with the first batch of graduates when the
PCC became the Polytechnic University of the
Philippines. I continued working for IBP even
after graduation.
3.
The Bar Tribune takes a peek into Sanchez’s career,
family and the days ahead.
1.
I had a difficult time adjusting to work in my
first few years in IBP. We prepared the first
index cards of lawyers, recording membership payments as well as remittances from
the chapters. Ako rin po ang naghahanda ng
honorarium ng mga clerk at lawyers all over
the Philippines pero dapat tingnan muna
kung complete ang mga required papers bago
gawan ng vouchers. Quarterly po ang honorarium at sweldo ng clerks at lawyers.
When did you start working in IBP? What
was your first work assignment?
I started working in IBP in l972, when it was
still called the Commission on Bar Integration.
I first worked as a clerk typist in the Accounting Department. My immediate supervisor
then was our accountant Eladia Cayetano. We
reported to the treasurer, Atty. Charito Planas.
2.
As a working student, I would commute from
the IBP office in Quezon Boulevard to the PCC
campus in Lepanto, Manila. The work, however, got easier as the years passed and after I
graduated from college.
Tell us about your “working student” days in
IBP.
After high school, I had to find work to pay
for my college tuition. I worked for a time at
Rustan’s Department Store in San Marcelino,
Manila. After raising enough funds, I enrolled
in the evening classes at Philippine College of
Commerce. I took up Bachelor of Science in
Commerce, majoring in Secretarial Studies.
That was when I started working in IBP. I was
How was work like in your first few years in
IBP?
4.
What are your memorable moments in IBP?
Yung Christmas Party namin tuwing December ay sobrang saya. May sayawan, gifts at
raffle. May napanalunan akong T�, refrigerator at Sony D�D. Ha ha ha.
Cagayan de Oro City for the Committee on Legal Aid. Memorable moments din ang bowling tournament namin at yearly excursion.
Excited ako pag ganoon. Ang saya-saya!
5.
Who are your favorite IBP officers?
My favorite IBP officers are Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion, Justice JBL Reyes, Atty. Ester Sison Cruz, Atty. Teofilo Pilando and Atty.
Jaime Vibar. They are my favorites because
they are kind to employees like me at alam
nila ang pangangailangan ng employees ng
IBP.
Minsan nakasama ako sa ”out of town” sa
- continued on page 17
11
March 2015
THE PHILIPPINE LAW JOURNAL @ 100
By Leugenn N. Alipio
Senior SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio: SC decisions are "not infallible
and must be open to critique from law students through the PLJ."
I was surfing the UP College of Law website
last September when an invitation caught my
eye: “The Philippine Law Journal Centennial
Reunion: Calling all alumni editors, benefactors, and friends…!”
The Philippine Law Journal is the independent
and student-ran publication of the UP College
of Law that is “devoted to the promotion of
legal scholarship through research and writing.” 100 years is a milestone I didn’t want to
miss so I pre-registered online and received
confirmation a few days later.
The Centennial Reunion was held at the Ayala
Museum in Makati on September 13, 2014.
It was a fundraiser for the improvement and
modernization of PLJ operations.
12
Distinguished alumni
I was the first to arrive at 5:30 in the afternoon and quickly saw former UP Law Dean
Pacifico Agabin (Vol. 35, 1960) and Senior Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio
(Vol. 47, 1972). Other alumni editors started
streaming in, including retired Supreme Court
Justice Vicente V. Mendoza (Vol. 31, 1956),
former Solicitor General and Ombudsman
Simeon Marcelo (Vol. 53, 1978), and Faculty
Adviser Prof. Rafael Morales (Vol. 47, 1972).
UP Law Dean Danilo Concepcion delivered
the opening remarks.
A venerable presence of the evening was most
senior alumnus Atty. Delfin Gonzales (Vol. 17,
1937), who had celebrated his 100th birthday
three months before in June 2014. Here were
two centenarians – the PLJ and Gonzales –
coming together for scholarly reminiscing and
checking out what’s in store for the first law
journal in the Philippines and the oldest English language law journal in Asia.
It is noteworthy that the Philippine Law Journal’s roster of chairpersons and editors has
produced nine Supreme Court Chief Justices,
twenty seven Supreme Court associate justices, four senate presidents and a Philippine
president.
Call for innovation
The evening also saw the launch of PLJ’s Centennial Issue (Volume 88, Issue 3), featuring
reprints of groundbreaking articles published
during its first century.
In his speech, Justice Mendoza challenged
The Bar Tribune
future PLJ board members to find ways to innovate and be creative and remain true to the
Journal’s thrust as “a vital training tool for law
students to publish and maintain a law journal that would stimulate discourse and disseminate legal knowledge.”
Mendoza might well have read the comments
of lawyer Oscar Franklin Tan (Vol. 79, 2004) in
his September 11, 2014 column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Titled “The ‘Death’ of the
Philippine Law Journal,” Tan, who was also
at the Centennial Reunion, had lamented
that the PLJ had become “irrelevant,” citing
very few citations of the PLJ by the Supreme
Court: “In 1991-2003 the PLJ was cited only
23 times, or less than twice a year by the Supreme Court... In 2004-2013 the PLJ was cited
only once by the high court, or once a year.”
“The ‘death’ of the PLJ,” Tan declared, “is reflected in our lack of critical commentary.”
Healthy criticism
Speaking on the issue of critical commentary
and increasing readership, Senior Supreme
Court Associate Justice Carpio said that while
final Supreme Court decisions are “unappealable,” “they are not infallible and must be
open to critique from law students through
the PLJ.”
Carpio said healthy criticism must be welcomed so long as it “upholds the dignity
and authority” of the Court, adding that law
students, through the PLJ, can also bring Supreme Court decisions closer to the people by
minimizing legalese yet preserving scholarly
excellence. Carpio added that the PLJ is an excellent training ground in writing decisions for
aspiring justices.
As the celebration progressed, a couple of
ideas emerged that could well help address
Tan’s concern while bringing forth color and
dynamism in the PLJ.
For its readers, meanwhile, the PLJ can play a
significant role in raising the level of informed
public debate on highly contentious issues
such as charter change, same sex marriage
and divorce, among others.
“Double-blind peer review”
PLJ digitization project
Mendoza, for instance, hailed the PLJ’s adoption of a ‘double-blind’ peer review system,
where neither the article reviewer nor the
author knows the other’s identity.
No discussion of the PLJ would be complete
without mention of the PLJ digitization project. Carpio supported the
he ten-year PLJ digiti
digiti-zation project and the launch of PLJ Online
in 2013. He also sponsored the Special Maritime Issue of the PLJ, a online only issue of
the publication that is devoted to maritime
law issues, specifically those pertaining to the
competing claims on the West Philippine Sea.
A passage from the evening’s souvenir program said: “Beginning with Volume 88, the
Journal adopted a policy of identity blind deliberations in order to provide lesser-known
authors of promising papers a greater opportunity to be published in an academic platform.”
Author Jonathan Gingerich,, in a paper published in the Journal of Legal Education
(2009), said: “Studies suggest that non-blind
review encourages professional journals (and
particularly law journals) to make decisions
about manuscripts on the basis of letterhead
prestige rather than article quality, which can
make it difficult for younger scholars to publish their work even when it is quite good.”
Gingerich continues: “In order to reduce bias
(and) increase authors’ confidence in the
fairness of the law review system…student
edited law review would be well advised to
adopt policies of blind review. Blind review
can contribute significantly, if incrementally,
to the aims of academic excellence… and ensuring fair equality of opportunity for legal
academics” It can also be said that blind review will allow the PLJ to be more inclusive
and encourage wider participation from law
students.
While PLJ’s entering the cyberspace age spells
a big leap for an institution that’s been there
for a hundred years, Carpio has acknowledged
the enormity of work to be done.
Other challenges to digitization remain. For
instance, as one navigates through PLJ Online,
the search functionality yields too many irrelevant results. The other option in searching
an article is by edition or volume number. It
is high time to consider restructuring the PLJ
website, built with an organized database and
archiving programs that will have both published and new volumes available to sort and
filter, readable and in usable formats. It would
also be timely to have a law review site that is
fully integrated to social media, where readers can exhibit, support, note and promote
articles.
Online Companion
The PLJ might well also adapt to today’s everevolving technology, e.g., consider creating
an “online companion” to the PLJ Online like
the Yale Law Journal (YLJ) Forum – a “hub for
short form timely discussion of ideas about
the law and legal scholarship, with a sharper
focus on brevity, speed, and relevance to current developments.”
YLJ Forum offers “a platform for online dialogue that features a wide array of contributors and subject matter that many legal blogs
have attempted thus far.” In addition, the YLJ
Forum accepts submissions from scholars,
practitioners, and students in two categories:
(1) essays of no more than 2,000 words (including footnotes) that grapple with relevant
issues as they unfold… and (2) responses of
no more than 6,000 words (including footnotes) to recent pieces published in the print
Journal.”
In its effort to increase readership and relevance, the PLJ can use the Forum as a platform for discussion. Case in point: “The online only PLJ issue on the West Philippine Sea
dispute (sponsored by Justice Carpio) is a
purely cyberspace issue, devoted exclusively
to the multi-state maritime dispute over large
areas of the South China Sea.” The YLJ Forum
model can facilitate a timely and lively discussion on this important issue as it develops.
A worthy investment
This initiative for PLJ relevance entails additional administrative funding but the advantages most certainly outweigh the costs.
Simply put, it is a worthy investment. With UP
Law’s
’s vast network,, partnerships can be entered with major law firms to make the project feasible.
With an increased readership through a nascent online presence and the adoption of
double-blind peer review as a policy to encourage critical commentaries, the PLJ has
the makings of becoming the most cited legal
publication in the Philippines.
We can envision a future where concerned
citizens and civil society groups regularly rely
on the PLJ as a preferred resource to advance
their advocacies. They may well intersect with
legislators, who can use PLJ arti
articles
cles as foundations for sound legislation.
Looking ahead, it can be fairly said that the
Philippine Law Journal is well on its way to
becoming as grand and as useful a modern
institution as one can possibly imagine. (JESD)
Leugenn Alipio is a 29 year old advocate of judicial reform and independence. He actively participates in public forums and attends lectures on the subject of improving the Philippine justice system. A lawyer who puts his
country first, is what he aspires to be.
13
March 2015
The Advocate’s Life:
IFUGAO GOVERNOR
DENIS HABAWEL
Applying the majesty
and beauty of the law
in local governance
By Jose E. San Diego Jr.
Ifugao Provincial Governor Denis B. Habawel was IBP Governor for Northern
Luzon Region in the 20th Board of Governors during the term of National President Roan I. Libarios (2011-2013). Before
that, Habawel served as President of IBP
Ifugao Chapter for two straight terms, in
1985-1987 and 1987-1989.
Habawel earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from De La Salle University in 1977, with honors. He graduated from the University of the Philippines
College of Law in 1981 and passed the Bar
in the same year. He began private practice at PECABAR (Ponce Enrile, Reyes &
Manalastas) Law Office, where he served
as Managing Partner and later, Senior
Law Partner and Head of Litigation.
Habawel, 58, ran for office as an independent candidate in 2013. He is one of
a growing number of elected public officials who are harnessing digital technology to foster transparency and public
awareness of projects and issues in local
governance.
His Facebook page “Governor Denis B.
Habawel Government Official” features
discussions on a wide range of subjects,
including provincial government projects,
audit reports, impromptu dialogs with
constituents, best public health practices,
medical-dental missions, debt for development, awards and triumphs as well as
critiques and inquiries.
Here is the Bar Tribune’s email interview
with Governor Habawel:
14
Q. When did you begin your term as
Governor of Ifugao Province?
A. July 1, 2013.
Q. How has your daily life been since?
A. Never a dull moment.
and, unless there is a dinner meeting,
have dinner in the house, with more
callers, some of whom would sleepover at the house.
I retire at around 11 pm to 12 mn,
and check my email and/or Facebook
accounts, before hitting the sack,
normally by 1 or 2 a.m.
Q. What is a typical day in the life of
Governor Habawel?
Q. How has your personal life been
since being elected Governor?
A. I get out of bed before 6 o’ clock in
the morning and have coffee and
breakfast with very early callers.
A. Barest minimum.
Except for Monday flag ceremony at
8 a.m. and when I attend some function or meeting outside the Capitol
or out of town, I normally linger a bit
at home to entertain the callers until
around 9 a.m., where I ask those not
attended to at home to move over to
the Capitol so I could also attend to
other callers.
The rest of the day is an endless
stream of callers and papers, documents and vouchers and checks to
be urgently reviewed and/or signed.
Lunch break is around 3 p.m. usually
at the employee canteen at the Capitol, unless there are more callers, in
which case, lunch in the office would
be a sandwich, biscuit or fruits.
Reading and answering communications and papers and entertaining
callers continue until around 8 p.m.
Q. How has been the transition from
the legal profession to public service?
A. There has been practically no transition. It is the rule of law that I apply in
everything that is done at the Capitol.
Q. How has your training as a lawyer
helped in your role as a public servant?
A. With the kind of issues that I needed
to deal with, I cannot imagine how I
could have coped without my training as a lawyer.
Q. You are one of the growing number of public servants who has used
social media – beginning from the
campaign period – to communicate
with your constituents and the rest
of the world. Are there downsides to
social media use in governance?
fe:
OR
EL
The Bar Tribune
A. It definitely has enhanced the way I
serve my constituents. Since I set out
to institute radical reforms, I needed
a medium that is far-reaching and interactive. I needed to reach out to the
shakers and movers, to the mavens
and the salesmen. The social media
is used by the constituents overseas
who hold sway over their wards back
home. Their opinion and counsel to
those their dependents back home
has great chance of being heeded.
The transparency afforded by of the
social media lends credibility, breeds
confidence sand engenders trust.
Of course, the social media is like
a wild horse. The rider needs to be
adept at bare-back riding lest he is
thrown down and breaks his leg or
neck. But I turn adversity into opportunity. Detractors would normally use
hoax accounts and use abusive language, libel, obscene and countless
fallacies in argument. The freedom
and lack of accountability of the user
of social media affords a ho-holdsbarred climate, from which one can
gauge the intensity of a particular issue.
ing lawyers who intend to go into
public service?
A. A level of expertise in the nuances of
the law practice in as wide an area as
possible is a great advantage to performing the job, especially of an LCE.
Q. What are valuable life lessons have
learned so far in your years as a public servant?
A. At the end of the day, it is the people
that matters at all.
Q. Are there any best practices or innovations you have implemented in
Ifugao province that you would like
to share with your local government
colleagues across the country?
A.
Q. In your current position, how do you
see yourself continuing to promote
the three fold mission of the IBP –
elevate the standards of the legal
profession
A. “The Rule of Law” and “legal basis”
have become by words in the province. The initial mockery and ridicule
of these tools that enabled the institution of very radical changes, incision of cancerous ways, are giving
way to the grudging admiration for
the majesty and beauty of the law.
6.
A. The Hardy Boys series got me jumpstarted into the wonderful world of
books and letters. Bible, comics and
anything printed, especially about
human nature and experiences.
Books like those of Sun Tzu and Robert Green are very interesting stories
of human experience and the philosophies behind them. I rather would
say that what impacted so much in
my life were the stories of other people’s works and philosophies that I
read from books and elsewhere.
Q. Who is/are your personal role models, whether in the legal profession
or outside of it?
A. My parents, siblings, teachers, mentors, colleagues and my best friend
molded the person that I am today.
Our only child, Michael, is now 31 years old
and is a faculty member of Bulacan State University and Access Computer College. Michael
earned his MBA and is finishing his Masters in
Public Administration at the National College
of Business and Arts.
enable the Bar to discharge its public
responsibility more effectively.
7.
mother worked as a housekeeper. I studied at
Epifanio de los Santos Elementary School in
Malate, Manila, which was a walking distance
from our house. I finished high school in Manila High School in Intramuros.
Tell us about your family.
We have been married for 20 years when my
husband Eduardo passed away in 2002. My
husband’s family and ours were neighbors in
Paco, Manila. We got married on December
18, l982 when I was 32 yrs. old. My husband
was manager of an insurance company in
Makati known as the Philippine British Assurance Company.
A. The administration of justice is assured in the insistence upon the application of the rule of law in all decisions and actions.
Q. What advice would you give practic-
• Good Governance – all transactions are above-board and transparent.
• Rule of Law – Is the only basis of
decisions and actions.
• People Empowerment – a veritable tool in identifying and addressing issues and concerns
facing the people, as well as in
addressing them. The people decide for themselves. The LCE is
merely a facilitator.
• Community Participative Scheme
– Most PPAs are implemented by
the beneficiaries themselves.
• No Pork Barrel – This is the root
Q. What are the books that have made
a deep impact in your life?
The People of IBP... - from page 13
promote the administration of justice
A. Being the sentinels, the Bar becomes
the imperative in a regime that insists
upon the application of the rule of
law.
of what ails the system. A decisive move was made to excise the
cancer.
• No corruption – Like Cesar’s wife,
one must not only be pure, one
must appear pure.
• Innovative and creative solutions
– Necessity being the mother of
inventions, the seventh poorest province needs to innovate,
which innovations get recognized
as best practices.
How was family life for the young Erlinda Ganac?
I was born and raised in Paco, Manila. We
were five children in all -- three girls and two
boys. I was the second child.
My father worked as a musician -- while my
8.
What are your plans on retirement?
I plan to settle in Canada. I have a Canadian
boyfriend whom I met online. His name is
David Knapp. He is 65 years old. He used to
operate a saloon, which he has given up and
he now only works part time at his small barber shop at home. David used to work as a
swimming instructor in a Canadian university.
David and I plan to get married and settle in
Canada.
I was told by my Filipina friends that there is
plenty of work in Canada. My friends will help
me find work, even just part time. It’s very
cold in Canada even if it’s not winter time but
it’s beautiful and work is not very hard to find
compared with the Philippines. Food is also
very cheap. Sana nga for good ang stay ko ditto kasi mabait si David at maganda ang buhay
dito. Canadians are very friendly and polite.
When they meet you they say ”Hello” with a
smile to their lips.
15
March 2015
IBP LEGAL AID: RENEWED AND REVITALIZED
By Atty. Minerva M. B. Ambrosio
National Director for Legal Aid
VICTIM HELPING VICTIM: Palo, Leyte Vice Mayor and environmental lawyer Ronnan Christian
Reposar initiated the ABCD Project in Leyte (see story on page 20.)
The practice of law is considered a privilege,
not a right, bestowed by the State on those
who show that they possess and continue to
possess the legal qualifications required for
the conferment of such privilege.1
If much is demanded from an attorney, it
is because the entrusted privilege to practice law carries with it the correlative duties
not only to the client but also to the court,
to the bar, and to the public. A lawyer who
performs his duty with diligence and candor
not only protects the interest of his client; he
also serves the ends of justice, does honor to
the bar, and helps maintain the respect of the
community to the legal profession.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, through
the National Center for Legal Aid and the 85
chapter legal aid committees throughout the
country, seeks to carry out this mandate by
ensuring that everyone, more particularly the
poor, has access to justice.
Access to justice by all sectors of society, particularly its least privileged, is the bedrock of
a democracy. It is guaranteed by the Constitution:
Sec. 11. Free access to the courts and
quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not be denied to
any person by reason of poverty.
16
The IBP Committee on Legal Aid, considered
to be the flagship project of the IBP since its
integration in 1973,was renamed the National Center for Legal Aid. The Committee was
renamed and transformed into the National
Center for Legal Aid (NCLA) “to make it more
relevant and beneficial to the bigger society
concomitant to the third mandate of the IBP
– to enable the Bar to discharge its public responsibility more effectively”. The change in
appellation signaled its thrust to refocus its
priorities and resources in order to address
a wider and more diverse indigent clientele,
including the most vulnerable sectors of society.
In the process, the NCLA has been be converted into the head office and central support for
capability building, monitoring and program
assistance to the 85 chapter legal aid committees nationwide. Simultaneously, it continues
to concentrate its efforts on cases and issues
of paramount importance or national impact.
Over the years, the IBP Legal Aid Program has
evolved and expanded to include not only traditional legal aid but also developmental legal
aid which caters to a group or class of individuals with common cause.
The NCLA embarked on numerous developmental legal aid projects such as the jail decongestion project and reintegration of the
convicts who have served their sentences or
have been pardoned, by visiting and counseling prisoners and coordinating with courts
and the Board of Pardons and Parole to expedite the release of qualified prisoners.
With its metamorphosis into a national center, the NCLA has included Overseas Filipino
Workers, as well as victims of illegal recruitment, human trafficking and extrajudicial killings and indigenous peoples among its priority projects.
In September 2011, the IBP launched the IBP
OFW-Legal Assistance Unit (OFW-LAU), the
IBP-ATIPAT and IBP OFW Help Hotlines and
Website.
The IBP OFW-LAU offers a comprehensive legal assistance program not only to the OFWs
but also their families, which services include
counseling, representation, and setting up
of help hotlines, as well as legal diplomacy
and advocacy, here and abroad, to promote
awareness of basic legal rights of Filipino migrant workers.
At the launching of the OFW-LAU, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between and among parties to symbolize the
willingness and preparedness to work handin-hand in order to provide the much needed
legal assistance to the Overseas Filipino Work-
The Bar Tribune
ers (OFWs) – the so-called “modern heroes of
the land.”
In connection with our indigenous peoples,
the Center has begun dialogues with the sector and coordinated human rights organizations expressing the IBP’s willingness and
commitment to take up public interest cases
involving these rights.
In October 2011, the IBP conducted a roundtable discussion with the stakeholders in
preparation for the Summit on Human Rights
and Killings of Lawyers. Representatives from
national government organizations such as
Bayan Muna, NULP, PAHRA, AHCR, and NUJP
sat down with representatives of government
agencies such as CHR, AFP, PNP, NBI, and DOJ
to discuss the details of the summit.
The IBP publicly condemned the violent killings of lawyers as an affront to the legal profession and a wanton disregard of the sanctity
of life. With the CHR, it called upon the NBI,
the PNP, and the DOJ to expedite the resolution of the cases and ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.
The IBP NCLA has drafted the Memorandum
of Agreement with concerned law enforcement agencies for assistance in the speedy
and effective investigation and resolution of
extra-judicial killings of lawyers.
Regional Legal Aid Summits have been conducted in the different regions of the IBP. The
Regional Legal Aid Summit is a regular activity
and a vital aspect of the over-all program of
the IBP NCLA aimed at providing a venue for
interactive discussions to enhance the implementation of the IBP Legal Aid Program.
In January 2012, the IBP took an important
step in the full-scale campaign against human
trafficking with the signing of a Memorandum
of Agreement with the National Inter-agency
Task Force Against Trafficking (NIATFAT). Under the MOA, the IBP shall provide free legal
assistance to Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel who are charged administratively, civilly and/or criminally in connection with the
performance of their offloading functions. BI
personnel may now seek legal help from the
IBP, for harassment or retaliatory suits filed
against them, subject to the procedures and
parameters laid out in the MOA.
Also in January 2012, a 3-day strategic planning workshop for volunteer lawyers, professionals and law students was conducted
by the Legal Network for Truthful Elections
(LENTE) where the IBP serves as the lead
convenor. The IBP chapters through their lawyer-members ensured that LENTE is there to
monitor the canvassing and to help prevent
cheating and to provide legal services to their
members during the election period.
For 2014, the NCLA has undertaken several
projects, combining current and on-going
ones with proposed and developing undertakings.
(1) Chapter legal aid governance, with the
objective of streamlining, standardizing,
improving, and institutionalizing traditional legal aid of the legal aid committee
of the different chapters;
(2) Legal assistance for disaster survivors,
with the objective of extending legal assistance to survivors and victims of natural and man-made calamities, the most
recent and most devastating of which
was Typhoon Yolanda, and of establishing a protocol for rendering legal aid in
similar situations;
(3) Signing of the MOU with partner agencies for the monitoring of the investigation, resolution and prosecution of extrajudicial killing of lawyers;
(4) Training of lawyers for the handling of
cases of women and children, as well as
adoption and foster care cases (under a
MOA with the DSWD), for the handling of
trafficking and illegal recruitment cases
(under a MOA with the DOJ and POEA),
for training of barangay officials (under a
MOA with the DILG);
(5) Law student paralegal training, with the
objective of supplementing the legal
training of law students while supplementing the need of the chapters for
paralegals or researchers;
(6) Barangay paralegal training, with the objective of establishing an access to justice
network, where the barangays can bring
their legal concerns directly to the chapter offices or to lawyers residing in their
barangays;
(7) OFW-LAU and ATIPAT, these existing programs have been shown to be effective
in making positive contributions to OFWs
and their families, as evidenced by the
steady stream of referrals and walk-in clients and the challenge is to improve the
process and the services;
(8) Jail decongestion and inmate assistance,
the objective is to assist detention prisoners and convicted inmates who are
qualified for release or discharge, declogging the court calendar and decongesting
jails and prisons.
(9) Free legal aid referral system, with the
IBP as the hub, which aims to coordinate,
systematize and rationalize the fragmented and, sometimes, conflicted legal
aid situation in the country, so as to allow
the various providers of legal aid, such
as the IBP, its chapters, the PAO, NGOs,
law schools and other interest groups
rendering legal aid, to work together to
establish a unified, effective, and comprehensive Philippine legal aid network.
(10) Revision of the NCLA handbook/primer,
which aims to standardize and streamline
the operation of the NCLA and the chapter legal aid committees (CLACs), as well
as upgrade and update the information,
operating system, policies, practice and
procedures of the NCLA and CLACs.
(11) Global legal missions, spearheaded by
pro-active chapters of Central Luzon, particularly Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija
and Bataan, where the lawyers went to
Macau, Vietnam, Singapore, Hongkong,
and other Asian countries to talk to, give
advice and counsel and spread goodwill
among our kababayans in these countries.
There are countless heart-warming accounts
of the dedication and innovation of chapter
legal aid committees, lawyers and staff in the
activities that they have undertaken in pursuit of legal aid. To name a few, there are legal
missions for specific sectors, such as women
and children, urban poor, fisherfolks, use of
media, such as radio programs, newspapers,
and social media, bench and bar dialogues,
environmental campaigns, jail visits and coordination with the court for the provision of a
pool of lawyers.
What is even more remarkable is the fact
that these legal aid volunteer lawyers exhibit
the same standard of conduct and give equal
treatment to indigent clients, in much the
same way that they do toward their paying
clients.
The IBP is in the unique position to raise the
standard of the legal profession, improve the
administration of justice, and enable the Bar
to discharge its public responsibility more effectively. The challenge is in its pursuit of its
legal aid objectives, it is hampered by the
lack of funds and personnel, being composed
mostly of volunteer lawyers and paralegals.
The NCLA is ready to take up the challenge of
rallying the IBP members to the cause of IBP
and convince them that legal aid matters and
that each and every lawyer, by rendering free
legal aid, fulfills his role in the renewal and
revitalization of the IBP and the legal profession.
(Endnotes)
1
Eustaquio v. Atty. Rimorin, AC No. 5081, March 24,
2003; Sebastian v. Atty. Calis, 372 Phil. 673, September 9, 1999; Arrieta v. Llosa, 346 Phil. 932, November 28, 1997
17
March 2015
SC Associate Justice Arturo D. Brion:
"NO JUDGE OR LAWYER IS BORN UNETHICAL"
(Delivered during the 9th IBP Greater Manila Regional Convention, Manila Hotel, October 25, 2014)
al matters. Based on these distinctions,
I thought it best during my watch as Bar
Chairman last year to advocate the use of
ethical questions, not only in Legal Ethics,
but in every Bar subject.
Greetings!
Let me first extend my thanks and appreciation to the officers and members of
the Greater Manila IBP for organizing this
Convention. Your Program tells me that
you will not simply be engaged in fellowship and camaraderie; you are here to undertake serious reflections on very critical
issues about our profession. You cannot
be wrong in doing this.
I note that your Convention also comes at
a time of some significance to our profession. October is our Bar Exam month and
tomorrow will be the last exam day. As we
all know, the weightiest subject, Remedial
Law, shall be for tomorrow, together with
the subject with the least weight – Legal
Ethics.
Despite these relative weights, I would
not be surprised if the Bar candidates
would later say that Ethics was as difficult as Remedial Law. Indeed, Ethics – the
subject you gave me as my topic today – is
not an easy subject to handle, whether by
a teacher, by a student, or by a speaker.
In actual application particularly, ethics
and its underpinnings of morality and values, may really be harder than Remedial
Law whose terms we can read and apply
as black and white rules from clear and
readily identifiable sources – the Rules
of Court, its related regulations and jurisprudence.
Ethics, too, embodies rules and standards
that are applicable to all aspects of law
while Remedial Law, as its name connotes, deals almost solely with procedur-
18
I don’t know if my recommendation has
been adopted this year. I do hope that
this has been done, if only to stress one
lesson that underlies our rulings in the
DAP, the PDAF, the high-level dismissals
in the Judiciary, and the growing number
of disbarments and suspensions among
your ranks. The lesson is that we should
pay careful attention to our personal
ethical conduct; actively safeguard our
reputation for probity and competence;
and ensure we do not tarnish the dignity
of our profession. We cannot afford to
put our guard down as the ethical and
competent practice of law is the expected level of service we must contribute to
our society. Let me explain why I say this.
I have been a lawyer for 40 years and I
still see in our group this morning some
contemporaries – lawyers who have lived
through three Constitutions, missing only
the Malolos Constitution to complete a
tour of Philippine constitutional history.
Our generation personally knew the 1935
Constitution, although very briefly. We
were the law students and young lawyers
when people from our neighborhoods –
summoned to join parties, neighborhood
meetings and other pretexts for coming
together - raised their hands without
knowing that they were already ratifying
the 1973 Constitution. We were the generation, too, who woke up one morning
with everything very quiet – no radios, no
TVs and no newspapers – because Martial Law had been declared. And we lived
through those years, all the way to the
days of the present Constitution that, according to the political victors and writers
of history, is evidence that freedom had
been regained.
In these 40 years, one lesson I have internalized, and I am sure many from my generation will bear me out, is that if society
is to be well-ordered and organized, law
and the lawyers have to be there; violence and anarchy could be the alternative if we “kill all the lawyers” as Shakespeare put it. Thus, every which way one
looks, the law that regulates society and
the lawyers who serve as links to the law,
are important to society and to its stability. As lawyers, we take care of society
at the same time that society also takes
very good care of us.
These thoughts bring me to the first aspect of our relationship with society – our
lasting contributions or legacy as legal
professionals to our society. I have always
thought that if we are to leave our mark
on society as lawyers should, we should
strive to leave our profession and the
nation better than when we first became
its members and active players.
Not that our profession and the nation
are in a sad and sorry state (a debatable
issue in the best of times) but our professional training, our personal experiences,
and current developments should tell us
that our profession and the nation can
still be better if we would only take time
out to reflect on how things are and how
they ought to be, and on how we can help
– other than through rhetoric, slogans
and posturing – to bring about the improvements and perfection we as lawyers
all hope to see.
After my years as a lawyer, the best way
I can suggest to approach a goal like this
is through the medium of example. We
need not preach or teach; we can simply
show others, by our professional actions,
that our profession can be better and
more ethical, and ourselves more upright lawyers and more moral members
of our society if we only follow certain
basic guidelines in our professional conduct. Ethics and morality, and the societal
perception of hewing to these standards,
are where our contributions can best be
felt with lasting effects.
I am sure most of you know the exact situations where our exemplary conduct can
be most felt when I speak of ethics and
morality in the profession. As law practitioners, you know your courts, the private
and public practice of law, and what goes
on behind the scenes when lights go dim
and things take a turn for the worse.
But I am not here to talk about the bad
side of our profession, nor to accuse any-
The Bar Tribune
one or engage in recriminations. I am not
here to dig up dirt or attribute blame. I
am here to simply share my thoughts
with you and explore ways that may help
transform our professional lives to allow
us to more meaningfully contribute to
the society that our profession invariably
influences.
My recurring thoughts, when I reflect on
ethics and its potential to be misunderstood, misapplied or simply forgotten, is
to simplify our existing jargon on ethics
and thereby contribute to its easier and
intuitive understanding. At this point,
ours is not to memorize and recite the
Code of Professional Ethics to one another or to the courts. At this point, we
should have internalized all or most of
these rules. Our need is to be guided by
simple rules that can stand as easy summation of all the rules we recited as law
students, and to apply these simple rules
to our daily actions as legal professionals.
I propose to do this by using the rule of
FAIRNESS as standard. I thought, too,
that we should take advantage of what
our professional forebears appear to
have had in good measure in the old
days – the sense of HIYA – that served,
better than any punitive measure, in
leading the lawyers who came before us,
to ethical and moral lives.
Fairness is the standard that is implicit in
every rule under our Code of Professional
Responsibility. At its simplest, a lawyer’s
dealing with society, with the courts and
with his clients, must be characterized
with fairness; remove the element of
fairness and unethical conduct more often than not results.
Interestingly, fairness is not solely confined to our professional dealings; it is
a standard that we must apply to all aspects of our daily lives. We must act fairly
to communicate to our fellowmen that
they can trust us to act as they would
under similar circumstances – i.e., under
the commonality of doing to others what
we would want them to do to us. The
simplicity of fairness as a rule of thumb
standard, and the trust and the harmony
that a simple rule like this can potentially
bring, lead me to the thought: should we
not always ask the question – is it fair? –
in our daily activities whether or not the
question of ethics surfaces. The point, in
other words, is to internalize and bring
fair dealing to the level of intuition, i.e.,
something we need not even ask our-
selves or think about as we go about our
daily lives. Think of what the effect of this
expectation will be to the practice of our
profession.
The sense of hiya may sound strange to
you as an ethical concept. But in the same
way that fairness looks inward, the sense
of hiya looks outward and tests our actions by the standards of the community.
Hiya is the sense of shame that should
overcome us if we act in a manner short
of our personal standards and the acceptable standards of our community. In the
latter sense, it is a cultural trait that signifies our sense of community – that we are
one with the community and should not
bring it shame.
Hiya implies underlying personal values
and the community’s judgment on our
actions. Of course, the community’s outlook may and does change over time, but
this change should not affect the professional values we hold as lawyers. With or
without our Code of Professional Responsibility and our Penal Code, we have that
inborn awareness of right and wrong that
brings with it a sense of personal shame
– hiya sa sarili – for engaging in activities
that we know to be intrinsically wrong.
The question to ask is – nakakahiya ba
ang gagawin or ginawa ko?
I believe deep in my heart that these
standards and the values they stand for
– simple as they may seem – are what we
should seriously attempt to keep alive, by
example and conscious practice, in our
society. Continued inaction or indifference, in my view, could worsen the level
of corruption in law practice and in the
judiciary, and lead to further community
tolerance of these unethical activities.
While corruption undeniably exists, we
must always remember that no judge or
lawyer is born unethical. Unethical conduct many times starts as an innocent
act and follows a long path where we can
halt it at many points. But repeated often
enough, unethical conduct can become
the way of doing things. My suggestion to
you is for us to act collectively to foster
an ethical system that would allow us to
handhold our brethren and act as each
other’s guide in our journey as legal professionals. The way of fairness and hiya
may be an easy way of doing this.
I share these thoughts with you generally and without more concrete proposals
of specific measures and methodologies
that we should adopt. I confine myself
to generalities as you are the ones at the
front lines and I believe you know best
what has be done; as lawyers and on your
own, you are more than capable of deciding how we can best strive for the ideal. I
can only remind you of our ultimate goal
– to earn the trust, through our actions,
of the society that has been good to us
and of the public we are sworn to serve.
For your information, I have brought similar messages, although in different forms,
to other IBP regions. The South Luzon
lawyers, on their own, have responded;
they have resolved to adopt measures
to address what they feel are the ethical
and moral problems in the profession. At
the national level, the Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) have
been closely collaborating to bring ethics and ethical practices to a higher level;
among others, we are continuously meeting to speed up the disposition of disciplinary cases and to set guidelines in the
imposition of penalties. At the level of
the Court, we are doing our best to come
up with decisions on law practice and judicial standards that we can be proud of.
The DAP and the PDAF decisions, as
well as the judicial dismissals you have
recently seen, are the high-profile examples of Court action that you and the
general public know. But beyond these
and behind the scenes, the Court has had
its own examinations of conscience that
unfortunately are too private or too bitterly fought to be disclosed or discussed
in public. But even without our internal
deliberations in the public eye, I believe
we are already sending the clear signal
– watch us as we are policing even our
own ranks.
Perhaps, you will see that we are gaining
some ground when you see the signals
that I am personally waiting for to tell me
that the Court is already in a positive and
proactive mode.
The first of these is the Court’s relaxation
of its rules on hearsay in ethical and disciplinary cases as I suggested to the Court
in the recent disciplinary case against
Justice Gregory Ong. The second is the
adoption of a Whistleblower’s Rule for
the Judiciary. If we can only adopt these
measures, on top of the way of fairness
and hiya, we would have gone a long way
towards a more ethical Bench and Bar.
On this note, let me take leave and thank
you for listening.
19
March 2015
THE ABCD PROJECT:
Building a culture of inclusion, one document at a time
by Atty. Tanya Lat
Professor, Ateneo Law School
Executive Director, Philippine Association of Law Schools
Last January 24-26, 2015, I flew to Tacloban
City, Leyte for the very first time. It was the
week right after Pope Francis’s visit to the Typhoon Yolanda-ravaged province, and his Holiness’s presence still lingered in the air. I was
to meet with an extraordinary team of paralegals and learn more about their unusual form
of legal aid.
The paralegals were working for the ABCD
Project, which stands for “Access to Benefits
and Claims after Disaster.” Typhoon Yolanda
had literally swept away all civil records and
legal documents of victims and survivors,
which made it almost impossible for them to
file claims and access benefits from government social protection agencies and private
institutions. The ABCD Project responded to
the need of families-victims and survivors for
assistance in reconstructing their legal identities so they could rebuild their lives after the
disaster.
The ABCD Project started out as a post-disaster legal aid advocacy initiated by Palo,
Leyte Vice-Mayor and environmental lawyer Atty. Ronnan Christian Reposar, who
himself was a victim-survivor of Typhoon
Yolanda. Realizing that other typhoon survivors would not be able to access funds and
assistance without proof of identity, Atty. Reposar lost no time in mobilizing resources to
organize a legal mission for this purpose. In
the immediate aftermath of the monster typhoon, Atty. Reposar’s ragtag team of lawyers
and paralegals produced handwritten affidavits, making do with pens and water-logged
paper that had been dried out. Atty. Reposar
20
reached out to friends to ask for help. He recounts, “it all started with a single text I sent
to my friends in November asking for office
supplies for us to serve the legal needs (of
‘Yolanda’ - affected villages).”
One of those texts reached Edgardo Ligon, the
Executive Director of the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative
Legal Services, Inc. (IDEALS), a non-government organization and legal advocacy group
based in Quezon City. Ligon and the IDEALS
legal team wanted to help with Typhoon
Yolanda relief efforts but wanted to do something more meaningful than simply repacking
goods. Ligon reached out to Atty. Reposar, invited him to Manila, and linked him with Atty.
June Macaspac of the IBP National Center for
Legal Aid, Dean Jose Manuel Diokno of De La
Salle University College of Law, and Atty. Christian Monsod, among others. The outpouring
of support from the legal community was immediate and heartfelt: legal missions were organized, and lawyers and law students from
various IBP chapters and law schools readily
volunteered their time, services, and resources. Over the course of the succeeding
months, the legal missions crystallized into
the ABCD Project.
Almost all of the ABCD paralegals were law
graduates and Typhoon Yolanda survivors who
had joined the legal missions in order to “give
back” and help their fellow survivors. Some
of them had lost members of their immediate families, and taking part in the legal mission helped them cope with their own grief
and sense of loss. For Paul Campomanes, pa-
tiently gathering data for two hours as clients
sobbed felt like an act of “mercy and compassion.” He said, “I have to stay strong those
days. Even if we lost our loved ones during
the onslaught of monstrous disaster, we have
to control our emotions so as not to let our
clients down.” “If they cried, we don’t interrupt their moment of mourning. We just have
to evaluate if they are ready to access the services.”
Such services consisted largely of reconstructing civil registration documents and preparing
“transitional” documents such as affidavits of
loss and affidavits of 2 disinterested persons
to facilitate claims for assistance. The first
three months after Typhoon Yolanda were the
most difficult, with resources scarce and the
region still reeling from the devastation.
The paralegals encountered problems that
they had not encountered in law school, had
no straightforward answers, and which challenged them to come up with innovative solutions and exercise their advocacy skills with
decision-makers. Aside from logistical and resource concerns, they encountered resistance
from the local civil registrars (LCRs), some of
whom refused to acknowledge or support
the work of the legal mission. They also had
to contend with the political intramurals
between barangay and municipal officials,
with the legal mission and the clients getting
caught in between.
Although there were the inevitable disappointments, frustrations, and bad days, this
did not prevent the paralegals from fulfilling
The Bar Tribune
their mission to deliver results for their poor
clients. The ingenuity of the ABCD legal team
and their zeal for their clients was evident
from their determination and the outcome
of their efforts. The legal team took great
pride in the fact that none of the clients that
they serviced ever came back to complain
that their documents were incomplete or
not accepted by the government offices concerned. When Paul Campomanes recounted
the odds that they faced and how they overcame them, I could not help but agree when
he triumphantly declared “lahat nagagawan
ng paraan.” The ingenuity of these paralegals
was simply remarkable.
Lady Shari’ah Counselors
At the start of the ABCD project, the concerns primarily pertained to facilitating access to benefits post-Yolanda. One year after,
now that things have more or less normalized
in the region, the nature of the legal concerns
brought to the attention of the paralegals has
shifted. Now, the concerns pertain to civil registration and the creation of legal identity for
the poorest and most marginalized sectors.
The paralegals talked about their encounters
with people in their 70’s and 80’s who have no
Certificates of Live Birth on record, and thus
do not exist as far as the state is concerned.
They also voiced their concern that the
cost of civil registration is too high and is
beyond the reach of the poorest Filipinos.
They also stated that the process is burdensome, sometimes unnecessarily restrictive.
IDEALS is now working in partnership with
the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) on its Mobile Registration Project, to assist in the registration of
births, marriages, and deaths for the poorest Filipinos in municipalities in Leyte and
Samar. The project aims to give these Filipinos
a legal identity that will finally enable them to
access government programs such as SSS and
PhilHealth.
The paralegals said that being part of the
ABCD project has helped them heal from the
trauma of Typhoon Yolanda, and to express
their oneness with the people of Eastern Visayas. It has also helped them put their legal
education to good use. Paralegal Golda Tabao
was amazed at how a simple, “petty” affidavit
“makes other people happy” and that their
clients expressed profound gratitude for such
simple services. All the paralegals agreed
that people’s gratitude for their services has
changed their outlook on life and made all the
difficulties of their job worth it.
Atty. Reposar has described the ABCD legal
mission as a response to Pope Francis’s exhortation to create a “culture of inclusion.”
He said, “legal assistance assures that a poor
man can assert his basic right, hence opening
windows of opportunities for him.” The ABCD
Project and Mobile Registration Project are
building this culture of inclusion for poor Filipinos, one document at a time.
Officers of the Association of Lady Shari’ah Counselors-at-Law of the Philippines Inc.
paid a courtesy call on IBP National President Vicente M. Joyas and National Secretary
Nasser Marohomsalic in October 2014 on the occasion of the 2nd Women Shari’ah
Lawyers’ Assembly. They discussed the role the Shari’a practitioners will play in enhancing the practice of law in general and Shari’a law in particular, in anticipation of
the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). The BBL seeks to expand the jurisdiction of Shari’ah courts to include criminal and commercial laws, among others.
Taking to the streets
Alarmed at the incessant potshots by high functionaries from the Executive Department against decisions of the Supreme Court declaring the unconstitutionality of the
Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and the Priority Development Assistance
Fund (PDAF), the IBP and volunteer professional organizations of lawyers banded together and raised the ante on their defense of the ideal of judicial independence in a
conference held on September 2, 2014 at the JBL Reyes Hall of the IBP Building.
Earlier on August 25, the IBP trooped to Rizal Park and joined other professional organizations in the public commons to dramatize their outrage.
21
March 2015
I AWAIT!
[Below is the opening statement delivered by Atty.
Nasser A. Marohomsalic, former Commissioner of
Human Rights, Convenor of the Philippine Center
for Islam and Democracy and presently National
Secretary of the IBP, during the Senate Hearing on
the bill to create a Mamasapano Truth Commission,
on February 25, 2015. Atty. Marohomsalic is seen
here with the former dean of the UP College of Law
and presently Editor-in-Chief of the IBP Journal,
Atty. Merlin Magallona.]
Assalaamu Alaikum.
There are many investigative bodies, about
seven of them, I was told, inquiring into the
Mamasapano incident with the end in view
of establishing its factual situation, its legal
significance and implication. People may hold
differing opinions on their trustworthiness.
Whatever, what runs up my interest is not
what people perceive them to be but their
kind of investigation which will ultimately reveal itself at the end of the day.
Thus, it is not fair, in fact, too early to ascribe
negatives on their individual investigations.
Spearheaders of these investigative bodies
profess their commitment to peace and find
the people on whom the axe of responsibility may fall. A word of caution though, they
should not see the forest for the trees. As of
a vehicle, peace is so important to get held up
to its hubs in the quagmire of detail.
Your honor, I await the investigation report of
the PNP Board of Inquiry and that of the MILF.
A Constabulary General who served as our
President offered the reason for my stand. He
said that a wounded soldier appreciates the
meaning of peace more poignantly than the
political demagogues who declare war in the
name of peace and send the sons and daughters of their neighbors to the battlefront to
fight and die. We must also await with delight
and anticipation the reports of the instrumentalities of government like the Commission on
Human Rights and the Department of Justice,
and the volunteer or people’s organizations
who have already conducted their own individual investigations. That is being law-abiding.
I take caveat though that their reports may
clutter up the narrative on the Mamasapano
incident and muddle up issues.
But I have my administrative resolution to the
problem. I propose that an Ad-Hoc Mamasapano Clarification Body be created to collate
and synthesize all these reports into a coherent one with recommendations and submit
the same to Congress and the President. The
body will not hold an investigation hearing
22
where ordinarily witnesses are called to testify and present documents. Otherwise, this
will take a goodly odd time even on a doubletime effort on the part of the body. And with
the peace with the Bangsamoro hanging on
the balance and hinged on the Mamasapano
issue, time is of the essence.
Let us not spoke the wheel of peace from
turning for too long. This action may not be
in keeping with our religious soul as a people. I finished my secondary education from
a Catholic school and I learned that Jesus
Christ is called by another name, the Prince
of Peace. In Islam, one of the names of God
is Peace. The Place of Felicity in Islam is called
the Abode of Peace. In both religions of Islam
and Christianity, our salutation is an expression of peace.
To put a closure on the Mamasapano incident
and get us to move on forward for peace, a
Truth Commission is not the best instrumentality.
In general, a truth commission is a temporary body, established by an official authority
(president or parliament) to investigate a pattern of gross human rights violations committed over a period of time in the past. In the
course of their investigations, truth commissions often focus on gathering data pertaining to victims (human losses, missing persons,
political prisoners) in order to satisfy the right
of family members to know what happened
to their loved ones. Truth commissions may
conduct public or closed door hearings in the
fulfillment of their mandates and, in some
cases, may be required to make recommendations concerning amnesties or pardons.
In this regard, they shall be cognizant of the
fact that various sources of international law
prohibit blanket amnesties for war crimes,
crimes against humanity, genocide, or gross
violations of human rights, including genderspecific violations.
The findings of truth commissions are usually made public upon the completion of their
mandates (and in some cases periodically during their mandates) and provide not only an
analysis of past abuse, including root causes,
but also include policy recommendations to
ensure non-repetition in the future and to
promote reconciliation among affected communities. The official acknowledgment of the
commission report by its mandating body is
an important factor in this regard.
Indeed, by nature of their office, truth commissions may realize their work within a few
years.
Let me recall the case of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission in Thailand organized
to investigate the shooting of Redshirts who
were demonstrating against the government
of the day between March and May 2010,
where at least 98 people died and more than
2,000 injured. The Commission presented its
Final Report on September 17, 2012, a period
of more than two years.
To emphasize, my proposal, the Ad-Hoc Mamasapano Clarification Body does not go into
full dress hearing like any adversarial proceeding or deliberative or fact-finding body.
It can finish its work in six weeks. It is an independent body of three or five members. To
invest it with independence, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo should be made as its Chairman with authority to appoint its members
and Secretariat. He is not only a man of the
cloth, his integrity is beyond question. He is
also a connoisseur of peace and Moro developments. The last time I checked, I had a
piece of his mind for an introduction in my
article on the Framework Agreement on the
Bangsamoro published in the IBP Law Journal.
Thank you.
usutheir
y durnly an
auses,
ns to
nd to
comof the
ody is
coma few
econnized
s who
ment
2010,
than
ed its
eriod
c Mao into
probody.
an inrs. To
p OrChairmbers
of the
He is
o dehad a
n my
n the
urnal.
IBP co-sponsors confab on
HIV, Human Rights and the Law
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines and
the Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (UNAIDS) recently organized a
conference to foster AIDS awareness in
the judiciary. The conference was held at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel on December 2,
2014.
Photo shows IBP National President Vicente M. Joyas addressing the conference, flanked by (left to right) IBP Executive Director Alicia Risos-Vidal, Teresita
Bagasao of UNAIDS, former Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court of Australia,
Rep. Ibarra M. Gutierrez III and Laurindo
Garcia of B-Charge Foundation.
“Stigma, discrimination and punitive approaches against people living with or at
risk of HIV remain highly prevalent,” said
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe,
adding that “they not only hurt those who
suffer them, but they also threaten effective responses to the epidemic.” Sidibe’s
views were published in the UNAIDS Judicial Handbook on HI�, Human Rights and
the Law.
“Ending HIV requires enabling legal and
social environments that guarantee the
health, dignity and security of people
living with or at risk of HIV.” “This is the
only way to ensure that all those in need
of HIV prevention…have access to these
services without fear of discrimination,”
Sidibe added.
In clarifying the role of the judiciary,
Sidibe said that “courts are often the last
avenue for redress for those who suffer
HIV-related discrimination….” Citing the
strides made by courts such as the South
African Constitutional Court and the Delhi High Court, Sidibe sees examples of
“bold judicial leadership upholding the
The Bar Tribune
rights of people living with or at risk of
HIV, and speaking out for their inclusion
and dignity.”
The UNAIDS Judicial Handbook presented
a helpful perspective from South African
Judge Edwin Cameron: “Indeed, a rigorously lawyerly approach to evidence is all
those living with AIDS and HIV have ever
needed to get fair treatment. Look at the
facts about AIDS and HIV. HIV is a fragile
virus. It is extremely difficult to transmit.
It is non-contagious. It can be transmitted
only through a significant injection of virally active material; this can occur only
through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion or shared syringes. In addition, a
young infant may get HIV from a mother
during birth or breast-feeding. But these
circumstances rarely occur during the
casual engagements of everyday life.”
(JESD)
LEGAL DIPLOMACY. At the Ceremonial
Opening of the Legal Year 2015 in Hong
Kong on January 12,2015, organized by
the Law Society of Hong Kong. IBP officers capture the moment with Geoffrey
Ma Tao-Li, Chief Justice of the Hong Kong
Court of Final Appeal (third from right).
Left to right: Northern Luzon Governor
Edwin O. Betguen, Executive Director
Alicia A. Risos-Vidal, Central Luzon Governor Maria Imelda Q. Tuazon, National
President Vicente M. Joyas and Western
Visayas Governor Von Lovel D. Bedona.
23
March 2015
ASEAN LEGAL INTEGRATION
The integration of legal practice in ASEAN
has preoccupied the IBP since 2011. Thus
far, there is no opinion overwhelmingly
either for its adoption or rejection among
the lawyers of the land.
In a meeting of the leadership of the ASEAN Law Association-Philippine Branch on
November 12, 2014 at the IBP, the subject
was tackled and its merits and weaknesses discussed. As before, no clear resolution came up on the issue. Taking grave
concern, they resolved to carry on with
the issue at the 12th ASEAN Law Association (ALA) General Assembly and draw up
the program and similar preparations for
the event.
Representing IBP at the meeting, aside
from President Vicente Joyas, were past
President Roan Libarios, Executive Vice
President Rosario Setias-Reyes, Chief Legal Counsel Pacifico Agabin, IBP Journal
Editor-in-Chief Merlin Magallona and
Governor for Western Mindanao Von
Bedona.
12th Asean Law Association General Assembly
The ALA General Assembly was held in Makati
Shangri-la Hotel on
Feb. 25-28, 2015 and at
Shangri-la’s Boracay Resort and Spa Discovery
Shores Hotel on March
1-3, 2015. Participants
included lawyers from
all over ASEAN. IBP President Joyas presented
the Philippine Country
Report.
24

201503 TBT

Transcription

Similar documents

Vital Signs Patient Monitor

Integrated Business Planning/Sales

201511 TBT

Legal Aid

Friday, June 7th, 2013 - ZSA Legal Recruitment

201508 TBT

California Family Law Basics - Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law