IBP raises alarm over fund scandals rocking government
The IBP statement, entitled “IBP Stands against Corruption,” which appeared as a paid ad on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, in several national newspapers.
LUCENA CITY, Philippines—The head of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines expressed on Tuesday the serious concern of the country’s association of lawyers over the series of government fund scandals rocking the Aquino administration.
Lucena City-based lawyer Vicente Joyas, IBP president, in a phone interview, said the IBP has not been a passive bystander in the unfolding corruption scandal in the government.
“We are joining our people in this battle against widespread corruption and ransacking of the state coffers,” he said.
Joyas warned that in the coming days, the IBP would issue a much categorical and stronger statement against widespread corruption at the upper echelons of the government, “which could probably end at the door of the executive department.”
He declined to elaborate except by saying that the executive department headed by President Aquino “is the one tasked to implement the laws of the land.”
“We will be critically observing the Senate, Congress and also Malacañang on how they will deal with all these scandalous developments that involve huge amounts of the people’s money,” Joyas said.
On Sept. 27, the IBP, the national organization of lawyers in the country, issued a statement, which was published on Tuesday, as a paid advertisement in several national newspapers.
The statement, entitled “IBP Stands against Corruption,” states that the IBP recognizes “the full supremacy of the rule of law against the illicit acquisition of personal wealth through the use of public power, in particular among those who are entrusted with the duty to make and execute laws.”
It has called for the prosecution of the “raiders of the nation’s treasury.”
Joyas recalled that when the P10-billion pork barrel scam, involving businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, broke out, IBP members from all over the country expressed serious concern on the loss of multibillion-peso state funds to various corruption schemes.
He said the IBP invited law deans of different colleges and universities in Metro Manila to become its panel of experts to study all legal aspects of the issue.
The IBP has said the experts from different law schools, who formed the Consultative Council Against Corruption (CCC), is tasked with “responding to questions of law in regards to corruption…in particular with respect to problems of effective enforcement and prosecution of anti-corruption laws and policies.”
Joyas said when the IBP was deliberating on the contents of the statement the issue on the 20 senators who received a total of P1.107 billion in additional pork barrel a few months after the conviction of ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona had yet to come out in the open.
On Monday, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago also called on the Commission on Audit to investigate Malacañang’s questionable fund releases after the Senate ousted Corona in May last year.
“The IBP officials and the CCC will meet again in the coming days to issue an updated statement,” said Joyas.
On Sept. 18, the IBP organized a “Power Walk kontra Kurapsyon” held at the Ortigas Central Business District, which highlighted the IBP’s support for the campaign against corruption in government.
