MANILA, Philippines—A lawyer who accused Supreme Court Associate Justice Dante Tinga of accepting a P10-million bribe from a businessman in a land case has been fined P30,000 by the high tribunal.

In a decision handed down on Oct. 24, the Supreme Court found lawyer Victor de la Serna guilty of indirect contempt and ordered him to pay the fine within 10 days.

“Attorney De la Serna has transcended the permissible bounds of fair comment and criticism,” said the court in its decision.

“His irresponsible and baseless statements, his unrepentant stance and smug insistence on his malicious and unfounded accusation against Justice Tinga have sullied the dignity and authority of this court,” it said.

Inhibition

The contempt charge arose from De la Serna’s request that Tinga inhibit himself from hearing the motion for reconsideration the lawyer filed on Nov. 9, 2007, in a land dispute against businessman Johnny Chan’s real estate company.

De la Serna represented Chan’s opponent, Carmelita Fudot.

The lawyer said Chan had told him in a meeting on Sept. 26, 2007, that he (Chan) had given Tinga P10 million in exchange for a decision in his favor.

Two weeks earlier, on Sept. 13, 2007, the Supreme Court in a decision penned by Tinga ruled in favor of Chan’s Cattleya Land Inc. over Fudot.

No logic

“Attorney De la Serna’s attribution of advance knowledge to Mr. Chan, apart from being incongruent with the declarations of the other personalities, does not dovetail with logic and common sense,” the high court said.

The court said Chan was “earnest” in asking for a meeting with De la Serna in late September.

“Had he known about the decision earlier, and more importantly, had he really paid P10 million for a favorable decision, he would not have reiterated his offer or suggested any further meetings with De la Serna,” the court said.

“From a related perspective, it would be plainly foolhardy for Mr. Chan to go through all the trouble and risk of bribing a Supreme Court justice in the amount of P10 million when he could have directly acquired the property by paying off De la Serna with the same amount which the latter had demanded in the first place,” it said.

Credible decision

The court also upheld Tinga, saying that after a review of the records of the case, it found Tinga’s decision “was made in accordance with the law and established jurisprudence.” Norman Bordadora