Disbarment vs De Lima, Lacierda pushed

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—The disbarment case against Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda is now with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Commission on Bar Discipline.

IBP President Roan Libarios, in a text message said “as to the action taken by the IBP, it will be assigned initially to our Commission on Bar Discipline.”

The Commission on Bar Discipline shall conduct the initial inquiry into the complaint and will come up with a recommendation, which will be submitted to the IBP Board for approval.

De Lima is already doubting if the IBP will be objective in handling their case.

“I was hoping and I was expecting that the Supreme Court will dismiss the complaint. Now the Supreme Court decided to refer it to the IBP for fact-finding and for recommendation. But the Supreme Court has an option and discretion that they can dismiss it outright,” De Lima said.

“And remember the leadership of the IBP has an official position on the disbarment; di ba they’ve been supporting the chief justice,” she told reporters after a speaking engagement in Pangasinan Wednesday.

Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court has referred to the IBP the disbarment complaint against De Lima and Lacierda.

Private lawyer Agustin Sundiam asked the high court to take disciplinary action against De Lima and Lacierda for their utterances and remarks on national television where they called Chief Justice Renato Corona a “lawless tyrant”.

Sundiam said the two secretaries violated their oath as lawyers requiring them to “observe and maintain the respect and dignity due to the courts of justice and judicial offers.”

De Lima, in a statement, said Corona was “a tyrant who holds himself above justice and accountability.”

“There is no gainsaying that the subject remarks were calculated precisely to degrade or tend to degrade the administration of justice and erode and undermine the people’s confidence in this Honorable Supreme Court and the judicial officers,” Sundiam said.