IBP backs Sereno call on Palace to prove judges’ ties to drugs

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), a national mandatory organization of lawyers, backed the call of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for  Malacañang to substantiate its accusation against the judges with alleged links to narcotics trade.

In a statement released Thursday, the more than 50,000-member organization through its national President Atty. Rosario T. Setias-Reyes said “the Filipino people would be best served by cooperation and convergence between [the executive and judicial branches of government].”

President Rodrigo Duterte may have been impelled by urgent considerations in his public censure of government officials but the IBP said “judges perform unique functions so essential in the dispensation of justice that require insulation or protection from all types of unwarranted pressure.”

The judges may have been appointed by the President but “it is a basic rule in our Constitutional design as a democratic and republican State that, thereafter, disciplinary power over them is lodged exclusively in the Supreme Court.”

“Separation of powers ensures that no branch of government is controlled or subjected to the influence of another. The principle finds no more cogent application than in the case of our judges who are sworn to be impartial and must resolve cases based only on the facts and the applicable law,” the IBP said adding that the high court’s decision to ask Malacañang to file a complaint against the judges is proper.

“The IBP thus strongly urges the Executive Branch of Government, including its law enforcement arms, to forward to the Supreme Court the formal complaints or actionable information against erring judges so that the judiciary can perform its duty to police its own ranks whether in an adversarial proceeding or a motu propio investigation,” the IBP said, adding that the judges must be given the opportunity to respond to the allegations against them.

Duterte identified seven judges as among the more than a hundred public officers involved in narcotics trade. Of the seven judges, only four are incumbent while one was dismissed in 2007, the other was killed in January 2008 while the other retired last June.

Sereno wrote a letter to Duterte asking for his basis in identifying the judges and told the judges not to surrender to the police without a warrant.

READ: Sereno writes Duterte, airs concern over naming officials, judges

In retaliation, Duterte told Sereno to get out of his way or he will declare martial law. RAM/rga

READ: Duterte warns Sereno: Get out of my way or it’s martial law

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