MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan, Philippines — A practicing lawyer in this province known as the home of the “Great Propagandists” said on Thursday that the views and opinion of the 10 national officers of Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) do not necessarily embody the voice of the legal profession in the country.
Lawyer Renato “Jun” Samonte Jr., former president of the IBP-Gat. Marcelo H. Del Pilar Chapter, said on Thursday that the IBP statement, released by its national president Atty. Roan Libarios in support of embattled Chief Justice Renato Corona, has drawn mixed reactions among law practitioners in the country.
Samonte said many lawyers in this province actually expressed a dissenting view and support for the ongoing impeachment proceedings.
He said that what was followed by the legislative branch in approving the Articles of Impeachment against Corona was a procedure within the framework of the 1987 Constitution.
Samonte was referring to the paid half-page advertisement in national dailies where the national officers of the IBP were urging President Aquino “to adhere to the democratic processes and accord due respects to the legal mandate of co-equal branches of government.”
“So what Rule of Law was violated when the House of Representative passed—in lighting fashion—the Articles of Impeachment signed by the required number of congressmen and complied with all the strictures of the 1987 Constitution, the fundamental law of the country,” Samonte said.
“As lawyer-member of the IBP-Gat. Marcelo H. Del Pilar Chapter, we Bulakenyos should be the first to rally and support the democratic ideals of our forebears who fought for freedom, independence and sovereignty against all forms of dictatorship,” Samonte said.
The IBP statement also reminded the president that as a head of state, “it is also his constitutional duty to strengthen—and not undermine—the institution and pillars of the justice system which include the Supreme Court.
At the same time, the Bulacan PNP Press Corps (BPPC) supported the stand of Samonte and other legal luminaries in Bulacan including fiscals and judges who also share the view that Corona should now face the music and prepare his defense at the impeachment trial before the Senate that has been duly-constituted as the Impeachment Court.
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