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Re1989 Election of The IBP 178 SCRA 398 (Judicial Department-Powers-digest)

The Supreme Court conducted an inquiry into reports of violations during the 1989 election of officers for the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). An investigating committee found 10 violations of the IBP's by-laws. The Supreme Court ruled that candidates and participants violated the IBP's by-laws and ethics of the legal profession by engaging in intensive electioneering, overspending, and unlawful practices that eroded respect for the law and legal system. The unseemly pursuit of the IBP presidency detracted from the dignity of the legal profession.

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393 views1 page

Re1989 Election of The IBP 178 SCRA 398 (Judicial Department-Powers-digest)

The Supreme Court conducted an inquiry into reports of violations during the 1989 election of officers for the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). An investigating committee found 10 violations of the IBP's by-laws. The Supreme Court ruled that candidates and participants violated the IBP's by-laws and ethics of the legal profession by engaging in intensive electioneering, overspending, and unlawful practices that eroded respect for the law and legal system. The unseemly pursuit of the IBP presidency detracted from the dignity of the legal profession.

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Concon Fabricante
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TOPIC: The Judicial Department- Powers

A.M. No. 491 October 6, 1989

IN THE MATTER OF THE INQUIRY INTO THE 1989 ELECTIONS OF THE


INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Fact:

In June 3, 1989, national officers of the IBP were elected by the House Delegates and
were proclaimed as officers. The newly elected officers were set to take their oath of office the
following day before the Supreme Court en banc but was suspended as the same due to the
widespread reports received by some members of the Court from lawyers who had witnessed or
participated In the proceeding and the adverse comments published in the columns of some
newspapers about the intensive electioneering and overspending by the candidates, led by the 3
principal candidates for the office of the President of the Association, namely, Attorneys Nereo
Paculdo, Ramon Nisce, and Violeto Drilon.

Hence, the Supreme Court, in exercising its powers of supervision over the IBP, inquiries
into the veracity of the reports. At the formal investigation which was conducted by the
investigating committee ten (10) violations were established.

Issue:

Is the IBP by-laws are violated during the 1989 election of the IBP officers?

Ruling:

Yes. The Supreme Court ruled that the candidates and many of the participants in that
election not only violated the By-Laws of the IBP but also the ethics of the legal profession
which imposes on all lawyers, as a corollary of their obligation to obey and uphold the
constitution and the laws, the duty to "promote respect for law and legal processes" and to
abstain from 'activities aimed at defiance of the law or at lessening confidence in the legal
system" (Rule 1.02, Canon 1, Code of Professional Responsibility). Respect for law is gravely
eroded when lawyers themselves, who are supposed to be millions of the law, engage in
unlawful practices and cavalierly brush aside the very rules that the IBP formulated for their
observance.

The unseemly ardor with which the candidates pursued the presidency of the association
detracted from the dignity of the legal profession. The spectacle of lawyers bribing or being
bribed to vote one way or another, certainly did not uphold the honor of the profession nor
elevate it in the public's esteem

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