THE
BAR
AUGUST
2015
The Official Publication of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Atty. Rosario T. Setias-Reyes
THE FIRST LADY
NATIONAL PRESIDENT
I Stand!
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SC’s swift action
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Meet the Govs
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The Bar
Volume 12
Number 2
Official Publication of the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
15 J. Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Tel. No. 63.2 6313014 • Telefax No. 63.2 9100417
Website: www.ibp.ph • Email: ibp_national@yahoo.com
Board of Governors
ROSARIO T. SETIAS-REYES
Chairman
ABDIEL DAN ELIJAH S. FAJARDO
Vice Chairman &
Governor for Western Visayas
FRANKLIN B. CALPITO
Governor for Northern Luzon
JOSE I. DE LA RAMA, JR.
Governor for Central Luzon
BIENVENIDO I. SOMERA, JR.
Governor for Southern Luzon
ROMEO B. IGOT
Governor for Greater Manila
EMERSON B. AQUENDE
Governor for Bicolandia
MAE ELAINE T. BATHAN
Governor for Eastern Visayas
CAESAR S. EUROPA
Governor for Eastern Mindanao
DOMINGO T. REDELOSA IV
Governor for Western Mindanao
National Officers
ROSARIO T. SETIAS-REYES
National President
ABDIEL DAN ELIJAH S. FAJARDO
Executive Vice President
PATRICIA ANN T. PRODIGALIDAD
National Secretary
MARIA TERESITA C. SISON GO
National Treasurer
ROSALIE J. DELA CRUZ
National Executive Director & Chief of Staff
JONAS FLORENTINO D.L. CABOCHAN
National Director for Legal Aid
RAMON S. ESGUERRA
National Director for Integrity & Bar Discipline
RENATO S. DE JESUS
National Director for Peer Assistance,
Welfare and Benefits Program
PACIFICO A. AGABIN
Chief Legal Counsel Emeritus
VICENTE M. JOYAS
General Legal Counsel
MERLIN M. MAGALLONA
Editor-in-Chief, IBP Journal
MARIA ANGELA N. ESQUIVEL
Assistant National Secretary
JEWEL D. BULOS
Assistant National Treasurer
AVELINO V. SALES, JR.
Deputy Director for Bar Discipline
VICTOR D. RODRIGUEZ
Deputy Legal Counsel
MELANO ELVIS M. BALAYAN
Presidential Assistant on Chapter Affairs
NASSER A. MAROHOMSALIC
Presidential Assistant on Publications & Media
PERRY L. PE
Presidential Assistant on International Linkages
EDUARDO A. LABITAG
Presidential Assistant on ASEAN Integration &
Paralegal Services
DOMINGO EGON Q. CAYOSA
Presidential Assistant on Environment
DONEMARK JOSEPH L. CALIMON
Presidential Assistant on Alternative Dispute Resolution
President’s Corner
Reaching Out, Shaping Up
T
he importance of publication and media in the life of an organization, especially one that is imbued with public interest or public responsibility like the IBP,
cannot be overemphasized. Nevertheless,
a jargon popularized by Mark Rubin exemplifies the point: Publish and publicize, or
perish!
Publication and media are correlative concepts. In fact, they cohere with each other.
In more picturesque and practical terms,
they are two sides of the same coin.
Thus, in popular lexicon publication or
publishing refers to the activity of making
information available to the public, and
carrying out information to the public relates to the medium of publication — print
or radio or electronic media. Knowledge
or any writing by whatever genre creates
impact if circulated through the popular
media.
In my Inaugural Address, I hammered
home the reforms to shape up the IBP
and get the organization to better serve its
membership and make it socially relevant
as well in the pursuit of its objectives and
mandates.
And the Bar Tribune, which I now renamed
as The Bar, will carry out the task for the
information and communication aspect of
the work to shape up the IBP.
Lest I be misunderstood, The Bar, to borrow from Coco Chanel, “(is not going to)
spend time to beating on a wall, hoping
to transform it into a door.” But it must
do every care for the vision of the IBP and
help out in its realization by reporting out
the goings-on in the IBP. Of course, The
Bar will not be limited to the affairs of the
IBP. In order to be socially relevant, it must
take on social problems and reach out to
writers to contribute articles thereon.
The Bar will come out every end of the
month beginning next month to keep our
membership up to date on the various activities of our chapters, policy statements
of the National Leadership and matters of
importance to the organization. In order
to reach wide readership, it is digitalized
and therefore downloadable from the IBP
website. Consistent with the character of
the IBP, it will be non-political. I urge every
chapter to send reports on its activities
in news form, together with photos, for
publication in The Bar.
The publication obtains from the National
Office. To reach out further to our public
and pitch in and help shape up the IBP, local chapters should get spots in local newspapers, radios and local cable televisions.
Still on shaping up the IBP: I, together with
the Board of Governors and the National
Officers, will carry on with the policy of my
predecessors on hotting up publicity by
advertisement in tri-media, press releases
and conferences to advance the objectives
and mandates of the IBP, including its advocacies.
ROSARIO T. SETIAS-REYES
National President
JOSE VICENTE R.M. OPINION
Presidential Assistant on Human Rights
NILO T. DIVINA
Committee Chairman, Legal Education,
Bar Admission & Research Services
We welcome feedback and
suggestions. Please write to
ibp.publication@gmail.com.
ABOUT THE BACKGROUND ON THE COVER
ANNOUNCEMENT
The high-rise structure is a perspective on
the 26-storey IBP Tower set for completion in
2016.
Please send news articles of interest to the
Bar and the Bench and the nation for publication in the Bar. We reserve our editorial prerogative.
The Bar
I STAND !
[Inaugural Speech of Atty. Rosario T. Setias-Reyes as President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines before the Supreme Court En Banc, at its
Session Hall on July 07, 2015.]
On the foreground: IBP National President Reyes
taking her oath before the Supreme Court En Banc.
Y
our Honors, the Chief Justice and
Associate Justices of the Supreme
Court, good afternoon.
I stand, on the bidding of tradition and
in legal regalia, to express my salutation
to the magistracy of the High Court as
well as the obeisance of the lawyers of
the land, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, to the majesty of the law.
In the name of the IBP let me give thanks
to the Supreme Court for strengthening,
simplifying and speeding up the judicial
process, with its adoption of the rules on
paperless pleading, judicial-affidavit testimony, continuous hearing and presentation of evidence, including the expansion
of auxiliary writs to promote and protect
further not only individual but collective
rights. Needless to state, these legal innovations enhanced the practice of law in
the country. I bid our lawyers to do their
role as officers of the court.
OUR CREDO
Let me annunciate our credo. As men and
women of the law, to borrow the articulation of Justice JBL Reyes, the icon and
first president of the official organization
of lawyers, “We have no master, but law;
no guidance, but our conscience; no aim,
but justice.”
This aphorism has become the shibboleth
of the legal profession. But this instructive expression could also belong to every
profession imbued with public responsibility. Otherwise, where people practice
their professions in mincemeat of this injunction, they will fall by the wayside of
misfeasance and malfeasance.
STABILITY AND DEMOCRATIZATION
As your Honors know, in our most recent
past the IBP toddled through a leadership
crisis, especially in its 2009-2011 term,
brought about by controversies attending
the 2009 gubernatorial elections in three
regions of the organization. Sadly, that
election exposed the tenuous character
of our legal corporate as a non-political
Bar as much as the freakiness among lawyers to bend and break the rules in the
name of partisanship and fraternalism.
Nevertheless, the cavalier handling by the
IBP Board of the petitions and protests
arising from that exercise got to the calendar of the Court. The resolution of the
case in 2010 and the subsequent election
of Atty. Roan Libarios as Executive Vice
President of the IBP and his assumption
as President thereof shortly after made,
for a game changer for the IBP in terms of
its stability and the democratization of its
leadership, among others.
Despite the dash and thrash of political intrigues and disregard for the IBP
by detractors, President Libarios held on
and steadied our corporate vessel on its
keel. By the time he reached port, he had
forged with the Ortigas Group the build
building on a B.O.T. arrangement of a 26-storey
IBP TOWER on the lot of the IBP adjacent
to its other lot where our national building stands.
The succession of the outgoing President,
Atty. Vic Joyas, to the helm of IBP jumpstarted developments.
Today, I stand before your Honors as National President of the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines, a proud inheritor of their
legacies and beneficiary of the changeover in the organization occasioned by
your resolution on the brewing election
controversy.
I stand too, your Honors, if I may say the
obvious, on the shoulders of these two
gentlemen and see my way far into the
horizon. Under the presidency of Atty.
Libarios, I served as Executive Director of
the National Center for Legal Aid. During
the incumbency of President Joyas, I was
Governor for Greater Manila Region and
Executive Vice President.
FRONTIERS OF POLICY
To be sure, the policy objectives of the
IBP remain the same. As provided in our
By-Laws, they are three-fold, namely: 1)
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
3
August 2015
To raise the standards of the legal profession; 2) To improve the administration of
justice; and 3) To enable it to discharge its
public responsibility more effectively.
Since the integration of the Bar in 1971,
the IBP has created offices and adopted
and enhanced strategies to carry out its
mandates.
LEGAL ETHICS AND BAR DISCIPLINE
As regards the twin-mandate of the IBP to
raise the standards of the legal profession
and improve the administration of justice, during the term of President Libarios
the Commission on Bar Discipline was
renamed as the National Commission on
Integrity and Bar Discipline to underscore
the shift to the preventive approach at
combating the problem of waywardness
among lawyers, a far better strategy than
the reactive kind imposing punitive sanctions on lawyers every time they violated
their oath and the ethics of the profession, it being a form of retributive justice
that proceeds actually from vengeance,
one of man’s most primeval nature characteristic of his Neanderthal beginning
and the crudeness of civilization.
Towards this end, your Honors must have
noticed, in our national conventions and
big assemblies, the IBP invited no less
than the members of this August Body to
speak on legal ethics. At the helm of the
judicial hierarchy, they are better warners
and their words will likely stick like a stiletto at the throats of lawyers.
The disposal of disciplinary bar cases and
the declogging of our dockets are not
only an issue of administration but one of
process. In due time, I will submit to the
Supreme Court for its consideration our
amendments to CBD Rules that will mandate the dismissal of unmeritorious and
harassment complaints against lawyers at
the level of preliminary investigation.
My immediate predecessor appointed
41 Commissioners to hear cases against
lawyers, and this greatly contributed to
the speedy disposition of cases and the
declogging of our dockets. This counts
among the highest number of commissioners appointed to the Commission on
Integrity and Bar Discipline, and I intend
to maintain that number and increase it
as may be necessary.
BAR AND BENCH DIALOGUE
To update lawyers’ knowledge of sub-
4
stantive and procedural law, we have also
begun inviting justices of the Court of Appeals and the High Court in our MCLE program as Resource Persons. This offers us
the opportunity to have a dialogue on the
side with them. This is a new introduction
by the Libarios Board to the old program
of the organization known as Bar and
Bench Dialogue. I will continue this program, with the support of the judiciary.
FRESH LOOK, NEW DIRECTION
The IBP is the home of the legal profession. However, some critics hold a contrary view and say that it is not where
the heart is. Sadly, this is a home truth,
which must be addressed. Already, plans
and programs are afoot to freshen up and
tool up the IBP to serve the requirements
of our lawyers in the exercise of the legal
profession as well as the interest of the
public.
One at the top of our list relates to the
computerization of our records, with
online information and communication
features. We have already begun negotiation with IT providers to establish an integrated online system that will allow lawyers to transact with IBP relative to their
payment of dues, MCLE Compliance and
other needs. An agreement for the purpose may be forged within my term. The
list of lawyers and our publications are
provided in our website. During the 20th
Board, we had our E-Library. I will restore
it under my watch.
The IBP Journal is another venue. It will
undertake to publish an annual survey of
Philippine jurisprudence on the different
fields of law starting with its 2014 volume. A précis but a comprehensive presentation, this survey will come handy to
legal practitioners, law students and Bar
reviewees, including professors and lecturers.
Legal writing must not only be a financial enterprise in the practice of law; it
must be a social commentary on the ills
of society and exegesis especially on the
paucity of the law, its social matrix that is
tailored-fit in the first place to the interest of the powers-that-be.
Anent this, the IBP Journal will cover
thematic issues or legal and political constructs as they relate to the marginalized
sectors and social ills of society. These
are, among others: Centralism, Autonomy and Federalism; Sovereignty and SelfDetermination; Peace and Reconciliation;
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
Political and Economic Democratization
and Empowerment; Plutocracy and Democracy; and Globalization and International Interventionism.
At this juncture, your Honors, it is apposite to mention that two prestigious, international publishing companies on legal
literature have offered partnership with
IBP to disseminate to their subscribers articles in our journal under certain terms
and conditions. We have already forged
an agreement with one of them, Westlaw
Philippines, which is the latest jurisdiction
of Westlaw Asia. Our IBP Journal will be
included in the indexes of international
legal literature, and articles and treatises
therein may find their way into the writings of foreign jurists and legal scholars,
including decisions of foreign courts and
tribunals. Just these prospects overly
thrilled me.
The Bar Tribune, the official publication
of the IBP, is going to have a regular staff
and will come out every month and regularly. Activities of our local chapters will
now see print in due course, not when
they become stale news. For certain, this
publication will serve as an exhortatory
medium for our local chapters to come
up with activities and stand out.
Besides its traditional functions of legal
advocacy in relation to judicial and quasijudicial controversies which interest the
IBP, our Office of the General Counsel
is now assigned with the mandate to liaise with Congress and proposed human
rights and social justice legislations, support and actively participate in the crafting of similar legislations in Congress during its committee deliberations.
The IBP leadership will also look into
the situation of paralegal practice in the
country. Unlike in the United States our
paralegal service is not considered a professional or service industry, and paralegals carry position titles or designations
which do not describe the true nature of
their work.
With our lack of lawyers, our burgeoning
population and exponential increase of
cases, the need for paralegals becomes
urgent necessitating the establishment of
a system defining what forms of legal intervention they may be allowed to.
The practice of the law profession may be
enhanced with the introduction of clinical
legal education into the curricula of all law
schools. As far as I know few law schools
The Bar
offer the subject as a requirement for
graduation, and they are mostly located
in Metro Manila. In the United States the
University of Pennsylvania offers a course
on litigation as a post-graduate degree.
We will be glad to work with the Philippine Legal Education Board and the Supreme Court for this reform program.
HEART AND SOUL OF POLICY
Your Honors, we are not only gearing up
the IBP to address more effectively its traditional mandates. We shall make the IBP
the home of lawyers, where their hearts
are; where, when they have to go there,
to paraphrase Robert Frost, they don’t
have to knock to go in. When the 26-storey IBP Tower is finished during our term,
the IBP will be a classy home from home
for our lawyers.
MERCHANT PARTNERSHIP
Opportunities abound for IBP to take
on welfare work for our lawyers. For example, many business establishments do
social marketing, or what is called Merchant Partnership, offering discounts to
members of social and professional associations for purchases made in their malls
and stores.
The IBP should partake of the blessings of
our social market economy. Our Peer Assistance Office will take on this new task,
that is, to see to the forging of partnership with these businesses that practice
social corporate responsibility.
SOCIAL INSURANCE FOR LAWYERS
Your Honors, another social brick to
build into the IBP is the establishment
of a social insurance for lawyers an idea
that is worth pursuing. Whether this falls
squarely on any of the three-fold mandate of the IBP is not, I believe, a serious
issue to contend on.
As it is, we only provide financial assistance of P20,000 to the family of a deceased lawyer. This is only a token recognition of their membership in the IBP and
their contributions to society.
Public school teachers and officials have
their own mutual aid insurance system.
Why not the lawyers?
Like any professional, lawyers are subject
to the vicissitudes of life, or the wheel of
fate and fortune, if you will. And when
vitiated with adversities, they need the
one thousand hands of compassion, the
Avolokiteshvara of Buddhist legend, now
personified in a way by the IBP. Who
doesn’t need a helping hand?
Your Honors, I will push for the adoption of a mutual aid insurance system for
lawyers, its social fund sourced from a
portion of their dues and contributions,
public and private donations, among others. From this common fund lawyers may
draw loan at most advantageous terms.
In due time and with the approval of the
IBP Board, I shall submit our proposal to
the Supreme Court for its action.
LEGAL INSURANCE FOR THE POOR
Your Honors, another pretty idea summons attention. A bill mandating the establishment of a legal insurance for the
poor is now pending in the House of Representatives.
In this bill, a social fund is sought to be
established from the ten percent of the
net incomes of PAGCOR, the Philippine
Sweepstakes and Duty Free Philippines.
Already, PAGCOR has signified its willingness to contribute the amount but to be
taken from the fifty percent share of Government of its net income as earmarked
under the law. The two other GOCCs have
lauded the bill but have not put a cap on
their respective contributions, in view of
existing projects they are funding.
From this social fund, the costs of litigation in courts and quasi-judicial bodies to
be incurred by poor litigants may be defrayed including travelling expenses, accommodation, bonds for temporary liberty and civil liability, among others. Herein,
the IBP will play an important or central
role, given the powers to determine what
indigent party qualifies as a beneficiary
and how much money goes for what. It is
also tasked to make implementing rules
and regulations for its enforcement. At
the hearing in the House of Representatives last May 19, 2015, the IBP batted to
undertake the management and administration of the program.
This bill is a breath of fresh air, and we
look forward to its enactment. As it now
obtains, our legal aid program for the
indigents is grossly inadequate. The IBP
only provides free legal services such
as representation in judicial and quasijudicial bodies, drafting of affidavits and
pleadings, and xeroxing of documents.
It is observed that most poor clientele
abandoned their cases for lack of money to defray their travelling expenses,
among others. Or, they are simply rat
poor to care for other things beside their
The members of the 22nd IBP Board of Governors taking their oath before the Supreme Court En Banc. From L-R: Atty. Domingo T. Redelosa IV, Governor for Western Mindanao; Atty. Caesar S. Europa, Governor for Eastern Mindanao; Atty. Mae Elaine T. Bathan, Governor
for Eastern Visayas; Atty. Emerson B. Aquende, Governor for Bicolandia; Atty. Abdiel Dan Elijah S. Fajardo, Executive Vice President and
Governor for Western Visayas; Atty. Franklin B. Calpito, Governor for Northern Luzon; Atty. Jose I. De La Rama, Jr., Governor for Central
Luzon; Atty. Bienvenido I. Somera, Jr., Governor for Southern Luzon; and Atty. Romeo B. Igot, Governor for Greater Manila.
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
5
August 2015
hand-to-mouth existence.
For sure, this bill if enacted will dress up
the social justice entity in our constitution with legal apparel and enable the IBP,
to quote its third mandate, “to discharge
its public responsibility more effectively.”
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE
Like my predecessors, your Honors, I
stand for judicial independence with the
power of judicial review of the Supreme
Court absolute.
By ordinance of our political system and
experience, the Supreme Court is made
the last bastion of our freedom and democracy, and this is not any hollow claim.
In practical terms it is a bastion because
it has for its sentinels all the lawyers of
the land. And lawyers, to borrow from
Tocqueville, constitute the elite in society
and their influence pervasive.
During the incumbency of my two immediate predecessors, your Honors, the
IBP served as a border fortress in the defense of judicial independence. And, as I
said, I was with them and, up until now,
the memory lingered in my mind – how
the IBP dug its heels to the onslaught of
political interventionism when it came
out strong for judicial independence and
scored against the persecutory character
of the Senate Impeachment Trial in 2012.
Again, against the threat to clip the judicial review power of the Supreme Court
in the wake of its ruling on the DAP and
the PDAP, we also came out strong for the
Supreme Court. Any sentinel of law and
democracy, as lawyers of this country are
lionized in legal literature, cannot afford
to be fickle or to become fence hanger in
the face of attempts to degrade the Supreme Court. The reason is self-evident.
If the Supreme Court is clipped of its judicial review power and reduced into a
mere spectator at the wreaking of our
democratic way of life by the other departments of government on the pretext
of political exigency and expediency, the
legal profession would lose its luster and
relevance. Lawyers themselves would be
reduced to fidgets at the exercise of martial rule beyond restraint by agents of the
State.
Indeed, as a sentinel of law and democracy and for its pivotal role in society, the
IBP cannot afford to have for a generalissimo the likes of King Henry VIII, a Catholic who professed Protestantism when
the Papacy denied his petition to divorce
his wife, Catherine of Aragon.
NOBLE COMMITMENT
We hold dear our profession, and together with our Board of Governors, our
National Officers and the Office-Bearers
of our local chapters, I shall carry out the
burden of office as a mother would attend assiduously to her newborn in the
unholy hours of the night, breaking sleep
now and then.
Your Honors, although I stand here and
relish the moment, I realized that our
commitment is not beyond and without
breadth of horizon. We are not canting
moralist who does not admit his human
imperfections.
So, today, your Honors, here on the floor
of this August Chamber of Judicial Justice of the land, I beseech the Almighty
God that We, the IBP and our 22nd Board
of Governors, may sail through our twoyear term in office without any brewing
controversy.
I am keeping the faith. I am moving forward.
Thank you and good day!
PHOTOS TAKEN ON THE TESTIMONIAL RECEPTION FOR THE 22ND IBP BOARD OF GOVERNORS AT THE MANILA HOTEL
Speakers at the dinner reception (L-R): Hon. Ma. Lourdes P.A. Sereno, Supreme Court Chief Justice; Dean Nilo T. Divina, UST Faculty of Civil Law; Man Hee Lee, Chairman,
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL); Nam Hee Lee, Chairwoman, International Women’s Peace Group; Atty. Vicente M. Joyas, Immediate IBP Past
President; and Atty. Abdiel Dan Elijah S. Fajardo, Executive Vice President and Governor for Western Visayas.
6
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
The Bar
PressCon at the IBP
From L-R: Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic, Presidential Assistant on Publications and Media; Mr. Ferdinand Gaite, President of COURAGE; Atty. Rosario T. Setias-Reyes, IBP National President; Atty. Jose I. De La Rama, Jr., IBP Governor for Central Luzon and Chairman of the National Center for Legal Aid; Ms. Rose Nartates, President, Consolidated
Union of Employees in the National Housing Authority; and Ms. Antonieta Dizon, Deputy Secretary General of COURAGE.
IBP welcomes SC’s swift action
“T
he last bastion of Philippine democracy is also the court of last resort
for the people who seek protection
of their basic human rights. As such, the
timing of the resolution couldn’t have
come at the most judicious time,” IBP National President Rosario Setias-Reyes said
of the Supreme Court for its swift action
on the petition for writ of amparo and habeas data by 26 members of three progressive organizations. The petition was
filed on July 14, 2015 and the resolution
granting the writ of amparo and habeas
data was issued on August 04, 2015.
In an En Banc Resolution, the High Court
resolved to: a) Issue a Writ of Amparo
and Habeas Data; b) refer the petition
to the Court of Appeals (CA) for immediate raffle among CA justices; c) order the
respondents to make a verified return of
the writ before the CA within fifteen (15)
days from receipt thereof and to comment on the petition within the same
period, to be filed with the CA; d) direct
the CA to immediately set the petition
for hearing and decide the case within
thirty days (30) after its submission for
decision; and e) require the petitioners to
submit, within five (5) days from notice
hereof, a verified declaration that the petition and annexes submitted electronically are complete and true copies of the
printed document and annexes filed with
the Supreme Court.
The leaders and members of the three
progressive groups — COURAGE (the national center of progressive employees),
Salinlahi and Children’s Rehabilitation
Center — sought the court’s protection
after more than 20 cases of harassment,
direct threats and surveillance were documented. However, the attacks have further escalated. On the same day of the
filing of the petition, COURAGE leader
Antonietta Dizon sought refuge at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Ortigas
(they earlier requested for legal aid for
their members) after a convoy of vehicles
believed to be carrying military intelligence agents and assets tailed her from
the Supreme Court. She has holed-up at
the IBP center where COURAGE members
held vigil until July 27 when she decided
to transfer to a more secure place.
In an earlier statement, the IBP strongly
condemned the harassment and intimidation perpetrated by elements of the
military and the police against members
of the progressive sectors, particularly
political activists and advocates.
“This high-handed exercise of authority
is a throwback to Martial Law and has no
place in our democracy. Progressive organizations have scored against government for its OplanBayanihan as a coercive instrument of policy to sow docility
among their ranks and dampen their spirit to carry on their advocacy for change.
And the IBP cannot help but relate to
their sentiments”.
The IBP stressed that the progressive organizations have forayed into the political arena and partook of our democratic
life since May 2001, and there can be no
worse disservice to our fledgling democracy than their crackdown by ways and
means in mincement of the Rule of Law.
Participants / attendees at the Presscon at JBL Reyes Hall, IBP National Office.
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
7
August 2015
PRESS STATEMENT OF THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES
The IBP strongly condemns the harassment and intimidation perpetrated by elements of the military and
the police against members of the progressive sectors of our society, particularly political activists and
advocates. This high-handed exercise of authority is a throwback to Martial Law and has no place in our
democracy.
Progressive organizations have scored against government for its Oplan Bayanihan as a coercive instrument of policy to sow docility among their ranks and dampen their spirit to carry on their advocacy for
change. And the IBP cannot help but relate to their sentiment, wrought up with the crackdown on them
by the strong apparat of the State for the past several years.
Last July 11, 2015, COURAGE, an organization of public sector unions bannering for and spearheading
the advancement of the right to organize unions in government in the country, sought legal aid from IBP
for their members, who were harassed by agents of the State and had filed a petition for habeas data
and amparo with the Supreme Court last July 14, 2015. One of their own, a petitioner in the case, was
tailed on that day by agents of the State in a silver Innova and three motorcycles on their way from the
Supreme Court to the IBP National Office at Ortigas Center, Pasig City. They parked their vehicles within
the immediate vicinity of the IBP till the early dark hours of the morning, some of whom loitering about
with sling bags. The same car had tailed her and some members of COURAGE in the past days.
Two members of the Pasig Police Office at Barangay San Antonio had gone to the IBP that night and were
accordingly apprised of the incident. They were provided with a video footage of the stalkers and their
car.
The intensity of this operation alarms us enough to take grave concern for the security and safety of
cause-oriented activists and advocates, and the IBP hereby denounces in the strongest term this paranoidal actuation of some elements of the security and enforcement agencies of Government.
The IBP notes that the progressive organizations have forayed into the political arena and partook of our
democratic life since May 2001, and there can be no worse disservice to our fledgling democracy than
their crackdown by ways and means in mincemeat of the Rule of Law.
IBP hereby seeks Congressional intervention to arrest this political slide down in our democratic life from
going into a free fall.
8
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
The Bar
F
rench poet Alphonse de Lamortine said, and I quote:
“There is a woman at the beginning of all great things.”
TESTIMONIAL
for the
First Lady National President
by Hon. Oscar C. Herrera, Jr.
Associate Justice, Sandiganbayan
President, UST Law Alumni Foundation, Inc.
[Delivered during the Testimonial Dinner held on July 27, 2015
at the Gabaldon Room, Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan City.]
My friends, countless great things have happened that made the Thomasian Law Alumni proud and inspired. The achievement of
the woman we are honoring this evening is
among them.
Tonight, our beloved UST Law Alumni Foundation, Inc. has the pleasure and privilege of
extolling this woman, a truly outstanding UST
Law Alumna, for bringing honor and prestige
to our alma mater.
I am referring of course to Atty. Rosario T.
Setias-Reyes of UST Law Class 1973. She is
“Atty. Rose” or plainly “Rose” to many. We are
tendering this testimonial dinner in recognition of her remarkable ascension to the position of National President, for 2015 to 2017,
of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP),
the 55,000 strong male-dominated mandatory organization of lawyers in the country.
Atty. Rose made history as she became the
first ever woman to hold the position.
The Presidency of the IBP is just one of the
many milestones in the distinguished and
colorful career of Atty. Rose. A summary of
her life story will serve as a genuine source of
encouragement and inspiration to many.
Atty. Rose was born years back on the first of
May in Allen, Samar, but she grew up in a far
flung town in the southernmost part of Palawan – that’s Brooke’s Point, which is almost
two hundred (200) kilometers away from Puerto Princesa. She is the third child in a brood
of nine (9) of the late Benjamin M. Setias, an
Ilongo, and Pilar A. Tonog, a Waray.
Atty. Rose finished her primary education in
a public school – Brooke’s Point Central Elementary School where she graduated Salutatorian in 1961.
In high school, she also graduated Salutatorian in 1965 at the Sacred Heart of Jesus High
School also in Brooke’s Point, Palawan. This is
a private school ran by Augustinian Sisters.
Even as early as then, her father had taught
her to fight for what she believed was right.
She believed in her heart then that she deserved to be the valedictorian. In the speech
she delivered during their graduation ceremonies, she bravely expressed her disagreement
and posed a challenge that whoever is able to
maintain scholarship in college would be the
ultimate proof of who is the better student.
With hard work and lots of prayers, she was
able to maintain her scholarship in college at
the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, Major in
Political Science. [Their Valedictorian also enrolled at UST, at the College of Nursing, but
quit school after the first semester allegedly
due to poor health.]
Atty. Rose says that much of what she has
become and who she is today, she owes to
her beloved parents. It was her father who
insisted that she take up law also at UST after
earning the degree in Political Science. She
obliged – a decision she did not and will never
ever regret.
Atty. Rose took up and finished Law at the
UST Faculty of Civil Law in 1973 and passed
the Bar Examinations in 1974.
Atty. Rose believes that nothing happens by
accident. Every single event that happened
in her life, whether good or bad, was part
of God’s plan for her. When she was in high
school, she already had a dream or vision of
what she wanted in life – to finish a college
degree, work in a reputable banking institution, save and build a dream house where her
family can live comfortably. She imagined herself as the “Big Boss”.
To a large extent, Atty. Rose believes that she
has achieved her dream. Immediately after
taking the Bar in 1973 and before the results of the Bar came out in May 1974, she
got employed with the National Investment
and Development Corporation (NIDC), an
investment subsidiary of the Philippine National Bank which, at that time, was one of
the biggest commercial banks in the country.
In 1984, she transferred to the Construction
Development Corporation of the Philippines
(now Philippine National Construction Corporation) and then went back to the banking
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
9
August 2015
industry where she rose from the rank and
finally got the position of Vice-President for
Legal Affairs.
In the internet, Atty. Rose is described as a
corporate lawyer and “one who worked in
various well-known financial banking institutions in the country. She has served as consultant of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and
was Vice President of the Bank Lawyers Organization of the Philippines.”
Her work history states that at the NIDC, Atty.
Rose was a Junior Attorney from 1974 to 1975;
Senior Attorney from 1975 to 1978; Special
Corporate Attorney from 1978 to 1983.
From September 1983 to October 1987, she
was Head, Contracts and Documentation and
Stockholders Relations of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC). From
December 1987 to January 1992, she was Assistant Vice President – Legal Department of
the Urban Development Bank. From January
1992 to March 1998, she was Vice President
for Legal Affairs of the Philam Savings Bank
(formerly AIG Finance Co. Phils.). From July
1998 to December 1999, she was Vice President – Legal Division of the Philippine Savings
Bank.
In the year 2000, Atty. Rose put up her own
law firm – the R.S. Reyes Law Offices. From
then on up to the present, she has been engaged in a very successful and lucrative private practice of law. She and her law firm is
the external counsel or legal consultant of the
following – Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas; BAP
Credit Guaranty Corporation; Ana Services
Corporation; Merjacay Enterprises; LIKI Corporation, Quantum Hotel and Resorts, Inc.;
and LGU Guarantee Corporation, among other. She is also an Accredited Mediator in the
Court of Appeals.
The involvement of Atty. Rose in the IBP started with the IBP Manila II Chapter where she
held different positions – Secretary, Treasurer,
Vice President, and then president from 2001
to 2003, and then again from 2011 to 2013.
She was Director for 2013-2015.
In 2013, she was elected Governor of Greater
Manila Region composed of the four (4) IBP
Manila Chapters and the Quezon City Chapter. It has a total membership of approximately 13,000 lawyers at that time. When
her term as Governor ended in 2005, Atty.
Rose thought her involvement in the IBP also
ended. However, she was appointed National
Director for Legal Aid in 2007 by then IBP National President Jose Vicente Salazar and she
served in that capacity up to 2013. In 2013,
she was again elected as Governor for Greater
Manila Region up to 2015.
Apart from the IBP, she was involved in other
organizations: as Vice President for Internal
Affairs of the Bank Lawyers Organization of
the Philippines; Treasurer of the Women Trial
Lawyers Organization of the Philippines; Director of Emmanuel Brethren, Inc.; and Secretary General of the Legal Network for Truthful
Elections (LENTE).
Atty. Rose says she never aspired to become
the Executive Vice President or the National
President of the IBP. She was content with
simply helping out in her own modest way,
whoever was the incumbent IBP National
President.
By some twist of fate, the opportunity to
serve as Executive Vice President became imminent. She prayed hard for discernment. She
did not possess the “treasure” that some people say one should have in order to become
Executive Vice President and eventually the
National President. What she had was the
purity of heart – the sincere desire to serve
and make a difference. What she had was her
strong faith in God – her complete trust and
reliance in the goodness of God. For, if God is
with her, who can be against her?
This particular episode in her life reminded
her of the story of Peter who wanted to make
a good catch and Jesus encouraged Peter to
go on. Peter complained to Jesus that he had
been at sea all night long and had not been
President Rose (3rd from left) as a student at the Faculty of Civil Law
of Sto. Tomas University with classmates. Immediately to her right is
Dean Andres Narvasa who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court.
10
able to catch fish. Jesus said to Peter, “Go on
Peter. Do not be discouraged. Start again. You
are not very far from your goal.”
Atty. Rose realized that very often this happens to her. She would give up when she was
only a step away from her goal. She would
give up simply because she had toiled long
and hard and nothing seemed to happen.
Then she would realize how near she was to
her goal when she had given up.
This story of Peter is a message of hope and
perseverance – to not give up on our dreams.
Rather, to keep faith and continue to move
forward.
Atty. Rose says that she has hurdled challenges and surpassed difficulties because of
hard work, passion and dedication, and, most
importantly, complete trust in God’s love and
mercy. It has been one of her Rules of Life that
in whatever she does, she always gives it her
best and does not settle for mediocrity. Her
gauge had always been: “Would it be pleasing to God?” and, she always offers it to God
and make sure that it would lead her nearer
to Him.
As fate would have it, or shall we say “As
God Would Will It”, Atty. Rose would eventually become Executive Vice President of the
IBP from 2013 to 2015, and now its National
President.
So today, the IBP, the 55,000 strong maledominated mandatory organization of lawyers in the country, is headed by a woman,
and a Thomasian at that. The dominance in
number of males in the IBP should not be a
problem to our honoree. For Atty. Rose is a
Lion, not a Lioness but a Lion. She is a proud
and active member of the Lions Club International. She now serves as Governor of District
301-A3 for the years 2015-2016.
Incidentally, Atty. Rose was married to Atty.
Cesar S. Reyes who passed away in 1994 at
the age of 44. Their union was blessed with
continued on the inside back cover
President Rose (encircled) with Astrea Law Sorority sisters and Dean Narvasa.
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
r
u
o
y
t
Mee
The Bar
IBP GOVERNORS
ABDIEL DAN ELIJAH S. FAJARDO
Executive Vice President & Governor for Western Visayas
O
ne of the first names of the Governor for Western Visayas, Abdiel,
rings a bell for its popular use as a name
among the peoples of the Judaic and
Arabic traditions. In Egypt, the name is
spelled, Abdel. Elsewhere in the Arabic
and Muslim World, it is written, Abdul.
The name carries one common signification: To serve. When one sports a name
with attributes of divinity, the word, Abdul, is added to precede the supernal
name and identify the bearer as a hominid subject of the Almighty. Preceding his
second name, Elijah, which means “God”
in some religious traditions, his first
name, Abdiel, could have been added to
bear the qualification.
It is said that one’s name serves to conduce him to his future, or fate and fortune. So it did in some ways to Atty. Fajardo.
Concurrently Executive Vice President
(EVP) of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines who will ascend to its presidency by
July 01, 2017 and serve a two-year term,
the path of responsibility and leadership
is laid out to Gov. Fajardo. In the By-Laws
of the IBP, he, together with the other
members of the Board of Governors, has
for a mission to elevate the standards of
the legal profession, improve the administration of justice and enable the Bar to
discharge its public responsibility more
effectively.
And the Governor for Western Visayas
came up prepared for the challenges of
office. He earned his Bachelors Degree in
Economics at the University of the Philip-
pines, Diliman, in 1993 and his law degree
from the College of Law of the same university in 1998. He passed the Bar given
the same year. Even during his student
days, Atty. Fajardo traversed through the
field of practical experience to acquire
skills and proficiency and chalk up wisdom; he worked as Economic Analyst II at
the Office of Senator Blas F. Ople at the
Philippine Senate from 1992 to 1994.
Enrolled in the Roll of Attorneys
in 1999, he plunged into private
practice and found the experience
a vicarious adventure through the
twists and turns, nay, mostly rough
and tumble life of clientele, the fluke
of fate and inconstancy of fortune,
especially among the marginalized and indigent sectors of society,
gnawing into his bones and vivifying
his spiritual bond to humanity.
In his interview by the Panay News,
EVP Fajardo said, “He intends to initially look for funding within IBP to
finance meaningful legal assistance
for the less fortunate who cannot
afford adequate legal representation in
our courts of law.” He pointed out too
that he will seek a continuing dialog with
the Department of Justice, most especially on the appointment of prosecutors,
adding that it must be depoliticized. He
explained that politics in the process is a
major factor in delays.
Atty. Fajardo’s programs go along with the
National President’s as articulated in her
Inaugural Address before the Supreme
Court En Banc on July 07, 2015.
Also, Atty. Fajardo’s other social commitments keep to the social policy for lawyers
of National President Reyes. Particularly,
again in his interview with the regional
periodical, the governor said, “[H]e will
seek to improve the welfare of lawyers,
starting with the review of all the existing
assistance, including medical and funeral
aid. This must be timely extended.”
EVP Fajardo is a partner of Solis Medina
Limpingco & Fajardo Law Offices. He is
currently the President of IBP-Antique
Chapter. He is a Mason and a member of
the Philippine Bar Association (PBA).
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
11
August 2015
FRANKLIN B. CALPITO
Governor for Northern Luzon
G
overnor Franklin Banutan Calpito was
born in Bontoc, Mountain Province and
grew up in Tabuk, Kalinga. He is a combination of an Ilocano father (Priscillano) from
Nagbukel, Ilocos Sur and an Igorot mother
(Bertha) from Banaue, Ifugao and Bontoc, Mt.
Province. He is married to Iryne Theresa Castro Calpito of Bauko and Barlig, both in Mt.
Province. Frank, Iryne and their four children
(Karell, Frank Jr., Joe Pris and Kyla) reside in
the City of Baguio.
He finished his Bachelors of Arts in Social Sciences majors in Political Science and Economics in 1989 at the University of the Philippines,
Baguio City. He went through his law studies
at the Baguio Colleges Foundation, now University of the Cordilleras, graduating in 1994.
While pursuing his law studies, he worked as
a clerk, court interpreter and legal researcher
at the Regional Trial Court in the Province of
Benguet under the mentorship of then RTC
Judge Romeo A. Brawner.
a woman; until the law is amended allowing
same sex marriage, it can never be sanctified
by the State even if held under any religious
and civil tradition.
Immediately after passing the Bar in 1995, he
went into private practice. He currently manages the Calpito Law Office based in Baguio
City.
His passion for charity works is evident in his
active involvement and leadership as President of the Together in Service of Brethren
(TSB) Foundation; his dedicated service as
Worshipful Master and Grand Lodge Inspector of Masons in the South District of Nueva
Vizcaya; and as Chapter President of the UP
Vanguard Baguio-Northern Luzon Chapter.
Atty. Calpito is a stickler for the Rule of Law.
Rule of Law, according to him, is a necessary
ordinance of order in society, an insurer for
the greatest good. When the issue of same
sex marriage made headlines, he, together
with some of his fellow lawyers in the Cordilleras, roused to fury with a public denunciation against the idea, explaining that, by legal
definition, marriage is a civil institution which
can only be established between a man and
Governor Franklin Calpito, who was recently recognized as an outstanding UP Baguio
Alumnus in the field of law by the UP Baguio
Alumni Association, Inc., served the IBP Baguio-Benguet Chapter as Director from 2003 to
2005 and as President from 2011 to 2013.
Proud of his Cordillera and Ilocano ancestry
and the cultural and natural ecology of his region, he has proposed to the Board of Governors to host the next assembly of the House
of Delegates in the Cordilleras particularly in
Baguio City.
JOSE I. DE LA RAMA, JR.
Governor for Central Luzon
hero. Also, during his term as such IBP president,
Bulacan was the recipient of the Most Outstanding
Chapter in the Philippines and a Special Citation
Award for Development Legal Aid in 2007.
ven while Peng, as the Governor of Central
Luzon is fondly called by friends, was a spirit
in the womb, he kept to a sac filled with legal
nutrients. Both his parents are lawyers, the father
a CA Justice, now retired.
Silver Jubilarian conferred by the FEU Law Alumni
Association on its 55th Grand Alumni Homecoming; Recipient of Award of Achievement given by
the FEU Law Alumni Association on November 16,
2012 at Manila Hotel; One of the top 10 Most Outstanding Commissioners awarded by the IBP on
December 16, 2010, held at the IBP National Office; Recipient of Presidential Plaque of Merit given
by IBP in 2009; Law Professor at the Marcelo H. del
Pilar College of Law, Bulacan State University from
2002 to 2008; Law Professor at the Philippine Cambridge University, Dasmariñas, Cavite, and at the
College of Law, St. Dominic Savio College, Caloocan
City; Member, Technical Working Group of Rep.
Act 7077, for which he was honored with Military
Merit Medal; Lecturer in the Reserve Officers Class
on human rights and constitutional issues; Senior
Partner, De La Rama Law Firm, and Lawyer, Caliwara De La Rama Gamolo & Mamauag; Most Outstanding Law Practitioner (Junior Category), given
by the IBP-Bulacan Chapter in 2003; Distinguished
Lawyer Award, given by the IBP-Bulacan Chapter in
2011; and etc.
Indeed, he is a thoroughbred of a lawyer: Bachelor
of Law, Far Eastern University, Manila, 1987; Master of Laws, meritus thesis, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, 2013; Candidate for Doctor of Laws,
University of Santo Tomas, Manila; Outstanding
A very model of an IBP officer, Atty. De La Rama,
as president of the IBP-Bulacan Chapter, initiated
and finished the construction of the IBP building
of the chapter in 2005, which he named in honor
of Gat Marcelo H. del Pilar, a Bulakenyo lawyer and
Atty. Jose De La Rama, Jr. is married to Maridel, a
holder of a Master of Arts in Nursing, cum laude, at
the University of Santo Tomas, Manila. They have
three (3) children and a grandchild.
E
12
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
Governor De La Rama is a Reserved Lieutenant
Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines
assigned at the Judge Advocate General’s Office
(JAGO). He looks it with his military gait, posture
as erect as electric post, trim haircut and neat face.
Despite the stern appearance, he has a soft heart
for the poor, taking up cases of litigants among
them. He is into grassroots democracy, to boot,
helping out and taking office at the helm of some
cooperatives in his Province of Bulacan. He is the
President of the UST Graduate School Law Association engaged in giving out lectures and seminars
especially to indigenous people.
A member of ASEANLAW, he participated in its
conference at Hanoi in 1991. Also, he participated
in the conference of the World Jurists Association
at Beijing in 2005.
The Bar
BIENVENIDO I. SOMERA, JR.
A
Governor for Southern Luzon
tty. Bienvenido Somera graduated
from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines, Diliman,
in 1985 and also holds a degree in B.S.
Business Economics, which he obtained in
1981 from the same University. He joined
the Carpio Villaraza & Cruz Law Offices
(“CVC Law”) in 1988 and was the Head of
its Intellectual Property Department from
2001 until he became CVC Law’s Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer in
2011 until 2013. He is currently the Managing Partner of Villaraza & Angangco. His
areas of expertise are intellectual property law and litigation.
Governor Somera is an accredited Mediator for apellate cases having completed
his training at the Philippine Judicial
Academy of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines. He has held several positions
in both of his chapters, IBP-Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas Chapter and IBP-Makati
City Chapter from 1989 to 2015, and is
erstwhile President of the IBP Makati
City Chapter. He has held the positions of
Treasurer and First Vice-President of the
Philippine Bar Association (PBA). He was
Director of the National Committee on Legal Aid of the IBP from 2003-2006. He was
also a former Director of the Intellectual
Property Foundation and an officer of the
Licensing Executives Society-Philippines
(LES). He was President and Chairman of
the Intellectual Property Association of
the Philippines (IPAP) from 2003-2007.
Atty. Somera has written several published articles and has served as resource
speaker on intellectual property law in
the Philippines and international fora. He
became a member of the Editorial Board
of the World Patent and Trademark News,
an international journal on intellectual
property news and articles. He is an active
member of various international Intellectual Property Law associations, foremost
of which are the Asian Patent Attorneys
Association (APAA) where he is a Council
Member and erstwhile Vice-President,
and the Asean Intellectual Property Association (AIPA) where he served as Councilor until 2012. He is the representative
of his Firm in the International Trademark
Association (INTA) and the Association
for the Protection of Industrial Property
(APIP).
ROMEO B. IGOT
A
Governor for Greater Manila
cognoscenti on election, Governor Romeo Igot wote a Primer on “Anti-Dagdag Bawas and Partylist System.” If you
hit a book on election law, most likely
you’ll come across his name as counsel for or
as party litigant in some cause célèbre cases
reported out in the SCRA, including Romeo
B. Igot vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 5224, En Banc,
January 22, 1980 and Romeo B. Igot, et. al. vs.
COMELEC, G.R. No. 59068, En Banc, January
27, 1983.
gaining the latter’s acquital in two (2) criminal
indictments at the Sandiganbayan.
He was Alfredo Lim’s lawyer when the latter
ran for President, Senator and Manila Mayor
in 1998, 2004 and 2007, respectively.
• Executive Board Member, KKK National
Directorate • General Counsel, U.E. Law
Alumni Assoc., Inc. (Present) • Designated IBP Governor for Greater Manila
during the term of IBP Governor Raul M.
Gonzales (1980) • Officer of IBP-Manila
IV Chapter: Director (1991-1993/19992001); Secretary (2001-2003; Present);
Vice President (2001-2003) and President (2005-2007) • General Counsel, IBP
National (2000-2001) • Vice President,
U.E. Law Center, Inc. and U.E. Law Alumni
Assoc., Inc. (2005-2007) • President, U.E.
Law Alumni Assoc., Inc. (1991-1992) •
PRO-Director (1999-2002) and Deputy
Secretary General (Present), Philippine
Trial Lawyers Assoc., Inc. • Vice President, La Consolacion College Association,
For his renown as election lawyer, he was
honored by the U.E. Alumni Association as
“Outstanding Alumnus in Election Law Practice” in 2004 and “Most Outstanding Alumnus
in Private Law Practice” in 2005. He was cited
by Who’s Who Philippine Publishing, Inc. as
one of the “Top 23 Lawyers” of the country.
Atty. Igot’s expertise is not only confined to
election law; he is also a General Practitioner
and lawyers for several known big corporations in the country. He loves to recount his
defense of P/DG Roberto Lastimosa before
the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and his
Governor Igot, for sure, is a top-notch lawyer.
In courtrooms, he is a formal mien. But outside the Halls of Justice, he is nice and easy,
casual, if you wish. Socially gregarious to the
max, in fact.
His professional and social affiliations are
many. Listed in his bio-data are:
Inc. (1991-1992) • Charter President,
Pasig Ortigas Lions Club (1998-1999) •
Member: Law Asia Philippines, Inc.; Kapihan sa Klub, Inc.; All Asia Bar Assoc.; International Bar Assoc.; Philippine Dispute
Resolution Center, Inc. (PDRCI); World
Jurist Assoc.; Royale Golfers Assoc., Inc.
Governor Romeo Igot is immersed in private
practice under the name and style, “Romeo
B. Igot Law Offices.”
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
13
August 2015
EMERSON B. AQUENDE
Governor for Bicolandia
A
n Administrator comes by in many
names — Manager, Director, Executive, Head, Chief, Leader, Governor,
Superintendent, Supervisor, Boss and
what-have-you. Hence, in so many words
an Administrator is the person responsible for running a business, organization
or what-have-you. And the Governor for
Bicolandia personifies the title or any of
its versions.
Imagine, if you will, the kind of man that
Atty. Aquende is. Friends and associates
like to talk about the angel in his nature
till the cows come home. Tall and dignified and glowing a smile at a moment’s
notice of an acquintance or anybody who
greets him. Stopping by at any corner and
busy laneways to lean an ear to solicitors.
Any hoi polloi is sure to doubt that such
a man could be a lawyer. Or, if he is, he
could only exist in the world of words, a
fictional persona in the legal profession,
hard to come by nowadays in our impersonal and materialistic world that put a
tag price on individual and social values
and standards like they were a candy for
sale at the counter.
His resumé is a sort of a bullet-list of his
formal credentials and work experience,
without particularity of description. Nevertheless, it gives away enough of his
identity for passage, as he did, into the
leadership of the IBP.
• Bachelor of Science in Commerce, De
La Salle University, Taft Ave., Manila,
1991 • Bachelor of Law, U.P. College of
Law, Diliman, 1995 • Roll No. 40646,
1996 • President, Forbes Academy,
Legaspi City • Law Dean and Assistant
Professor, Aquinas University, Legaspi
City • Director, United Coconut Planters
Life Assurance Corp. (Cocolife), Ayala,
Makati City • Legal Consultant, National Electrification Administration, NIA
Road, Quezon City • Chairman, Board
of Trustees, Executive Vice President
(2014), Secretary General (2013) and
Vice-President for Luzon (2013), Philippine Association of Law Schools • President, IBP-Albay Chapter (2013-2015) •
Managing Partner, Aquende Fernandez
& Ralla Law Offices.
Governor Emerson Aquende is 44 years
old and married to lawyer Joan Elizabeth.
They have two children.
MAE ELAINE T. BATHAN
Governor for Eastern Visayas
ing to her, she’s a lawyer.
Indeed, she is a lady, and as a lawyer bred in the
loftiness of language, a poesy herself in manners and
speech, especially in courtrooms.
A word of caution though for every legal Lancelot who
is quick with his hands and tongue. This amiable lady
is a briar rose, the second in the Board, the other one
being National President Rose.
A
tty. Elaine Bathan is elegance personified.
Visit, if you will, her twitter or facebook and
you will find out why.
Ideally, female lawyers true to their calling and stature as select members of the legal profession for their
meager number, must sport out that aura of dignity
that radiates more from their disposition than from
their sartorial bearings.
Up close and personal, the governor looks it, grace
and all, keeping to herself especially during off the
cuff conversations over trivias and trifles. For, accord-
14
Immediately after earning her law degree in 2004 at
the University of San Recoletos in Cebu City and passing the Bar given that year, she joined her alma mater
as Assistant Law Dean, Law Professor and Bar Review
Director, and continued her services to the university
to this day. She served the IBP-Cebu City Chapter as
Director, Secretary, Vice President and President, the
second female lawyer to occupy the post. Currently,
she is the President of the Law Alumni Association of
the University. She Co-Anchors a famous radio program which renders free legal advice and service aired
by the Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) in the Visayas
and Mindanao . She continued her studies and earned
a Master of Laws Degree in International Humanitarian Law at Nalsar University in India in 2014 and a
Certificate Course in International Human Rights Law
at Strasbourg University in France of the same year.
She was appointed by the International Law Students
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
Association (ILSA) in Washington as National Administrator of the 2010 Philip C. Jessup-International Law
Moot Court Competition Philippine National Qualifying Rounds held on February 19, 2010.
Civic-minded, Governor Bathan joined the Philippine
Junior Jaycees and became its National President in
2002. She was recognized by the City of Cebu as one
of the Most Outstanding Cebuano Youth Leader in
2003.
In brief, Atty. Bathan is used to leadership and has
thus acquired as a matter of course a surly side against
wayward members of the Bar and the Bench. In 2013
and as President of the Cebu City Chapter, she sought
the inventory of evidence in all the courts of Cebu City
upon learning that an MTCC branch in the city lost 13
firearms under its custody. She took an active role in
the transfer of the courts to its new home after the
Palace of Justice was damaged during the earthquake.
But dont mistake her toughness for haughtiness. In
her twitter, she wrote, “Your faith in God brings out
the best in you. Your faith in others brings out the best
in them.”
In an organization like the IBP with a recent history
of turmoil brought about by myopic partisan interest,
Gov. Mae Elaine Bathan will leave her mark.
The Bar
CAESAR S. EUROPA
Governor for Eastern Mindanao
H
eavy in every part, the Governor for
Eastern Mindanao is a bulk of energy. One swing by his ample hands
and fists is a wham.
An avid martial artist, Atty. Europa is quick
to qualify that his physique is not a tool
for violence, clarifying further that the
best strategy for self-defense is avoidance
of confrontation. In his younger years, he
used to adduct his upper hands to show
off the big swell of his muscles there just
to intimidate would be attackers. Nowadays, while he still has his karate stance,
the swell in his muscles easily blows over
to fatigue and arthritis, not to mention
agedness.
But the governor has not slackened his
sail in going about his world. He is still fast
with his tongue and pen, teaching law
subjects in the Ateneo de Davao Univer-
sity where he earned his law degree, cum
laude, in 1995. He passed the Bar given
that year. He is an MCLE lecturer and a
Pre Bar reviewer in his alma mater and
other schools.
At the first meeting of the 22nd Board of
Governors on July 31, 2015, the speedy
governor submitted a draft of a bill defining and imposing penalty for unauthorized practice of law. When approved by
the Board, it will be submitted to Congress.
Atty. Europa, who is a CPA, served the
IBP-Davao City Chapter in various capacities: Auditor (1999-2001), Secretary
(2001-2003), Director (2003-2005) and
President (2005-2006). He is a partner of
the Europa Dacanay Cubelo Europa and
Flores Law Offices.
Governor Caesar Europa was born in
Davao City on February 23, 1970 and is
married to Marlyn. They are blessed with
three children.
DOMINGO T. REDELOSA IV
I
Governor for Western Mindanao
n many political science books, politics
or election for that matter, is noted as
a history of enmity between contending parties or personalities and their political publics. The brewing electoral controversies in the IBP in the recent past
check out with this reality in political democracy.
But the Governor for Western Mindanao
does not wish to buzz out alone his complaint against the evil of adversarial election. He needed company to vent out.
After the oath-taking ceremony by the
National President and the Board of Governors before the Supreme Court En Banc
last July 07, 2015, Atty. Redelosa chanced
upon one National Officer in a CR of the
High Court and, before taking to the bowl
to relieve himself, said something to the
effect that, after the IBP election losing
candidates should extend a helping hand
to the victors. Any such gesture, he said,
is not a standown, continuing, that in the
IBP the road is laid out straight without
any turnpike. Whoever is elected has to
go for its objective mandates: To elevate
the standards of the legal profession, to
improve the administration of justice and
to enable the IBP to discharge its public
responsibility more effectively.
Governor Redelosa is plumb right. He
knows that a governor only serves once
for a two-year term under the rotation
rule. In the case of his region, any representative of the chapter may be elected
once in 18 years, the full length of one rotation cycle. The IBP By-Laws proscribes
a second term. And with only two years
for a term, a shake of a lamb’s tail, so to
speak, office-bearers cannot afford to laze
about in bickerings and obstructionism.
Atty. Redelosa is a rare breed. Despite
turmoil in Mindanao vitiating the practice of law, not to mention opportunities
for greener pastures elsewhere, he returned to Zamboanga del Sur, his home
province, after passing the Bar and established his private practice in Pagadian,
the capital city, under the name and style,
Ceriles Ortiz Pablo and Redelosa Law Offices, counting for clients under his name:
Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative,
Provincial Government of Zamboanga del
Sur and the 2nd Congressional District of
the province, to mention a few.
Governor Domingo Redelosa IV earned
his law degree at San Jose Recoletos University in Cebu City in 1998. He is Dean
and Professor of the College of Law of JH
Ceriles State College.
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
15
August 2015
Pangasinan ChaPter
T
braces for New Term
he Legal Aid Committee of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Pangasinan Chapter recently held
its first organizational meeting under the
current term of Chapter officers at the
IBP-Judge Jose de Venecia, Sr. Memorial
Building, Bonuan Tondaligan, Dagupan
City, on April 24, 2015.
The committee discussed the concerns
of the volunteer lawyers handling cases
of indigent clients, especially the submission of their case reports for the
perusal of the National Office for the
much-needed assistance, and the invitation of different local government
units and offices for proficiency and
resource speakers from the IBP.
Atty. Baby Ruth Torre, IBP Pangasinan Chapter President and IBP Central Luzon Regional Secretary.
The legal aid lawyers went beyond
the call of their duty when they
passed a resolution creating an Appeals Committee for Legal Aid cases
consisting of the area co-chairmen who
are tasked with the tall order of ensuring
that appealed legal-aid cases are properly
handled. The current legal aid system of
the National Office does not include honoraria for cases on appeal but only those
pending in lower courts. Nevertheless,
the volunteer Pangasinense lawyers are
willing to take the cases on appeal and
Update on the IBP TOWER
Currently on its 4th floor, the IBP Tower is on
track for its topping off in February 2016. With
26 floors of office space, the IBP Tower will be
one of the most sought after new office spaces
in Ortigas Center. For leasing inquiries, please
call Jie Espinosa of Colliers International at
(+63) 917 556 6201.
16
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
initiate fund-raising efforts at the Chapter
level for the purpose.
Last May 23, 2015, the officers of the
chapter joined their counterparts from
the different chapters in Central Luzon
and the University of Sto. Tomas Graduate School Association in providing free
books and school materials to an Aeta
community at Sitio Target, Sapangbato,
Angeles City.
IBP-Pangasinan Chapter President, Atty.
Baby Ruth Torre, and the officers of her
chapter expressed solidarity with the IBP
Regional Administration through Atty.
Ma. Imelda Q. Tuazon, Regional Governor
for Central Luzon and Atty Jose I. De La
Rama, Jr., her Deputy Governor, who was
elected governor for the region and assumed office on July 01, 2015.
This project of the Central Luzon chapters
is part of the community responsibility efforts directed at uplifting the condition of
those deprived and depressed sectors of
the region. [Culled from The Asinan Advocate, Vol. 1 No. 1, June 2015 issue, the
official quarterly publication of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines - Pangasinan Chapter]
The Bar
THE MAMASAPANO DEBACLE: A Postscript
[Delivered by Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic, IBP Presidential Assistant on Publications and Media, at the Marawi Conference on
Peace, Human Security and Conflict-Prevention, sponsored by the International Rotary Club of Cotobato City-South and the Aba
Al-Khail Computer School, Marawi City, held at the Ayala-MSU Resort, Marawi City, on August 06, 2015. This speech is also delivered at a Roundtable on the Mamasapano Clash and the Bangsamoro Basic Law, sponsored by the National Union of People’s
Lawyers (NUPL) on February 19, 2015.]
E
verything, almost, about the Mamasapano incident is in the news, including the version of Senator Allan
Peter Cayetano. I’m afraid I’ll only chutter
up the narratives with my version.
including hawkish and wayward politicians are the culprits.
traction even as she consolidated her position in the presidency.
Let me fresh out my thesis.
More than a year later, she’d shed off
her cover and declared war on the MILF.
She capitalized for a justification on the
bombing of Davao City International Airport and Davao Sasa Wharf on March
4, 2003 and April 2, 2004, respectively,
blaming the MILF for the incidents. These
bombings, according to Captain and now
Senator Trillanes, were the handiworks of
the military.
In fear of rendering an inadequate and
spotted secondary or hearsay information on the incident and get pilloried in
Moro capitals, I pick on related issues
which are not in the news. For this Conference, I address myself to the following
questions: Why the incident happened?
Aside from the plan to capture or kill Marwan and Basit, is there another objective
on the side? Was the operation merely a
plain law enforcement work gone wrong?
The Estrada presidency entered into
peace negotiation with the MILF to buy
time and waylay detractors from their
impeachment pursuit against Estrada. In
due time and on the day following the
signing of an agreement between the
parties where government recognized
MILF camps and the MILF agreed to the
transformation of its main camp Abubacar into an economic zone, President Estrada declared an all-out-war against the
insurgent organization.
The history of the peace talks between
the Philippine Government and the Moro
revolutionary organizations, notably the
MNLF and the MILF, is littered with similar incidents designed obviously to manipulate or subvert or ruin altogether the
peace talks. Elements of the security and
law enforcement agencies of government
With the overthrow of Estrada in January 2001 and the succession to the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, government unilaterally declared a ceasefire
on its part and sought the assistance of
Malaysia to broker a peace talk with the
MILF. But by and large this is only for a
show intended to avoid unnecessary dis-
Earlier, on February 10, 2003 the military
violated the ceasefire agreement with
the MILF, bombarding and attacking Buliok Complex on the day of Eid al-Adha
or the Feast of Sacrifice to incence and
provoke the MILF to break the peace and
derail the finalization of a peace accord
with government presented a day earlier
to Congress.
Again, on July 10, 2007 the military violated the ceasefire agreement with the
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
17
August 2015
MILF, entering into MILF territory in Basilan without coordination on the pretext of
pursuing the kidnappers of Italian priest
Bossi, who was at the time nowhere in
the province. A firefight ensued between
the two forces, resulting in the death of
14 soldiers, 10 of whom beheaded. Enraged at the killing of their blind imam
the night before, which they pinned on
the soldiers, the villagers joined the battle. The imam was tied to a bamboo pole.
According to reports an investigation by
the International Ceasefire Monitoring
Team absolved the MILF forces involved
in the skirmish.
There must still be remnants of warmongers in the military bureaucracy harboring jingoistic enmity towards the Bangsamoro.
In August 2013 the military launched an
offensive against the MILF on the day of
Eid al-Adha to incite obviously the MILF
to engage the AFP in a larger warfare that
would jeopardize the peace talks.
Earlier, on October 18, 2011 soldiers went
into Al-Barka town in Basilan province and
engaged MILF units therein in violation of
protocols under the ceasefire agreement.
The firefight resulted in the death of 19
soldiers and the wounding of 12 others.
This happened just two months following the meeting between Al-Haj Murad
and President Aquino in Tokyo where the
former expressed grave concern over the
revised draft of the BBL by Malacañang.
The Mamasapano incident raised similar
questions too, as regards the mindsets of
the military echelon involved in the operation. In the first place, the operation was
very poorly planned. Secondly, the disarray among the SAF defies explanation,
unless one considers the SAF as a force
of yokels or run-of-the-mill graduates of
the Philippine National Police Academy,
which they are not. Indeed, one is wont
to suspect that something sinister was
also intended on the side.
What else bootstrapped my suspicion,
my pineal sense?
The SAF were positioned within target
area at Barangay Tukanalipao at 4:30 in
the morning, at which time Muslims habituated to praying the early morning
Subuh Prayer were awake doing their
ablution or offering their prayers. And to
think that only 18 of the company of SAF
proceeded to the objective, while the rest
stayed behind on the excuse that they
could not wade through the muddy river
along the way. They’re all in the same unit
and have received the same training.
It may be asked: What prompted their inability to make the crossing, while the 18
suceeded? What about the deployment
of the bulk of the troops, almost 400 of
them? Where they tactically emplaced so
they could easily get to the rescue of their
attack forces if needed? Why did they not
move to rescue their besieged forces?
Do they have enough logistics, especially
ordnances to bail them out?
The exact huts of Marwan and Basit were
marked and identified and their spot isolated. Easily they could be taken out by
a smart bomb. Or a lean and lethal commando force could come like thieves in
the night with rifles bearing suppressors
and night vision telescopes.
But, as they say, the rest is history. What
confront us now is the fate of the BBL. To
emphasize, politicians used the Mamasapano tradegy to either derail the passage of the bill or mangle it. This peace
agreement with the Bangsamoro hangs
on the balance as yet. But the MILF and
its public, being Muslims, set great store
by what Divine Province may bring. I wish
to be optimistic as well about the future
of the BBL. It’s not yet dead in the waters
anyway.
IBP President leads dialogue in Cotabatowide Chapters
D
espite hectic office schedules, President Rosario Setias-Reyes finds time
for out-of-town engagements with IBP
local chapters.
“We have to operationalize all the way down
to our local chapters new policy directions
and priorities of the National Leadership, including the establishment of the Peer Assistance, Benefit and Welfare Program for lawyers,” President Reyes said, adding, “In my
Inaugural Address, I promised that I would get
intimate with our membership as a mother
would to her chores.”
Last August 14, 2015, she went to General
Santos City and presided a dialogue with the
officers of the Cotabato Chapters of the Western Mindanao Region for two days. These
chapters include South Cotabato – General
Santos Chapter, North Cotabato Chapter,
Cotabato Chapter, Saranggani Chapter and
18
Sultan Kudarat Chapter. In olden days, these
areas composed the Empire Province of Cotabato.
At this meeting, the chapters agreed to undertake a demographic inventory of lawyers
within their respective jurisdictions and determine especially their health concerns.
President Reyes distributed to them for a
guide questionnaires developed by the Presidential Assistant on Chapter Affairs, Atty. Elvis
Balayan.
“We have to formulate a sort of a mutual aid
system or a financial package for our lawyers
who need assistance. The inventory will aid
us in the formulation of the policy program
and its implementing structures,” Reyes explained.
One of the delegates in the meeting pointed
out that the Philippine National Red Cross is
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
giving out policy for free hospitalization and
room accommodation for insurance holders,
which requires a minimum annual premium.
In this connection, the President has tasked
the Peer Assistant Director to work on this
and submit his recommendation accordingly.
“It’s a no-holds-barred discussion, and I kept
up their spirit to air their complaints,” the
President said, explaining, “In previous assemblies of the House of Delegates, concerns
were raised by representatives of local chapters but only in general terms for their sensitive details.”
One touchy problem is the failure of previous
administrations of local chapters to liquidate
legal aid subsidies. This denied current administrations of their regular allocation affecting their operation.
continued on the inside back cover
The Bar
L
Bill on Legal Insurance for the Poor
now for final write out in the House
ast August 10, 2015 the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the House of Representatives held its last meeting for the
bill creating a financial assistance program for
poor litigants.
the bill flushed her up. If approved, it will do
us much in the promotion and realization of
our third mandate, that is, to enable the IBP
to discharge its public responsibility more effectively.”
Introduced by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Maximo Rodriguez, Jr., the bill originally carried
the title, “An Act Establishing a Legal Insurance Program for the Poor.”
The bill aims to bring the following benefits to
poor litigants while the case is pending in any
court or quasi-judicial body:
Representatives from the Public Attorneys Office and DSWD attended the meeting. Attys.
Nasser Marohomsalic and Jonas Cabochan
came for the IBP.
Discussed in the meeting is the substitute version of the bill entitled, “An Act Establishing
a Financial Assistance Program for Poor Litigants.”
In her Inaugural Address before the Supreme
Court En Banc last July 07, 2015, IBP National
President batted for the passage of the bill.
In an off the cuff conversation with some of
her national officers, she said, “Legal aid is
the heart and soul of her Administration, and
a)
reasonable travelling expenses
and subsistence allowance in such
amount as the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines (IBP) may determine for his attendance in court or
any quasi-judicial body;
b) bond for provisional liberty and/or
for civil liability in such amount as
the IBP may determine depending
on the nature of the case and their
relevant circumstances; and
c) other incidental expenses to be incurred.
Also the bill charged the Public Attorneys Office and the IBP the responsibility of promulgating its Implementing Rules and Regulations. In keeping with the instruction of the
National President, Attys. Marohomsalic and
Cabochan proposed that the IBP managed
the Program.
The bill is upped for approval in the meeting
of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation on
August 12, 2015.
THE BAR
Editorial Staff
ATTY. NASSER MAROHOMSALIC
Adviser
EUMIR LAMBINO
Layout Artist
VIVIAN CAPIZNON
Circulation-in-Charge
MARIEFEL ABANILLA
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
Staff
19
August 2015
With National Pres. Reyes and Gov. De La Rama, Jr. are the Board of Officers of IBP Central Luzon Region.
IBP launches Peer Assistance and Welfare
Benefit Program in Central Luzon
by Atty. Julius Victor C. Degala, IBP Central Luzon Director for Media Affairs
M
alolos City, Bulacan — The first regional meeting of the Integrated
Bar of the Philippines Central Luzon (IBPCL) under Governor Jose “Peng”
I. Dela Rama was held on August 8, 2015
at the Club Royale Hotel and Resort in this
historic city. The occasion was also the
oath taking of the Board of Officers that
will serve with Governor Dela Rama for
the term 2015 to 2017.
Central Luzon is composed of seven (7)
provincial chapters of the IBP. All the
member chapters were represented by
their respective presidents during the
regional meeting, namely: Atty. Marilet
S. Layug of Bataan, Atty. Arni R. Topico of
Bulacan, Atty. Bembol R. Castillo of Nueva
Ecija, Atty. Darwin S. Reyes of Pampanga,
Atty. Baby Ruth F. Torre of Pangasinan
who is also the Regional Secretary, Atty.
Leslie Taruc-Orencia of Tarlac and Atty.
Leonardo W. Bernabe of Zambales. Aside
from reporting about their previous and
future projects, the chapter presidents
committed themselves to work together
for a stronger and more socially relevant
IBP Central Luzon.
The momentous event was graced by
the Honorable Rosario T. Setias-Reyes,
the first ever female National President
of this exclusive organization of lawyers
founded in 1973. In her speech, the National President reminded everyone to
20
be “just be good” and urged the chapters
of the region to keep the bond of unity
among themselves to foster the mandates of the IBP.
President Reyes discussed many relevant
matters about her experience as a member of the National Board of Officers. The
knowledge that she acquired particularly
about past projects gave her clear understanding of what to implement and how
to go about it now that she is the National
President. Foremost in her list is the establishment of a Peer Assistance and Welfare and Benefit Office, which she already
created as a national unit of the IBP. She
directed every chapter to replicate it and
assign desk officers and complements for
the purpose. To get the chapter office going, its office-bearer should seek out for
a start living IBP members within its own
jurisdiction who are in dire need of financial assistance mainly because of health
concerns. At present, she said, talks are
underway between the office at the National Heirarchy with several health care
providers that are willing to give special
discounts to IBP members for medical
procedures that include executive checkups. According to President Reyes, it is
very unfortunate that what is given to
members is burial assistance that he or
she could no longer appreciate.
President Reyes likewise led the oath-
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
taking ceremony of the Board of Officers
of IBPCL. The inducted Board of Officers
were Atty. Carmelita R. Eleazar, Deputy
Governor; Atty. Peter Paul S. Maglalang,
Executive Secretary; Atty. Baby Ruth F.
Torre, Secretary; Atty. Mariemeir I. Marcos-Rivera, Treasurer; Atty. Teodoro O.
Camacho III, Auditor; Atty. Socrates A.
Padua, P.R.O.; Atty. Jesus Ricardo C. Degala, and Atty. Norman Benigno C. Roxas,
Chief and Deputy Legal Counsel; Atty.
Angelo Justin Iñigo O. Lopez, Director for
Legal Aid; Atty. Arnold P. Castro, Director
for Chapter Affairs; Atty. Julius Victor C.
Degala, Director for Media Affairs; Atty.
Manuel R. Rosapapan, Jr., Director for
Bar Discipline; Atty. Winnie M. BundangOrtiz, Director for Legislative Affairs; Atty.
Ferdinand Y. Miclat, Director for Indigenous People; Atty. Joy C. Aranas, Director for Women & Children Welfare; Atty.
Edna C. Paulino-Gogolin, Director for Education; Atty. Joseph A. Samson and Atty.
Wilfredo O. Arceo, Director and Deputy
Director for Sports; Atty. Leilani VizcondeEscueta and Lady Jane G. Batisan, Director and Deputy Director for International
Affairs; and Atty. Olivia Velasco-Jacoba,
Director for Peer Assistance.
There is much to be done for legal aid,
Atty. Reyes said, noting that concerned
government agencies could not cope
continued on the inside back cover
The Bar
UST Law Alumni honors Reyes
T
he male peerage of the Bar ruled the
roost in the legal profession since its
integration in 1973 until 2015 when a
lady lawyer ascended to the presidency of the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). She is
Atty. Rosario “Rose” T. Setias-Reyes.
When asked how she got the preferment by
one of her friends, she jestingly said, “I didn’t
break the neck of any jinx,” adding, “Frankly,
I did not intend to take on new responsibilities. I was content with my membership in the
Board of Governors representing the Greater
Manila Region. And then one day majority
of my peers in the Board egged me to vie for
the top post. Well, I guess, it’s written in my
stars.”
Atty. Reyes was elected as IBP Executive Vice
President on June 15, 2013 and, by ordinance
of the By-Laws of the organization, went up
to its presidency following the expiry of the
term of Pres. Vicente Joyas on June 30, 2015.
As it was with her predecessors, she will hold
office for two years.
Reckoned from its integration in 1973, the
year when Associate Justice JBL Reyes be-
came the first president of the organization,
the IBP is already 42 years old. In terms of
man’s psychosocial development, the body
corporate has reach its middle age possessed
of the values of Generativity which, in Erickson’s lexicon, refer to the stage when one’s
overweening concern turns to and focuses on
establishing and guiding the next generation.
“The IBP needs the healing touch of a woman,” Atty. Reyes said, alluding to the brewing election controversies in the recent past
which divided the leadership of the IBP and
which still hounds “like a chimera in the brain”
to those who remember.
Atty. Reyes finished her law degree at the
Faculty of Civil Law of the University of Santo
Tomas in 1973 and passed the Bar given that
year. Named after St. Thomas Aquinas, UST is
the oldest university in Asia. It’s the educational bastion of the Dominican Order and its
rectorate Dominican.
Last July 27, 2015, the UST Law Alumni Foundation honored her with a Testimonial Dinner
at Gabaldon Room, Club Filipino, as one of
the achievers of her alma mater and for being
the first lady president of the Integrated Bar
of the Philippines.
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Oscar Herrera, President of the Foundation, introduced
her. Other distinguished attendees include
former Senator Victor Ziga, Deputy Supreme
Court Administrator Zenaida Elepaño (ret.),
Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Teresita Baldos, Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta
Vidal, Supreme Court Deputy Court Administrator Thelma Bahia, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Monina Zenarosa (ret.), Court
of Tax Appeals Associate Justice Caesar Casanova, RTC and MTCC Judges, Prosecutors and
Private Practitioners, among others.
Astrea Sorority sisters of Pres. Reyes came
also in good number. Also in attendance is
Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic, IBP Presidential
Assistant on Publication and Media. He was
declared by Justice Herrera, by authority of
his presidency of the Foundation, as Honorary Member of the UST Alumni Foundation.
[The Thank You Speech of Pres. Reyes is on
the following page.]
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
21
August 2015
I am an amalgam
of my social affinities
[Thank You Speech by National President Rosario Setias-Reyes
for the Recognition conferred on her as the first woman President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines by, and as one of
the women achievers of, the Faculty of Civil Law of the Pontifical
University of Santo Tomas on July 27, 2015 at Globe Filipino]
I
count my professional blessings in most
parts to my legal education from the Faculty of Civil Law of the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, including my presidency
of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. A
medallion of honor, it bootstrapped my way
through the hierarchy of the official organization of the lawyers of the land.
Spanish colonialists of the country, spoke
glowingly of the Filipino Indios and pointed
out that “[They] were at least as rational as
some of the people of Spain” and this position received support in the Papal Bull of 1537
which proclaimed that the Indios outside the
faith of Jesus Christ to be persons “capable of
understanding the Catholic faith.”
After college and into the field of legal practice, I tried first to eke out a living as legal
counsel in banks and financial institutions. It
was a sedentary life, with limited engagement
with the public but for a select few – the fund
managers, portfolio holders and other clientele with legal concerns.
Another Dominican paragon is our very own
St. Lorenzo Ruiz. Even without devotional
duty to the Church, he had shown exemplary
commitment to his vocation and faith.
But the trammel of office work did not confine me within the walls of the corporate
world. My Dominican training, if I may emphasize, acted up and egged me on to express
myself in the area of public responsibility. And
so I vied for and assumed various leadership
roles, first, in one chapter of the IBP in Metro
Manila, and then in the National Leadership
of the organization. I also joined other civic
organizations like the Lions Club International
where I am now a District Governor. And as
they say, the rest is history.
As we all know, the way of the Dominican Order, the founder of our university, is to preach
and bless. And what can be more expressive
of this ideal among the laity like me than going by the way of the preachers in the pursuit
of our chosen endeavors.
The Blackfriars, as the frocked members of
the Order have come by, are our North Stars
in professional excellence and social commitment.
I remember here Saint Francisco de Vitoria
who is one of the founders of International
Law. He was the friar who went against the
22
Saint Thomas Aquinas is another Dominican
exemplar, in whose memory our university
was named. For his writings in defense and
promotion of the doctrines and teachings of
the Church, he is honored in all Christendom
as the Doctor of the Church.
We as lay people are the “clergy” of our own
profession, so to speak, and we should essay
our roles in society as St. Lorenzo Ruiz did for
his housekeeping job in the Sacristy, among
others.
I don’t only look beyond our shores for my
North Stars, especially in the legal profession.
I have had personal memories of the great legal minds of the country. They were my professors, and I remember them here in gratitude: Andres Narvasa, a magna cum laude
graduate of our Faculty of Civil Law, who
became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court;
Constitutionalist Enrique Fernando who preceded far earlier Narvasa in the Supreme
Court as Chief Justice; Associate Justice of the
Court of Appeals Eduardo Caguioa, one of the
venerable civilists of the country; the famous
Feria brothers, one of whom, Jose, served as
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; and
Alfredo Benipayo, a thoroughbred Tomasian
having earned his high school diploma, Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, and Bachelor
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”
of Laws, cum laude from our university. He
served as Solicitor General, Supreme Court
Administrator, Chairman of the Commission
on Elections and Dean of our Faculty of Civil
Law.
In the college of law many students find comfort and inspiration in the social gregariousness and friendship of their classmates and
schoolmates. I traversed the way and celebrated my student days in the University’s
Faculty of Civil Law with my kindred in Astria,
among others. They served as my Big Sisters,
especially during my early years in the College. In remembrance of their friendship and
guidance, I honor them here with a quote on
friendship from St. Thomas Aquinas –
Friendship is the source of greatest pleasures, and without friends the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.
Of course, for what I am today I owe it so
much too to my parents, who are now in
Heaven; my siblings; and my husband, a fellow classmate in the Faculty of Civil Law and
our class cum laude. He returned to his Maker
in 1994. Our children are a shower of blessings to me too.
Frankly, I did not know that I have outdone
myself in the area of leadership in the legal
profession, until you conferred on me this
Recognition for my being the first woman
President of the official organization of lawyers of the land, the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines.
I am thankful for your robust pat in my back.
And I reckon on our Dominican spirit to abide
with me in the course of my presidency of the
IBP.
Maraming maraming salamat uli!
The Bar
IBP President... from page 18
“It’s an internal problem, current office bearers of the local chapter have agreed to work
it out with their predecessors,” the President
said.
an ethical issue.
She reminded everybody that in a recent
meeting between the immediate past IBP
Governors and the IBP Oversight Committee
of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice said
that non liquidation of legal aid subsidies by
accountable members of the local chapters is
In attendance at the meeting include: Atty.
Remo Flores, President of IBP-Sultan Kudarat
Chapter; Atty. Dionesio Alave, Jr., President
of IBP-North Cotabato Chapter; Atty. Christy
Joy Sollesta, Vice President of IBP-South
Cotabato-General Santos (SocGen) Chapter;
Other matters were discussed, each bearing
its peculiarity.
Testimonial... from page 9
Attys. Aimee Joy Operiano and Ichelle Malabuyoc, Directors of IBP-SocGen Chapter;
Atty. Remegio P. Rojas, PRO of IBP-SocGen
Chapter; Atty. Arlyn Joy Allosa Alapa, Auditor
of IBP-SocGen Chapter; Atty. Francisco Gacai,
Treasurer of IBP-South Cotabato Chapter;
Atty. Ronald Halid Torres, Secretary of IBPCotabato Chapter; and Atty. Edsel Deris-Lim,
Representative of IBP-Sarangani Chapter.
IBP launches... from page 20
three (3) wonderful boys, two of whom are now married. She has
five (5) grandchildren, 4 beautiful granddaughters and a handsome
grandson.
My friends, let me sum up everything now by saying that our honoree is an extraordinary and remarkable lady, a woman who, to once
again quote poet Alphonse de Lamortine, “is at the beginning of
great thing”.
UST Law is celebrating this year its 281st anniversary. For more than
two (2) and a half centuries now, our alma mater has continuously
produced men and women lawyers truly imbued with Christian virtues and principles worthy of emulation. I never get tired of saying
UST is the home of heroes and heroines, saints and martyrs. It has
produced four (4) Presidents of the Republic, six (6) Chief Justices
of the Supreme Court and countless great men and women who,
throughout the years, helped shape glorious moments in the history
of our country. There is no doubt that our honoree, our fellow Thomasian who made history as the first-ever woman National President
of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, is in that category.
On behalf therefore of the officers and members of the Board of
Trustees of the UST Law Alumni Foundation, Inc. I congratulate Her
Excellency, Atty. Rosario T. Setias-Reyes of UST Law Class of 1973,
President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. I know that with
Atty. Rose as head of the IBP, the best is yet to come.
Thank you Atty. Rose for the honor and prestige that you have
brought to our alma mater. Thank you for making us proud to be
Thomasians.
As you lead the IBP, we assure you of our prayers and unconditional support. We pray the Lord, from Whom all good things come, to
guide and protect you. Sabi mo nga, “if God is with you, who can be
against you.”
Deputy Dico-Jacoba,
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Atty. Rosar
with the burgeoning number of indigent litigants. For
his part, Governor Dela Rama assured President SetiasReyes that he has already asked the IBPCL Chief Legal
Counsel, Atty. Jesus Ricardo C. Degala III, to coordinate
with IBPCL Director for Legal Aid, Atty. Angelo Justin
Iñigo O. Lopez III, to immediately act upon all pending
requests for legal aid. The needy must feel important
during our watch, Governor Dela Rama added.
The first IBP Central Luzon regional meeting was a resounding success. Governor Dela Rama, ably supported
by Deputy Governor Carmelita R. Eleazar, looks forward
to a fruitful and memorable term. Mabuhay Gitnang Luzon!
No Master but Law; No Guide but Conscience; No Aim but Justice
23
August 2015
24
IBP: “Sentinel of the Rule of Law”