SC ends IBP leadership row

The Supreme Court on Monday resolved the leadership controversy in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), as it censured IBP officials involved in a special election of the group’s officials and barred them from holding national IBP posts in the future. In a 29-page decision penned by Chief Justice Renato Corona, the SC upheld with a vote of 8-2 the election of lawyers Manuel Maramba, Erwin Fortunato and Nasser Marohomsalic as IBP governors of the Greater Manila Region, the Western Visayas Region and the Western Mindanao Region, respectively. Five justices did not take part in the deliberations. In the same decision, the SC ordered the holding of special polls to elect the IBP Executive Vice President (EVP) for 2009 to 2011, to be held under the supervision of the SC, and with Maramba, Fortunato and Marohomsalic being allowed to vote. The EVP will assume the IBP presidency at the end of his term. The controversy erupted when lawyer Elpidio Soriano protested the election of Maramba, who won by a margin of one vote against Soriano as governor of the Greater Manila Region. Soriano alleged that the first election held in April 2009 should be declared void as non-delegates were able to vote. ‘High-handed and divisive’ special elections Soriano subsequently won the special election in May 2009, which according to the SC had the blessing of then EVP and supposedly the incoming IBP president Rogelio Vinluan. The SC, however, later nullified the special election. It said Maramba was the legitimate winner and that the special election was had not been called for or presided by the outgoing regional governor. For facilitating the special election, Vinluan and his group, which included Abelardo Estrada, Bonifacio Barandon Jr., Evergisto Escalon and Raymund Mercado, were cited by the SC for grave professional misconduct and barred from running as national officers of the IBP in subsequent elections. Consequently, the high court declared Vinluan unfit to hold the position of the EVP and is therefore unable to succeed as IBP president for 2009 to 2011. “(T)he actuations of Atty. Vinluan’s Group in defying the lawful authority of IBP President (Feliciano) Bautista, due to Atty. Vinluan’s overweening desire to propel his fraternity brother, Atty. Soriano, to the next presidency of the IBP, smacked of politicking, which is strongly condemned and strictly prohibited by the IBP By-Laws and the Bar Integration Rule," the SC said. Soriano is reportedly from Sigma Rho fraternity, while Maramba is from Alpha Phi Beta. The court also described the special election led by Vinluan’s group as “high-handed and divisive" and said that this must be sanctioned. SC allows holding of new special elections Fortunato’s election as Western Visayas Governor was also upheld by the SC, which said he obtained the highest number of votes and that it was the turn of the Romblon Chapter, from which Fortunato comes, to represent the region in the IBP Board of Governors. Marohomsalic likewise legally won the election as governor of the Western Mindanao Region, the SC said. The court maintained that the designation of retired SC Justice Santiago M. Kapunan as IBP Officer-in-Charge should continue until revoked by the court, but should not be extended beyond June 30, 2011. To prevent similar controversies, the SC ruled that all meetings and deliberations can only be presided by the EVP if the president is absent or unable to perform his duties. The court also allowed the holding of special elections for the EVP, for the remainder of the 2009-2011 term. Joining Corona in the majority decision were Justices Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Arturo Brion, Lucas Bersamin, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Portugal Perez and Jose Catral Mendoza. Dissenting were Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr. and Antonio Carpio. Meanwhile, Justices Conchita Carpio-Morales, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Diosdado M. Peralta, Mariano Del Castillo and Maria Lourdes Sereno did not take part in the deliberations. – MRT, GMANews.TV – MRT/DM, GMANews.TV