IBP head now sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

Source:IBP president: Corona should quit if....

To quote:

Roan Libarios, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, told Rappler that Corona will "lose his moral ascendancy" if he does not submit to cross-examination.

One nitpick is on the "moral ascendancy" part. There was no genuine display of such by the CJ in the impeachment trial. He let the defense panel work without much feedback on his part. Our bigger nitpick is on his condition, that Corona should appear today. Really we wanted an earlier statement from the IBP that Corona should resign, in fact earlier, even before his amazing appearance as a defense witness in the Senate yesterday, May 22, 2012.

Why? The IBP is a body of lawyers, recognized by the Supreme Court. It should of course not be political, but we fear it has been politicalised by the Chief Justice who was instrumental in installing Libarios as IBP head. (Is there now an IBP governor for Western Visayas region?)

Really, Roan Libarios should resign from the IBP too, NOT waiting for his patron Renato Corona to resign from the Supreme Court.

And we hope that "Utang na loob" and political machinations will be a thing of the past regarding the Supreme Court and the IBP.

We believe that one by one, supporters of the Chief Justice will be abandoning him one by one. We do not dwell on who are they.We should be generous to those who have seen the light at the end of the tunnel, those who truly repented.

Has the IBP become Corona's hatchet man?

Click on philstar, march 18:IBP exec says Henares may face contempt, disbarment


Exerpt:

The spokesperson of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said yesterday that Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Kim Henares could face contempt for declaring under oath during the impeachment trial that Chief Justice Renato Corona did not file his income tax return (ITR).

Lawyer Trixie Angeles told reporters during the weekly Annabels’ news forum in Quezon City that Henares could also face disbarment if some party files a complaint with the IBP and it is proven that she lied under oath.

“The case may include violation of Code of Ethics, perjury and possible disbarment,” she said.



Really? We challenge the IBP to file charges against Corona for his lies on academic honors. Do it now. We will remember...

And we do want to get into the bottom of this. Perhaps someone has to interview Bir chief Henares on this matter.

We are also suprised that major media commentators do not touch on this topic (at least in philstar and inquirer, Sunday issues Mar 18, 2012).

Understanding why the IBP current leadership is supportive of Corona

This is a draft. We are trying to understand why the current leadership of the IBP is very supportive of Chief Justice Corona.

I am requesting the reader to read Amado Macasaet article in http://www.malaya.com.ph/01162012/edmacasaet.html. It is an eye opener on the current leadership of the IBP.

Is IBP speaking for every lawyer?

It took no less than an aide to the president of the Philippines to take issue with the stand of the IBP leadership that so far there is no proof that Renato Corona, the current Chief Justice did not obtained "illegally gotten wealth".

Click on Aquin aide takes issue with bar association over statements.

The IBP on Friday said the House prosecution had failed to prove Corona’s alleged ill-gotten wealth after two weeks of hearings by the Senate impeachment court.


Abigail Valte, one of President's spokespersons said:

“As a member of the IBP also, I will say that the views being propounded by the leadership of the IBP are not mine. I know a lot of IBP members also who do not subscribe to the views propounded by the officers of the IBP,”

This is not the first time that the IBP leadership has issued statements which were not supported by past leadership. For example, see our previous article, Is the IBP speaking with one voice?.


It would be better for the IBP leadership to shut up. Already the Supreme Court has problems because its credibility is shaken thru one man, Chief Justice Renato Corona. IBP refuses to believe that the impeachment court is not an attack on the Supreme Court but a trial to see if Corona deserves to continue to sit as chief justice. If they continue to support corona, fine, that is their prerogative, but to claim that what they are saying is what most members hold on to, that is stretching the truth till it becomes a big lie.