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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
IBP raps Tomas, Cuenco for attackon lawyer Gloria
The IBP Cebu City Chapter yesterday slammed Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s published letter that quoted one of its directors as denying, during a meeting, a request to help prosecute drug cases because there is no money in it.
In a press conference, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Democrito Barcenas said he was present in that meeting referred to by the mayor, in which lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu reportedly made the remark to Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south).
“What Congressman Cuenco reportedly said never happened. That’s a lie and it puts the IBP in a bad light. We need to disabuse the minds of people who now believe that we lawyers are mercenaries,” Barcenas said.
The IBP also clarified that its building, located beside the Palace of Justice, was not built with cash from the Countryside Development Fund (CDF) of Cuenco and Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north).
According to the mayor’s letter, Dalawampu asked Cuenco for money to complete the building during that meeting.
While the two shouldered expenses for the project, the allocation was coursed through the Department of Public Works and Highways and no cash went to the IBP.
“Atty. (Manuel) Legaspi, who was the chairman of the building committee at that time, felt it was okay to ask the two congressmen for help because they are both members of the organization,” Barcenas said.
“That statement is libelous and the possibility of filing charges is something that the IBP should decide on,” Dalawampu said of the statement the mayor attributed to her.
Lawyer Alex Tolentino, the incumbent IBP president, said the organization is backing Dalawampu all the way.
“No lawyer is capable of saying something like that in front of a congressman,” he said.
The mayor, in reaction to an IBP resolution criticizing Cebu City Councilor Augustus Pe’s proposed measure to publish the names of judges who dismiss drug cases, sent the letter to different media organizations.
In the letter, the mayor said Cuenco once told him that he (Cuenco), in a formal meeting, requested the IBP’s help in prosecuting drug cases heard in Cebu City courts.
The organization, through Dalawampu, reportedly denied the request because “dili mi makakuar-ta niana (we can’t make money out of that).”
Dalawampu, in yesterday’s conference, said the meeting being referred to happened two years ago and was called to discuss the contents of a bill Cuenco intended to file before Congress.
Barcenas, who was the IBP chapter president at that time, attended the meeting, held at the Grand Convention Center, together with lawyers Tolentino, Michelle Mendez and Dominador Tanjente.
“Mayor Osmeña was not present during said invitational dinner, hence he was never privy to whatever discussion we had during that time,” Dalawampu said.
She confirmed that the IBP turned down the request to take the cudgels in prosecuting drug cases, not because they didn’t want to but because the law does not allow them to.
“I spoke in representation of the IBP officers during that time that the prosecution of drug cases is within the realm of the provincial, city and state prosecutors and prosecuting attorneys only. Private practitioners like the IBP officers do not have the authority to prosecute drug cases because there is no private offended party in said cases,” she read from a prepared statement.
“It is therefore a lie for (congressman) Cuenco to say that the reason why the IBP officers refused to help in the prosecution of drug cases is because ‘dili mi makakuarta niana,’” she said.
She instead suggested to Cuenco that he author a bill seeking to amend the Rules of Court and allow private practitioners to represent the state in criminal proceedings involving “victimless crimes.”
“In relation to Mayor Osmeña’s statement that ‘it’s acceptable to be a lawyer of a gangster or bank robber or even a drug lord,’ has impressed upon the minds of readers that lawyers only support the causes of criminals. Said statement is utterly misleading,” she added.
She said lawyers are prohibited by legal canons from refusing to represent a person solely on the belief that the client is guilty.
She maintained that if the mayor really wants to know why there are few drug case convictions in the city, he should evaluate the performance of the police. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 14, 2006 issue)
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