The Bar Tribune Vol. 5 No. 4 - May 2008 - Integrated Bar of the ...

Vol. 5 No. 4 May 2008IBP ContinuesActivist AdvocaciesLawyers led by IBP National President Feliciano M. Bautista march along Makati City to protest government anomaliesThe Integrated Bar of thePhilippines has continued to step upadvocacy efforts in political reform andhuman rights, in line with theincumbent IBP Board’s thrust of beinga leading voice in national affairs.“The IBP is a respected organizationand we desire to make our positions knownon the burning issues of the day. It is ourduty as lawyers and servants of justice tochampion worthy causes that have directbearing on the lives of our people,” IBPNational President Feliciano “Shane” M.Bautista said.Last December 2007, the IBP releaseda statement on corruption that waspublished in the leading dailies and pickedup by the general media. The organizationdecried the “culture of corruption” in theArroyo administration and called on themembers of Congress to step upinvestigations on various governmentscandals.The IBP then led a contingent oflawyers in the February 15 and 29, 2008multi-sectoral inter-faith rallies in MakatiCity. Atty. Bautista joined IBP officers andmembers in speaking against irregularitiesrelating to the ZTE broadband deal.The Board of Governors came outwith another media statement on ZTE(full text at the last page of the newsletter)last April 25, this time informing thepublic of its position on the Neri vs. Senatecase that was recently decided by theSupreme Court and presently underreconsideration.The National Committee on Legal Aid(NCLA) has, on the other hand, focused onhuman rights issues with the signing oftwo Memoranda of Agreement. Itpartnered with the Australian aid agencyAUSAid and The Asia Foundation fora comprehensive audit and documentationof human rights cases throughout thecountry last March 2008. In April 2008,the NCLA signed another agreement, thistime with the American Bar Association forthe preparation of primers on R.A. 6292,the Violence Against Women and ChildrenAct, in the Visayan dialect.

ProfileDOLE Secretary Brion Returnsto Judiciary as 161st SC JusticeBy Madeleine U. V. G. AvanzadoAfter a two-year stint as Secretaryof Labor and Employment, formerCourt of Appeals (CA) Associate JusticeArturo D. Brion has come home to theJudiciary upon taking his oath as theSupreme Court’s 161st magistrate lastMarch 17 before Chief Justice ReynatoS. Puno.A man blessed with diverse talents andskills, Justice Brion’s work experience cutsa swath across the three branches ofgovernment, as well as showcases themultiple facets of law practice.He began his law career by engagingin private law practice, mostly in labor law,with the Siguion Reyna Montecillo &Ongsiako Law Offices from 1975 to 1982.At the same time, he shared his legalknowledge in the academe as a memberof the Ateneo de Manila UniversityFaculty of Law from 1976 to 1981, and in1986.He entered government service in 1982as Executive Director of the Institute ofLabor and Manpower Studies under thePhilippine Ministry of Labor until 1984,when he went on to become Vice-Chairof the Labor and Employment Committeeof the Mambabatas Pambansa, PhilippineNational Assembly.Brion became Deputy Minister ofLabor for Legal and Legislative Affairsfrom 1985 to 1986 before returning toprivate practice as Senior Partner of theNatividad Delos Reyes Maambong & BrionLaw Firm from 1986 to 1988, andsubsequently of Siguion Reyna from 1995to 2001. During this time, he worked as aconsultant for the Civil ServiceCommission on public sector unionism,leading to the paper “Public SectorUnionism – a Proposed Reconfiguration,”and returned to teach at Ateneo Law from1995 to 1997.He went back to full-time governmentservice in 2001 when he was appointedUndersecretary of Labor for LaborRelations of the Department of Laborand Employment and subsequentlyUndersecretary of Foreign Affairs forSpecial Projects of the Department ofForeign Affairs a year after. He likewisetaught at the University of the PhilippinesSchool of Labor and Industrial Relationsfrom 2001 to 2002 and the Far EasternUniversity Institute of Law from 2005 to2006.Justice Brion, the son of retiredRegional Trial Court Judge Edon B. Brionand Laura S. Dizon, crossed from Bar toBench when he was appointed CAAssociate Justice in July 2003. Heremained a Senior Member of theAppellate Court’s 15th Division until June2006, before accepting the task of leadingthe country’s Department of Labor andEmployment that July. He has since joinedthe Judiciary anew to complete the 15-member High Tribunal, filling in thevacancy left by the retirement of JusticeAngelina Sandoval-Gutierrez.Justice Brion states that he has nojudicial philosophy, but instead takes onevery case brought before him objectively,considering each case’s unique situationand circumstance, before applying theConstitution and the laws.Justice Brion is married to chemistlawyerAtty. Antonietta C. Articona-Brionwho is presently a CA Court Attorney.They are blessed with two similarly multiskilledchildren, Antonella A. Brion, ahistorian with a Bachelor of Arts degreein History from York University in Toronto,Canada, presently engaged in InformationTechnology, and Arturo Brion, Jr., acomputer engineering graduate ofMcMaster University and Bachelor ofLaws degree holder from the University ofNew Brunswick, now engaged inIntellectual Property Law Practice inOttawa, Canada. (Reprinted from the SupremeCourt’s Benchmark)“Justice Brion states that he has no judicial philosophy, but instead takes on every casebrought before him objectively, considering each case’s unique situation andcircumstance, before applying the Constitution and the laws”2 The Bar Tribune Volume 5, Number 4

IBP EventsRegional ConventionsEastern Visayas Regional Convention (led by Governor Evergisto S. Escalon) - February 6-8, 2008, Sabin Resort Hotel, Ormoc CityTheme: "Lawyers: Vanguards of Civil and Political Rights"Western Visayas Regional Convention (led by Governor Raymund Jorge A. Mercado) - March 6-8, 2008, Negros Oriental Convention Center, Dumaguete CityTheme: “Raising the bar of the ‘BAR’: A call to Excellence in the Practice of the Legal Profession”Northern Luzon Regional Convention (led by Governor Abelardo C. Estrada)April 15-17, 2008, Baguio Country Club, Baguio CityTheme: “Lawyers: Catalysts for Reforms”Board of Governors Meeting - April 15, 2008, Baguio Country Club, Baguio City6 The Bar Tribune Volume 5, Number 4

Integrated Bar of the PhilippinesTHE SEARCH FOR TRUTH CONTINUESThe Philippine Supreme Court has ruled on the matter of executive privilege invoked bySecretary Romulo Neri on the ZTE deal. As the nation awaits a decision on the Senate’sMotion for Reconsideration, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines desires to inform the publicboth of the important matters in the landmark ruling, and the organization’s collective sentimentson certain principles that deal with the very core of our constitutional democracy.The Senate and the entire nation have been hungry for answers on three questions, the veryissues Secretary Neri claims to be covered by executive privilege. First, whether the President followed up on theproject. Second, whether Neri was dictated to prioritize ZTE. Third, whether the President gave the go-ahead despitebeing advised of alleged bribes.The matter is not about E.O. 464 anymore because it has already been revoked. What the Supreme Court dealt withextensively was the constitutional matter of “presidential communications privilege.” Are the sensitive informationexchanged by Mr. Neri and Mrs. Arroyo entitled to respect by a co-equal branch of government?We agree with the Supreme Court that this kind of executive privilege extends to diplomatic relations. We find itdifficult to fathom, however, that the Court would allow a letter by Executive Secretary Ermita as sufficient justificationto invoke the privilege. The letter, addressed to the Senate, merely made a broad and generalized claim that ourdiplomatic and economic relations with China would be prejudiced by a disclosure of confidential Presidentialinformation. The IBP finds insufficient ground for giving prime importance to the letter, especially since briberyinvolving the highest officials of government and millions of pesos are involved.We likewise consider it almost hurtful for the Supreme Court to rule that “the right of Congress or any of its Committeesto obtain information in aid of legislation cannot be equated with the people’s right to public information. The formercannot claim that every legislative inquiry is an exercise of the people’s right to information,” or that the SenateCommittees leading the investigation “should not invoke as justification in their exercise of power a right properlybelonging to the people in general.”The Filipino people have been consistently stubborn in their desire to extract honest information from Malacañang.We have exercised our right to peaceably assemble, our right to express our sentiments in all available fora, ourfundamental and sacred right to be informed.The Senate has taken the cudgels for us when even popular assemblies and mass expressions of indignation haveproven futile. We simply cannot understand why the Senate has to be practically reprimanded for being adelantadoand usisero in the people’s behalf.We could go on and on detailing the legal arguments in Romulo L. Neri vs. Senate Committee, et. al., but othervenues and occasions are more appropriate. As lawyers, we continue to demand full disclosure on matters relatingto government corruption. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines clings to the shared hope that the Supreme Court,in all its wisdom, would afford us a chance to find out the unfiltered truth on the ZTE broadband deal.FELICIANO M. BAUTISTANational PresidentABELARDO C. ESTRADA ERNESTO A. GONZALES, JR. MARCIAL M. MAGSINO BONIFACIO T. BARANDON, JR.Governor for Northern Luzon Governor for Central Luzon Governor for Greater Manila Governor for BicolandiaEVERGISTO S. ESCALON RAYMUND JORGE A. MERCADO RAMON EDISON C. BATACAN CARLOS L. VALDEZ, JR.Governor for Eastern Visayas Governor for Western Visayas Governor for Eastern Mindanao Governor for Western Mindanao8 The Bar Tribune Volume 5, Number 4