By Atty. Julius Gregory B. Delgado
THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES – MORE THAN A CLUB OF LAWYERS
Mes Que Un Club or More Than a Club is the motto of the fabled soccer team, Barcelona F.C. in Spain. It denotes close-knit aggrupation or association of football fans supporting a sporting association known for its opposition to the Franco Dictatorship based in Catalonia. Such motto can also be ascribed to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (“IBP”), the national association of lawyers in the country. Founded in 1973, the IBP is a mandatory aggrupation of lawyers admitted in the Philippine Bar. When you say mandatory, all lawyers are required to be a member to the association. In one case, the Supreme Court rejected a petition of a lawyer to be exempted from membership with the IBP based on the constitutional right to self-organization.
Unlike other professions, wherein they have a Governing Board under the Professional Regulatory Commission (“PRC”), the IBP acts as the internal police within the ranks of lawyers nationwide answerable only to the Supreme Court. Normally, an administrative complaint seeking to disbar or suspend a lawyer is filed with the IBP through the Commission on Bar Discipline (“CBD”). A particular case filed with the CBD against a lawyer is assigned to an Investigating Commissioner who shall make a recommendation to the IBP Board of Governors. The IBP Board of Governors’ decision shall then be elevated by way of automatic review to the Supreme Court who will then decide with finality the fate of the lawyer.
Aside from maintaining discipline and ensuring that the Code of Professional Responsibility is strictly complied with, the IBP also ensures that lawyers perform their responsibility to the society, especially the marginalized sector in need of legal assistance and representation. The IBP, through its National Committee on Legal Aid, download funds and spearheads trainings, seminars, and summits to strengthen the local Legal Aid Clinics of IBP chapters around the country. Unknown to many, in cases wherein indigent litigants are turned down by the Public Attorney’s Office because of conflict of interest, i.e., the opposing party was accepted by PAO first, or in cases wherein accused have conflicting theories, it is usually referred to the Legal Aid Program of the local chapter of the IBP.
Aside from the Legal Aid Program, IBP-Bohol Chapter has a distinct program called Legal Aid for Effective Law Enforcement or LAELEP Program which conducts seminars to law enforcers to aid them in the performance of their duties and functions. The LAELEP also has a legal assistance and representation component wherein lawyers represent law enforcers who are at the receiving end of complaints in connection with and in the performance of their duties and functions.
Yesterday, IBP chapters in the country held their biennial elections. Elected as officers for 2021-2023 are the following: Atty. Licelle Zamora (President); Atty. Julius Gregory Delgado (Vice President); Atty. Adeline Glovasa (Secretary); Atty. Harold Bayarcal (Treasurer); Atty. Joyce Marie Marapao (Auditor); Atty. Cheryl Ann Villares (Press Relations Officers); Atty. Siegfred Caresosa (Director); Atty. Katherine Sarte (Director); Atty. David Maulas (Director); Atty. John Jeric Lim (Director); and Atty. Lord Ronald Vaňo (Director).
Facing the ongoing onslaught of COVID-19 which presents difficulty in holding and hosting activities, the incoming set of officers will have the following tentative line-up of activities, among others, to be accomplished on their first year: 1) Oath-Taking and Honoring of 2019 Bar Passers; 2) Approval of New Tariff for Legal Services; 3) Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for the Seventh (7th) Compliance; 4) Bench and Bar Dialogue on the Implementation of the 2019 Amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure; and 5) Roundtable Discussion with the Bench and the Philippine National Police on law enforcement issues.