Atty. Julius Gregory Delgado
1st INVESTIGATING COMMISSIONER’S SUMMIT OF THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES
While the Supreme Court has the ultimate power to admit and strike off the Roll of Attorneys members of the legal profession, a disciplinary case against a lawyer is usually referred to the Commission on Bar Discipline (“CBD”) of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (“IBP”) for investigation. The case is usually assigned to an Investigating Commissioner of the CBD who will make a Report and Recommendation to the Board of Governors (“BOG”). The BOG will then vote and decide on what will be its recommendation to the Supreme Court. The case will then be elevated to the Supreme Court for its final decision whether to adopt the findings and recommendation of the IBP.
To address the considerable number of pending cases, 902 to be exact as of July 30, 2022, the IBP decided to host a historic 1st CBD Investigating Commissioner’s Summit from 04-06 August 2022 held at the Diamond Hotel in the City of Manila. About 100 Investigating Commissioners all over the country attended the Summit with a theme, “Standardizing Concepts and Processes in Improving the System of Resolving Administrative Complaints Filed with the Commission on Bar Discipline”. Aside from this representation, Bohol was represented by Investigating Commissioner Lord “Popot” Marapao IV.
Among the highlights of the Summit was a Dialogue attended by the Justices of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo. Joining Chief Justice Gesmundo were Associate Justices Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Samuel H. Gaerlan, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Maria Filomena D. Singh. Chief Justice Gesmundo challenged the Investigating Commissioners “to level up and move forward” in resolving disciplinary cases against members of the Bar “because our people deserve justice.”
The Dialogue, which was moderated by former CBD Commissioner and now Court of Tax Appeals Justice, Hon. Marian Ivy F. Reyes-Fajardo, was followed by a series of lectures to capacitate the Investigating Commissioners, i.e., a) Threshold of Evidence in Administrative Proceedings and Admissibility/Evidentiary Value of Electronic Evidence and Online Materials by Atty. Ceasar S. Europa; b) The Logic of Case Analysis and Report-Writing by Rev. Fr. Ranhilio C. Aquino; c) Recommending a Fair and Proper Penalty and Updates on Supreme Court Decisions in Administrative Cases against Lawyers by Atty. Hilarion B. Buban; and d) Role of Investigating Commissioners and Discussion on Matters of a) Case Load and Projection, b) Death of Respondent Lawyer during pendency, and c) Penalties by CBD Director Atty. Avelino V. Sales, Jr.
Aside from the lectures, the Investigating Commissioners were made to submit a Report and Recommendation of one of the cases they are handling in order to evaluate and assess their decision-writing skills and determine if they have made the correct recommendation with respect to the penalties based on jurisprudence or previously decided cases by the Supreme Court.