IN THE MATTER OF THE INQUIRY

INTO THE 1989 ELECTIONS OF

THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES.
A. M. No. 491
October 6, 1989

FACTS:
In the election of the national officers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines held on
June 3, 1989 at the Philippine International Convention Center, the newly-elected officers were
set to take their oath of office on July 4, 1989 before the Supreme Court en banc.
The adverse comments published in the columns of some newspapers about the intensive
electioneering and overspending by the candidates, led by the main protagonists for the office of
president of the association, namely, Attorneys Nereo Paculdo, Ramon Nisce, and Violeta C.
Drilon, the alleged use of government planes, and the officious intervention of certain public
officials to influence the voting, all of which were done in violation of the IBP By-Laws which
prohibit such activities, the Supreme Court en banc, exercising its power of supervision over the
Integrated Bar, resolved to suspend the oath-taking of the IBP officers-elect and to inquire into
the veracity of the reports.
The prohibited acts are against the IBP By-Laws more specifically Article I, Section 4 of
the IBP By-Laws emphasizes the "strictly non-political" character of the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines, Sec. 14. Prohibited acts and practices relative to elections and Section 12[d] of the
By-Laws prescribes sanctions for violations of the above rules: Any violation of the rules
governing elections or commission of any of the prohibited acts and practices defined in Section
14 [Prohibited Acts and Practices Relative to Elections) of the By-laws of the Integrated Bar
shall be a ground for the disqualification of a candidate or his removal from office if elected,
without prejudice to the imposition of sanctions upon any erring member pursuant to the By-laws
of the Integrated Bar.

ISSUE Whether or not the candidates violated the IBP By-Laws.

HE: The candidates and many of the participants in that election not only violated the By-Laws
of the IBP but also the ethics of the legal profession which imposes on all lawyers, as a corollary
of their obligation to obey and uphold the constitution and the laws, the duty to "promote respect
for law and legal processes" and to abstain from 'activities aimed at defiance of the law or at
lessening confidence in the legal system" (Rule 1.02, Canon 1, Code of Professional
Responsibility). Respect for law is gravely eroded when lawyers themselves, who are supposed
to be millions of the law, engage in unlawful practices and cavalierly brush aside the very rules
that the IBP formulated for their observance.

The unseemly ardor with which the candidates pursued the presidency of the association
detracted from the dignity of the legal profession. The spectacle of lawyers bribing or being
bribed to vote one way or another, certainly did not uphold the honor of the profession nor
elevate it in the public's esteem.

The Court notes with grave concern what appear to be the evasions, denials and outright
prevarications that tainted the statements of the witnesses, including tome of the candidates,
during the initial hearing conducted by it before its fact-finding committee was created. The
subsequent investigation conducted by this Committee has revealed that those parties had been
less than candid with the Court and seem to have conspired among themselves to deceive it or at
least withhold vital information from it to conceal the irregularities committed during the
campaign.