IBP: We do not receive allowance from Sereno or Supreme Court

Contrary to the claim of one of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's primary accusers, the officials of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) do not receive any allowance from the top judge or the Supreme Court, the organization said on Thursday.

Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, the lawyer who filed an impeachment complaint against Sereno, was earlier reported to have claimed that IBP officials are siding with the embattled chief magistrate because she and the tribunal give them an allowance.

"...[T]he President, Executive Vice President, the members of the Board of Governors, all Chapter and Regional Officers of IBP do not receive any allowance from Chief Justice Sereno or the Supreme Court. These elected officials of the IBP serve without any compensation or honorarium," the IBP said in a statement.

Gadon is facing at least four disbarment complaints, one of which accuses him of making perjurious statements and harassing court employees with lawsuits.

"It is reckless for a lawyer to make false and unfounded allegations. We respect every person's freedom of expression and may even try to understand his needs and motivations but truth fairness and professional ethics should not be lost even in partisan and passionate lawyering," the mandatory organization for Philippine lawyers said.

The IBP has sought to intervene in the case that wants Sereno's appointment as chief justice invalidated so they could formally oppose it, on the ground, among others, that the petition for quo warranto filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida "will impair the security of tenure, stability and independence of constitutional offices."

It has also argued that the quo warranto plea was filed beyond the one-year prescriptive period, and that the SC should not replace the Judicial and Bar Council and the President in determining whether or not Sereno possesses integrity, a "qualification" Calida alleges she does not.

The SC has noted their pleading.

"The members of the IBP Board of Governors may have diverse political inclinations and beliefs but we are one in taking this principled stand for it is the institutional duty of IBP and the personal oath of every lawyer to uphold the Constitution and promote the rule of law, regardless of the personalities involved," the IBP said. — BM, GMA News