SC orders De Lima, Lacierda to answer disbarment complaint

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda have been ordered to answer a petition for their disbarment before the Supreme Court (SC).

De Lima and Lacierda were given 10 days to comply with the order upon receipt of notice.

Last Tuesday, SC justices in full session voted to require the two Cabinet secretaries to submit their comments.

Lawyer Agustin Sundiam had asked the SC to take disciplinary action against De Lima and Lacierda for their utterances and remarks on national television in support of President Aquino’s public bashing of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Sundiam said De Lima and Lacierda violated their oaths as lawyers, the Code of Professional Responsibility and the Rules of Court.

De Lima called Corona “a tyrant who holds himself above justice and accountability,” he added.

Sundiam said the remarks of De Lima and Lacierda against Corona constitute indirect contempt as defined and punishable under the Revised Rules on Civil Procedure.

“There is no gainsaying that the subject remarks were calculated precisely to degrade or tend to degrade the administration of justice, and erode and undermine the people’s confidence in this Honorable Supreme Court and the judicial officers,” read the petition obtained by reporters.

Sundiam asked the SC to start appropriate proceedings for the disbarment and/or suspension of De Lima and Lacierda from the practice of law and other disciplinary action against the two.

De Lima has vowed to formally answer the complaint after receiving the SC order.

She said her remarks against Corona were part of her constitutional right to free expression.

Earlier, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines had also asked the SC to take disciplinary action against De Lima.