Tiñga asks Supreme Court to disbar lawmaker for misconduct

MANILA, Philippines - Taguig mayoralty bet retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Dante Tiñga has filed before the Supreme Court a disbarment case against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for violation of the lawyer’s oath, gross misconduct, and violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility (CPR).

The complaint-affidavit states that Cayetano violated the lawyer’s oath to “do no falsehood” and not to “wittingly or willingly promote or sue any groundless, false and unlawful suit, nor give aid nor consent to the same,” and violated CPR Rule 1.03, stating that a “lawyer shall not, for any corrupt motive or interest, encourage any suit or proceeding or delay any man’s case.”

Tiñga said the senator erred when he, together with his wife Taguig first district Rep. Laarni Cayetano, “instigated, induced, cajoled and influenced” a certain Jovito Olazo to file a case of graft with the Ombudsman against him for alleged land-grabbing. Tiñga said that Cayetano prodded and pushed Olazo to file the Ombudsman case against him, despite knowing that Olazo’s pleadings were dismissed a number of times by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Office of the President, and the Court of Appeals.

“Respondent (Cayetano) has known all along that the allegations in the (Olazo) complaint-affidavit before the Ombudsman are false and unfounded. (He) has full knowledge of the claim of Jovito Olazo and the disposition of the case by the DENR since Jovito Olazo was represented in his appeal on the DENR decision before the Office of the President by the law firm Cayetano Sebastian Ata Dado & Cruz of which respondent is a partner and/or in which he has considerable influence,” the nine-page complaint read.

More so, the Cayetano couple and Olazo conspired and confederated with each other to create and stir publicity about the filing of the Ombudsman case against him, by holding a press conference last March 24, at a restaurant in Manila.

The press conference, attended by reporters from print and broadcast media, reportedly spawned negative and opinion-based publicity against Tiñga. As a result, Tiñga filed last April 15 a separate criminal case against the Cayetano couple and Olazo with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Tiñga said that with Olazo’s filing of the malicious and unfounded case, the senator, together with his wife and Olazo, “was motivated and impelled by a consuming malicious intent to impeach complainant’s honesty, virtue and reputation, as well as to expose the complainant to public hatred, and thereby damage his candidacy for city mayor of Taguig, and boost the candidacy of his wife for the same position.”

Tiñga is running for the Taguig mayoralty post against Rep. Cayetano.

When reached for comment on the issue the senator could not be reached, for at least several times that this writer tried to get his side. – With Rhodina Villanueva