Purisima nephew appeals to panel

The nephew of retired Supreme Court Justice Fidel Purisima has asked a panel of retired justices investigating the 1999 Bar scandal to allow him to take his lawyer’s oath after he passed the exams.

Mark Anthony Purisima, 32, also requested the panel headed by former Justice Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, with former Justices Jose Feria and Camilo Quiason as members, to subject him to an inquiry, or a lie detector test, so that the truth will come out.

While he admitted having taken the Bar exams four times, he said he passed last year’s exams without any help from anybody, much less from his jurist-uncle who was accused of concealing to the High Court that his nephew took the tests. The elder Purisima handled last year’s Bar exams.

The young Purisima’s fate, however, lies with the High Court which the panel said should decide whether he can be allowed to take his oath.— Delon Porcalla