MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) was asked yesterday to hold former Commission on Elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon for indirect contempt for posting on social media a disbarment case she filed against lawyer Ferdinand Topacio last year.
In a petition, Topacio said Guanzon committed indirect contempt when she maliciously posted the disbarment case on Twitter.
Topacio argued that proceedings against legal practitioners should be confidential under the Rules of Court.
In June last year, Guanzon asked the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to disbar Topacio over defamatory remarks against her and for allegedly paying his social media followers to attack her by creating a “meme making” contest to insult her.
“Because it is not even known whether there is a ground for disbarment or not, my reputation as a lawyer was tarnished,” Topacio’s petition read.
Topacio and Guanzon had been swapping complaints and trading barbs on social media.
In May last year, Topacio filed a complaint for graft against Guanzon over the disclosure of her vote on the disqualification case filed against President Marcos.