THE Integrated Bar of the Philippines has called on the House of Representatives to recall its show-cause order against three Court of Appeals justices who ordered the release of six Ilocos Norte officials being detained in the House for contempt.
In a statement issued over the weekend, the IBP also urged the members of the House committee on good government and public accountability to exercise sobriety to prevent the conflict between the judiciary and the legislative bodies from escalating, saying they should instead uphold the rule of law and exhaust all remedies provided by law.
“On its part, the Board of Governors [of the IBP] strongly urges the House of Representatives to reconsider its position by recalling the show-cause order issued against the justices of the Court of Appeals,” says the IBP statement signed by its national president Rosario Setias-Reyes.
“Under the circumstances, despite the public perception it does not appear that the Court of Appeals has infringed upon, interfered with or denied the power or authority of the House of Representatives,” the IBP says.
The mandatory organization of lawyers in the Philippines echoed the appeal issued last week by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. to the House leadership to instead avail itself of the remedies available under the rules of law in questioning the orders issued by the appellate court’s Special Fourth Division.
“If the House of Representatives is of the position that the grant of bail by the Court of Appeals was done in grave abuse of discretion, the remedy to question the order in a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 that may be filed with the Supreme Court,” the IBP says.
‘‘If, in the future the Court of Appeals should find that there was a violation of the constitutional right of the Ilocos Six against self-incrimination, the remedy is to appeal such a judgment to the Supreme Court.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and other House leaders who issued the show cause order”•Rep. Rudy Fariñas of Ilocos Norte and Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Negros Oriental”•are lawyers and members of IBP.
The IBP asked the House to respect the authority of the Court of Appeals to act and rule on the petition for habeas corpus filed by the detained Ilocos Six officials, and in the same way the contempt and detention power of the House must also be respected.
“A petition for habeas corpus was filed with the Court of Appeals questioning the propriety of their detention on the basis of the assertion that, in refusing to answer the questions of the committee, they invoked their constitutional right against self-incrimination,” the IBP says.
“The petition was acted upon by the Court of Appeals. Again, such a petition is clearly within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals.”