The Integrated Bar of the Philippines on Friday welcomed the prompt and decisive action of the House of Representatives in unanimously dismissing the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
The IBP, the country’s mandatory lawyer’s group, described as “powerful and commendable” the “unanimity, dispatch and decisiveness” by which the House committee on justice acted on the complaint against Leonen.
In a unanimous vote, the members of the House justice committee dismissed the complaint filed last December against Leonen for insufficiency in form and substance.
Leonen lauded the dismissal of the complaint, saying it as an affirmation of “the constitutional independence of the judiciary by not allowing others to take advantage of the vulnerability of its members.”
“Finally, to the prime movers of this baseless complaint and those who have supported them, know this: I wish you well, and I wish that you will also find your own peace,” he added.
The IBP, through its President Domingo Egon Cayosa, stressed that the dismissal should “renew our hope for the rule of law, strengthen our resolve to promote the independence of the judiciary, and inspire us to confidently and courageously discharge our duties fairly as the facts and the law demand.”
“May it also demonstrate that responsible leaders can set aside narrow and personal interests to focus on the more important tasks during this pandemic and of nation-building,” he said.
Cayosa stressed that “impeachment is an important constitutional accountability mechanism that should not be invoked on flimsy and dubious grounds.”
“Magistrates should be allowed to judge without fear of retribution or reprisal,” he said.