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Manila Bulletin

CA nullifies arrest order vs lawyer

CA nullifies arrest order vs lawyer

By Jeffrey Damicog The Court of Appeals (CA) has nullified the arrest order issued by the Trece Martires City Regional Trial Court (RTC) against a lawyer who filed a case against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Court of Appeals (MANILA BULLETIN)

Court of Appeals (MANILA BULLETIN) The CA Ninth Division has issued a resolution which granted the petition of lawyer Jude Sabio against the arrest warrants issued in 2018 by then RTC Judge and now CA Justice Emily Alino-Geluz. The case stemmed from Sabio’s failure to comply with the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) program which required lawyers to take its classes every three years. “While it is true that non-compliance with MCLE requirement merits a fine, nowhere is it provided in the MCLE rules that subsidiary imprisonment shall be imposed for non-payment or insolvency,” read the CA ruling penned by Justice Geraldine Fiel-Macaraig. “Worse, nowhere is it stated that the courts may even penalize non-compliance with MCLE rules,” it added. The appellate court said the magistrate should have just informed the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Committee on Bar Discipline about Sabio’s non-compliance. Citing Bar Matter No. 850, the CA pointed out the offense only results with the listing of the non-compliant lawyer as a delinquent member of the IBP. Geluz issued an arrest warrant on March 7, 2018 after Sabio failed to pay a P2,000 fine after learning his MCLE compliance certificate had expired. Sabio appealed before Geluz who turned him down and issued another arrest warrant on April 2018 after the first one was not served. Because of this, Sabio brought the case before the CA. Sabio had filed back in 2017 a communication before the ICC asking for the prosecution of Duterte and other Philippine government officials for having committed crimes against humanity due to the mass killings that have taken place in the war against illegal drugs.

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