3 weeks ago
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February 21, 2025 | 4:52pm
Former senator and human rights campaigner Leila de Lima speaks as she attends a senate probe into the drug war during former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's administration, in Manila on Oct. 28, 2024.
AFP / Jam Sta Rosa, file
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court's recent disbarment of lawyer Demosthenes Tecson has sparked some controversy, with former senator Leila de Lima demanding a public clarification from the high court over its communications.
The disbarment stems from Tecson's mishandling of a P134 million compensation awarded to his clients in an expropriation case. The Supreme Court found that Tecson only remitted P53 million to his clients, keeping the rest as attorney's fees and allegedly for De Lima's senatorial campaign.
The Supreme Court Public Information Office then released a piece to the press about Tecson's case on February 19. The portion of it read:
“Atty. Tecson personally received the funds on his clients’ behalf but only remitted PHP 53 million, keeping the rest as his attorney’s fees and allegedly for the senatorial campaign of former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.”
De Lima, a senatorial aspirant for the upcoming midterm elections, has vehemently denied as "utterly false" any connection to Tecson or his misappropriated funds.
In a strongly worded letter to the Supreme Court, De Lima expressed "grave exception" to being implicated in the case through its press release, stating she does not know Tecson and received no donations from him.
She criticized the court's spokesperson for naming her in the release despite not being a party to the case.
“Naming another lawyer who is not a party to a disbarment case and who was not impleaded to defend herself from a baseless allegation in the Spokesperson's press release is unfair, and should be dealt with grave concern by the Honorable Court,” De Lima’s letter to the Supreme Court read.
She further argued that the inclusion of her name unfairly connected her to Tecson's actions.
"It is profoundly unjust for my name to be dragged into the misconduct of a lawyer who has been stripped of his professional standing precisely because of his ethical violations," De Lima wrote.
Call for clarification. De Lima has called for the Supreme Court to address this matter seriously, warning that similar circumstances could affect other innocent lawyers if left unchecked.
She has requested a public clarification that Tecson provided no evidence to support his allegation of donating client funds to her campaign.
The former justice secretary also announced her intention to take legal action to clear her name. As of this writing, the Supreme Court has not released the full copy of the decision, and its spokesperson, Camille Ting, has not responded to requests for comment.
In a post on Facebook about the high court's press release, De Lima wrote, "Another day, another baseless accusation. If I had a peso for every false claim, I’d already be funding a whole campaign."
Pending comment. As of posting time, the Supreme Court has not released the full copy of its decision on Tecson’s disbarment. Supreme Court Spokesperson Camille Ting has also not responded to requests for comment on De Lima’s concerns.
