SC probes 2 lawyers for letter to judge

Manila, Philippines -  Two lawyers who wrote a Pasig City judge handling their case are facing administrative charges before the Supreme Court (SC).

Lawyers Jose Antonio Bernas and Kristine Francisco-Alcantara are being investigated after a litigant filed a disbarment complaint against them for allegedly trying to influence the judge after she issued an unfavorable ruling.

The complainant, Manuel Campos Ilagan Jr., accused the two lawyers of violating canons of Code of Professional Responsibility for lawyers in the complaint filed before the SC’s office of the Bar Confidant. The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, stated that Bernas and Alcantara are legal counsels for Ilagan’s estranged wife, Debra, in a custody battle over their three minor children.

Ilagan said rather than filing a proper motion to question the ruling of Judge Leili Cruz Suarez granting his request for shared custody, Alcantara wrote Suarez a letter in which he allegedly insinuated that she granted the request because she is related to one of Ilagan’s lawyers.

He said while the letter was signed by Alcantara alone, Bernas’ name also appeared therein.

Ilagan – president of Earth & Shore Leisure Communities Corp., which developed the Camaya Coast resort in Mariveles, Bataan – also alleged that Bernas and Alcantara had induced Debra to question the validity of a memorandum the former couple jointly executed in September 2011.

The memorandum pertains to the custody and support for their sons and the settlement of the case for violence against women and children that Debra had filed against Ilagan.

Debra had withdrawn from the agreement, claiming she was forced to sign it because of the assumed threat by Ilagan to withdraw his support for the children.