SC suspends lawyer Eligio Mallari for delaying tactics
SUSPENDED LAWYER Eligio Mallari (2nd from left) was among the lawyers who filed an impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. File photo by Bea Cupin/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) announced on Friday, February 9, that it has suspended a lawyer for using "dilatory tactics" to delay the execution of a ruling that favored the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS).
The SC voted 8-0 to suspend lawyer Eligio Mallari for two years.
"By arguing a case that has already been rejected repeatedly, he abused his right of recourse to the courts. His acts of not conducting himself 'to the best of his knowledge and discretion with all good fidelity to the courts' constitute serious transgression of his professional oath," the SC said.
Mallari was one of those who filed the second impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, which was found insufficient in form.
He also filed a complaint against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang for baring details of his agency's investigation into the Duterte family's wealth.
Mallari is president of the group Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution. He is also allied with the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
The case that led to Mallari's suspension involved his two loans secured by mortgage from GSIS in 1968.
The GSIS in 1984 "applied for the extrajudicial foreclosure of the mortgage due to Mallari's failure to settle his account," the SC said.
Mallari, however, filed cases and motions to challenge the GSIS, even after his case was "rejected repeatedly" by the courts. – Rappler.com
