Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo will lead the second leg of the information and consultation drive for the proposed Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) today at the Matina campus of the University of Mindanao in Davao City.
Expected to join the Chief Justice in the second leg of the Ethics Caravan are justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Sandiganbayan, trial court judges and court personnel; members of the different chapters of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; and members of related government entities and organizations, and the academe.
The Davao City caravan will be for Regions IX, X, XI, XII, CARAGA, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The CPRA is the proposed set of rules on the ethical conduct and accountability of lawyers in the practice of law. It seeks to amend the 34 -year-old Code of Professional Responsibility that was adopted in 1988.
The first leg of the caravan was held last Sept. 14 at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City for Regions VI, VII, VIII, and Palawan.
The other caravans will be held in Naga City in November for Regions IV-B and V; in Baguio City in January 2023 for Regions I, II, and the Cordillera Autonomous Region; and in the National Capital Region (NCR), also in January 2023, for Regions III, IV-A, and the NCR.
During the Cebu City caravan, Chief Justice Gesmundo stressed the addition of “accountability” in the proposed CPRA “as a significant change reinforcing ethical commitment among lawyers.”
“It is time to change not just the Code itself, but the people’s attitude towards it. We must convince everyone that ethics is a way of life,” Gesmundo said.
Suggestions and inputs gathered during the caravan will be submitted to the SC for its consideration.
The SC said the Ethics Caravan will culminate in the National Summit on Ethical Standards for Lawyers in February 2023.
Among the SC justices who attended the Cebu City caravan were Justices Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, who is chairperson on the revision of CPR; Samuel H. Gaerlan and Maria Filomena D. Singh, sub-committee chairpersons; Rodil V. Zalameda, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Antonio T. Kho Jr.
Also in attendance in Cebu City was Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva who will also be in Davao City. Rey E. Requejo