More news and opinion update about the legal case of the late Doc Benigno "Iggy" Agbayani Jr.
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SC says it will look into Iggy Agbayani's case
By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, December 13, 2023 2:38pm https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/891204/sc-says-it-will-look-into-iggy-agbayani-s-case/story/
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will look into the the case of Benigno “Iggy” Agbayani Jr., the orthopedic surgeon who died while in detention in October, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said Wednesday.
“Iche-check namin kung anong nangyari talaga roon. Hindi kami basta puwede magsabi na ganito ang gagawin. Rerepasuhin namin… at base sa kung anong naging resulta, maaari kaming gumawa ng mga bagong instruction o rules para ‘wag na maulit ‘yung ganitong sitwasyon,” Gesmundo said at a press briefing.
Chief Justice has word for doctors in wake of Iggy Agbayani case
By GMA Integrated News, December 13, 2023 9:16pm https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/891264/chief-justice-has-plea-for-doctors-in-wake-of-iggy-agbayani-case/story/
"Baka sabihin delikado tayo dito. Hindi naman dapat ganun... Kung ang mga abugado may sinumpaang tungkulin, ang mga doctor may sinumpaan ding tungkulin," Gesmundo said.
"I hope they will also keep faith to their oath of profession," he added.
SC looking into conviction of surgeon over medical malpractice case
Adrian Ayalin, Dec 13 2023 07:07 PM
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/13/23/sc-looking-into-conviction-of-surgeon-over-medical-malpractice-case
Gesmundo also reminded doctors of their Hippocratic oath.
“Nabasa namin sa social media na parang natakot na yung mga doktor na maggamot ng mga abugado at mga huwes, lalo na ako sakitin na ako ay baka wala nang doktor na maggamot sa akin pag pumunta ako sa ER (emergency room), pag nalamang Chief Justice, hindi naman dapat ganon,” he said.
SC to look into case of doctor who died while in detention
Tetch Torres-Tupas - 06:20 PM December 13, 2023
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1874920/sc-to-look-into-case-of-doctor-who-died-while-in-detention
“Kung ano ang resulta, maaari kaming gumawa ng mga instruction o rules para wag na maulit ang ganitong sitwasyon,” Gesmundo said.
Dispenser of justice, not just of rules
By: Artemio V. Panganiban / 04:35 AM December 18, 2023
https://opinion.inquirer.net/169094/dispenser-of-justice-not-just-of-rules
The sad saga of Dr. Iggy Agbayani, taken up in this space on Nov. 13, was followed on Nov. 27 and Dec. 4 by a discussion of the new Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) with the aim of giving readers a glimpse of the lapses of Agbayani’s lawyer for the seemingly unjust conviction, unfair incarceration, and sudden death (due to heart attack) of the respected orthopedic surgeon.
THE SUPREME COURT HAS TAKEN COGNIZANCE OF HIS PLIGHT. In a press briefing a few days ago, on Dec. 13, Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo said, “We (referring to the justices) will check what really happened … we will review it and based on the results, we may establish new instructions or new rules so that we can avoid a repeat of the same situation … apparently there were some lapses committed by the lawyer …”
Obviously, the esteemed Chief Justice was referring to the disciplinary responsibility of the unnamed lawyer under the strict provisions of the CPRA and the penalty that can and should be meted out to him/her, after due process. Obviously also, this is something that, under the CPRA, the Court could motu proprio undertake on its own initiative without need of any complaint by anyone.
In my said column on Nov. 13, I wrote that the Metropolitan Trial Court of Manila convicted Agbayani of “reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries” and that his appeal was denied by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila, the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Supreme Court (SC-Third Division) based on the same ground: The lawyer’s failure to “file an appeal memorandum” (in the RTC) and to append the documents required by the Rules of Court to enable the CA and the Supreme Court to understand his appeal....
LAUDABLE AS THE COURT’S MOTU PROPRIO ACTION MAY BE, yet it falls short of what the Agbayani family yearns for: a reversal of his conviction and a judicial pronouncement of his innocence. To be fair, however, this desideratum cannot be taken motu proprio by the Court because there is an adverse party that equally deserves objective justice, lawyer Saul Q. Hofileña Jr., the offended party.
Thus, IMHO, the family of Agbayani needs to initiate a petition, with due notice to the offended party and to the Office of the Solicitor General (the counsel of the plaintiff “People of the Philippines”) to reopen the case. The overarching question is: May a decision that had become final and had been executed via the actual incarceration of the accused be reopened? The normal answer of jurisprudence is “No, decisions that have become final are irrevocable, despite occasional errors.”...
To conclude, I believe the Supreme Court is both a court of law and a court of equity. Rules of procedure should never be used as stumbling blocks to common sense, fairness, and equity. The Court cannot be constrained by technicalities and procedural niceties. It is a dispenser of liberating justice, not of suffocating rules. It is neither a machine nor a robot. It is human and humane. Being compassionate and just, it cannot be replaced by the computing power of technology and artificial intelligence.
Judicial double standard in doctor’s death?
By: Joel Ruiz Butuyan / 05:18 AM December 28, 2023
https://opinion.inquirer.net/169412/judicial-double-standard-in-doctors-death
...Agbayani was therefore convicted, not because of proof beyond reasonable doubt of his guilt, but because of the negligence of his lawyer. True, there was the decision of conviction by the MTC, but it was the triple decisions of three appellate courts—RTC, CA, and SC—which all applied technical rules that led to his final conviction and which caused his imprisonment.
Wearing my lawyer’s hat, the SC must reexamine the policy of making clients suffer for their lawyers’ negligence. A distinction should be made between noncompliance with substantive laws and noncompliance with technical rules. Clients should correctly suffer the consequences of their cases’ noncompliance with substantive laws because this means the lack of merit of their complaint or defense. But clients should not suffer their lawyers’ noncompliance with technical rules because clients know nothing about these rules. It should be lawyers who should suffer the consequences for procedural lapses because they are the ones responsible for these violations. The correct solution should be for our courts to impose the payment of hefty fines for lawyers who violate procedural rules. Making clients lose life, liberty, or property for reasons not attributable to them smacks of unconstitutionality and even amounts to an uncivilized judicial tradition.
Wearing my journalist’s hat, our judges and justices should engage in serious self-reflection. Our jurists heartlessly apply technical rules on citizen-litigants, but aren’t they themselves guilty of often violating technical rules? One case in point—our Constitution gives the maximum periods for our courts to decide: 24 months for the SC; 12 months for the CA and; three months for the RTC and MTC. Ask lawyers and litigants and they will sing in protest that many courts—the SC included—violate these constitutional rules. Can our courts blame litigants and trial lawyers if they view this double standard as judicial hypocrisy?
Wearing my ordinary citizen’s hat, I find the utter lack of common sense in the rule of making clients suffer the negligence of their lawyers because of this: if Agbayani was correctly made to suffer the negligence of his lawyer, applying the same principle, shouldn’t Hofileña likewise be made to correctly suffer the negligence of his doctor? So much for the principle of equal protection of the law.
AGENDA, One News PH, Cignal TV
Hosted by Cito Beltran. November 27, 2023
Case of Doc Iggy, Guests include Dr. Jonas del Rosario
Starting minutes 13:32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-54ltjL6-AU
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