Criminal charges up vs 'fake lawyer'
A 33 year-old Law graduate has been officially charged before the Iloilo City Prosecutor's Office for making alleged claims that he is a member of the bar.
Docketed as I.S. No. 2365-05, the respondent was identified as Aquilino P. Ignacio Jr., corporate legal officer of Club Panoly Resort based in Boracay, Aklan. The complaint as initially lodged before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) here was made by lawyer Ronnie Delicana, counsel for the Club Panoly Resort's employees' union.
Ignacio Jr. who has since represented Club Panoly management in a hearing before the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional office supposedly misrepresented himself as 'Atty. Aquilino Ignacio Jr.'
In a certification obtained by Delicana and submitted to the CIDG operating unit, no such name officially appear as member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), IBP national secretary Ma. Teresa Trinidad confirmed.
Ignacio Jr. was charged for violations committed on Article 117 of the Revised Penal Code for usurpation of authority/official function.
A joint affidavit of the arresting operatives stated how alongside the 'I am Atty. Ignacio' statement of said respondent, he also reportedly gave out a corresponding attorney's roll of number '4212A' which turned out to be false. The joint affidavit formed part of the evidences against the 33 year-old Club Panoly corporate legal officer as well as business cards and the IBP certification.
'He was caught in flagrante delicto and the DOLE documents that we signed when we concluded the hearing last October 25 clearly showed his signature where he also affixed 'Atty.' before his name. As to why Club Panoly would do that or allow such is beyond our understanding. Now we are inclined to have all manifestations of the management to be declared null and void because of this development,' Delicana said when reached by The News Today for an interview.
To note, the resort union has been embroiled in a labor-related conflict with the union charging Chia Kim Hung and the rest of the Club Panoly bigwigs of undelivered promises.
The union has since lodged a 'battle' with the management first for recognition and of late, for shares in revenues that was purportedly earlier agreed between the two groups. The management on the other hand questioned the existence of the union questioning the supposed inclusion of former Club Panoly workers in its list of members.
In the series of DOLE hearings, Ignacio Jr. represented Club Panoly until Delicana's complaint to the CIDG that led to an arrest thereafter. Ignacio Jr. is currently out on bail.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) papers disclosed Club Panoly directors and executive officers as Tommy Chia Kim Hung, Chairman of the Board and President, Larry K. Buenaobra, Director and Personal Assistant to the Chairman, Peter Tay, Membership Sales Director, Regina Xie, Director and Officer-in-charge.
Part of the 'Executive Compensation' include an incentive plan for 'other officers except the Corporate Secretary' that entitles the certain percentage of room sales upon reaching a certain room sales to each year.
'It is not the intention of the registrant to compensate its executive officers from the proceeds of the sale of points. However, it is expected that once the Company registers net income after non-cash charges, its Executive Officers' compensation will accordingly be adjusted consistent with industry practice,' the SEC document disclosed.
The union in its demands similarly sought for percentage shares that was to be equally divided amongst the regular employees as added benefits.
It was not immediately clear what the union's next move will be given the Ignacio arrest and criminal charges.