Duterte calls on ASEAN lawyers to uphold best law practices

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in his speech during the ASEAN Law Association (ALA) Governing Council Commemorative Session and Concert Program in Malacañan Palace on October 25, 2017, declares that his mandate is to enforce the law regardless if the violator is rich or poor. (RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

President Rodrigo Duterte urged the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Law Association (ALA) to uphold the best practices in the law profession.

In his speech in the special commemorative session of the Governing Council of ALA at the Rizal Hall in Malacañan Palace, Duterte said ALA should continue in providing opportunities “for the meaningful exchange of knowledge and information among lawyers from ASEAN nations.”

“Let us work together in instilling upon your members the best practices in the profession so that they can become crucial players in building a stronger and more dynamic regional community,” the president said.

“It is my hope that ALA would become instrumental in addressing the regional scourge of poverty, transnational crimes and terrorism so that we can create an environment where businesses can flourish and our peoples can live in lasting peace and prosperity,” Duterte added.

ALA, a non-governmental organization of lawyers in the ASEAN region that was established in 1979, mandates its members to help form and implement the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Duterte also discussed his administration’s crackdown against illegal drugs, saying the “extrajudicial tag” placed on him was “simply not true.”

“But may I just — I know that I have been demonized. And well, of course, I will assure you upon my oath as a lawyer and before God that some are true, some are not,” he said.

“And the extrajudicial tag that has been placed on me is simply not true,” Duterte added.

Present during the event were ASEAN Law Association President Atty. Avelino Cruz, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban.

Chief Justice Kifrawi Dato Kifli of Brunei, Chief Justice Muhammad Hatta Ali of Indonesia, the Association Secretary General Regina Geraldez, and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Secretary General Isra Sunthornvut also attended the commemorative session.