De Lima, 'no legal star'

Atty. Ferdinand Topacio on Monday told former Senator Leila de Lima to stop thinking of being a legal luminary as her legal interpretations are always flawed.

The statement was issued by Topacio, PDP-LABAN spokesperson on impeachment matters, in response to De Lima’s comments regarding the Supreme Court’s request for clarifications from the House of Representatives concerning pending cases on the constitutionality of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.

The party list representative had reportedly characterized the Court’s action as “overreach.”

Topacio said, “Leila de Lima once again shows her utter superciliousness to the Honorable Supreme Court when she kept babbling on regarding its alleged ‘overreach."

He noted De Lima’s past conduct, citing a petition for contempt against her for allegedly disregarding a temporary restraining order in the Arroyo v. De Lima case and instances of being cited for forum shopping.

The lawyer expressed disbelief that a member of the Bar, despite previous reprimands for transgressions, would “again thumb her nose at the SC by violating the sub judice rule anew and commenting on the merits of a pending case.”

Topacio questioned the respect an ordinary person could expect from De Lima if she disrespects the High Court as an “officer of the court.”

He said, “At any rate, De Lima should stop entertaining the illusion that she is a legal luminary, because her interpretation of Constitution is always dead wrong."

He said the SC is “perfectly within its rights to inform itself of anything to aid it in determining whether or not an agency or instrumentality of government has committed grave abuse of discretion, a doctrine that every first year law student knows.”