ARGUING that there is no rule against being too generous, a Supreme Court justice sided with UST Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina, going against the huge majority of the high tribunal that found him guilty of simple misconduct for financing the lavish trips of a lawyers’ group.
In her 13-page dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier claimed that what Divina did was not different from the philanthropy of the late billionaire tycoon John Gokongwei, who gave away half of his wealth, or Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who wanted to accelerate her charity work because of the jump in tech profits amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Divina, Lazaro-Javier claimed, had nothing to gain from his gift-giving, especially from the newly minted lawyers and topnotchers who were simply “ecstatic to have passed the Bar.”
“This is not the first time Atty. Divina sponsored out-of-town and out-of-the-country trips,” Lazaro-Javier said, referring to the Balesin Island and Bali, Indonesia trips the UST law dean had sponsored for officers of Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Central Luzon, which was the subject of the misconduct ruling.
READ MORE: Supreme Court finds Divina guilty of misconduct
“In the past, he also treated the (UST) Faculty of Civil Law, both faculty and bar passers, to trips in the Philippines and abroad including· Boracay, Hongkong, United Arab of Emirates, and Taiwan,” she said in her dissent, which was promulgated on July 30.
Divina also financed an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan for Thomasian passers of the 2023 Bar examinations, in which the UST Faculty of Civil Law placed fifth and its alumnus, Ephraim Bie, placed first nationwide.
On top of that, his DivinaLaw Foundation gifted Bie P1.25 million for topping the Bar. Pio Buencamino, a Thomasian who placed eighth nationwide, received P530,000.
“Applying the logic of the Anonymous Complaint, does it also mean that Atty. Divina had illegal, prohibited, and corrupt motives when he brought the UST Faculty of Civil Law of which he is already the Dean, abroad?” Lazaro-Javier said in her dissent.
“If yes, in exchange for his sponsorship, what could he have gained from freshly minted lawyers who are simply ecstatic to have passed the Bar?” she continued.
Divina’s misconduct case stemmed from an anonymous letter dated March 24, 2023, in which the lawyer was alleged to have engaged in illegal campaigning to secure the seat of IBP-Central Luzon governor.
Divina, Lazaro-Javier pointed out, is a legal adviser and therefore an officer of IBP-Central Luzon, and joined the team-building trips he had sponsored as a “matter of course.”
The Supreme Court en banc, or the full tribunal, found no evidence of Divina engaging in illegal election activities, a fact that the law dean stressed in his statement following the release of the misconduct ruling.
However, the majority of the magistrates ruled that Divina had committed impropriety when he funded the domestic and international trips joined by IBP officers, who also received hundreds of thousands of pesos in cash and gift checks from the Thomasian lawyer.
Divina did not deny his sponsorship of the trips, saying they were “acts of generosity” in support of the IBP.
He disclosed, based on court records, that he had donated a total of P11,394,000 to the IBP from 2012 to 2023.
“If the Court must really determine whether generosity is excessive, the capacity of the giver must also be considered,” Lazaro-Javier argued. “For what is excessive for one, may be perfectly reasonable for another.”
“[T]he Court should not disincentivize generosity,” she continued. “More important, we should not breathe life into the adage that ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’ For in the end, it will be the IBP which will be deprived of the voluntary generosity of its members.”
Lazaro-Javier and Associate Justice Ramon Hernando, both former professors at the UST Faculty of Civil Law, voted against the decision.
Lazaro-Javier graduated valedictorian of her 1982 UST law class and taught at Civil Law from 1983 to 2019.
Twelve Supreme Court justices concurred in the decision finding Divina guilty of simple misconduct. The UST Civil Law dean was fined P100,000 and given a “stern warning” that repeating the offense would lead to more severe penalties.
Divina has vowed to file a motion for reconsideration, where he said he would provide “additional context” to the high tribunal.
“I sincerely hope that by providing additional context, the Supreme Court will appreciate my perspective,” he said in a statement. “My commitment to upholding the highest standards of professional conduct remains unwavering and I reaffirm my dedication to ethical practices in all my professional dealing and interactions.”
Divina was appointed UST Civil Law dean in 2009. Marco Luis D. Beech
