25/02/2024
President Ryan L. Urani's STATE OF THE CHAPTER ADDRESS delivered during the IBP Cagayan General Assembly 2024 held yesterday, February 24, 2024 at the Hall of Justice, Carig, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan:
Esteemed members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cagayan Chapter, good morning. On February 19, 2023, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines celebrated its Golden Anniversary with the theme “IBP at 50: Looking Back, Moving Forward. A week after this grandiose celebration, I and the other members of the 2023-2025 Board of Officers and Directors, were elected to office. I would like this opportunity to extend my gratitude to you for trusting us to lead the Chapter. It is my honor and great pleasure to present to you what we have accomplished in the past year.
The heart of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines is the provision of free legal aid services to those who have less in law. The Chapter’s Securing Justice Through Technology or Secure Justice Hub, a legacy left to us by the 2021-2023 Board of Officers and Directors, was launched on March 31, 2023. Said hub was inaugurated to improve access to justice with technology, which especially aims to assist indigent and unlettered litigants to navigate the videoconference hearings through virtual platforms.
Traditional free legal aid services are still accessible to the public through the Chapter’s Pro Bono Publico: IBP Cagayan Mobile Legal Aid Services and the Chapter’s Free Legal Aid Program. In the year 2023, the Chapter was able to serve the residents of the municipalities of Enrile and Lasam, Cagayan. IBP Cagayan’s Volunteer Lawyers Corps through the leadership of Chapter Vice President and Legal Aid Chairperson Atty. Cliff John C. Bautista, Chapter Legal Aid Director, and Cagayan State University College of Law Dean Norman Clarence T. Lasam, continue to render free legal representation to walk-in and referred clients who pass the IBP Free Legal Aid means and merit test. The Chapter was also quick to respond to the call of the National Leadership to render free legal assistance during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections that was held on October 30, 2023, by setting up two Kontra Bigay Legal Assistance Desks.
Aside from our duty to render free legal aid services, the Chapter conducted developmental activities in the past year. The IBP Cagayan Gender and Development Committee led by its chairperson, immediate past president, and National Center for Legal Aid Deputy Director for Northern Luzon Atty. Girlie Mei D. Cuntapay, continues to bridge the gap by bringing better power balance among genders by conducting activities that advocate for gender equality such as: Monologo ng mga Puke, recipient of the Best Non-Developmental Legal Aid Activity award during the 19th National Convention of Lawyers, a play produced in partnership with the Cagayan Legal Assistance on Wheels, Inc., that highlights issues faced by women in our society; Vulangun Search for the Most Outstanding Members of the LGBTQIA+ Cagayano, a new activity undertaken by the Chapter with the aim of recognizing outstanding LGBTQIA+ personalities; Gender and Development Campus Caravan, a lecture series conducted before select senior high school students that discussed gender and development, mental health awareness and relevant laws such as the Safe Spaces Act and the Anti-Rape Law, in partnership with the Commission on Human Rights and Schools Division Office of Tuguegarao City; HOPE Behind Bars, undertaken in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, where its recipients, the women deprived of liberty detained at the Tuguegarao City Detention Center, were provided with the proper skillset and capital to start a candle-making livelihood program; Zumba for a Cause, an advocacy activity that was able to raise THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTY PESOS for Ms. Alma Tumaliuan, a Breast Cancer Warrior, and In Her Shoes: High Heel Race, an advocacy run to show men’s support and undertaking to protect women survivors of gender-based violence.
Aside from these activities, the Chapter conducted Educ-Aid Kayo Naman, a 1-day lecture series for public school teachers on September 30, 2023, in partnership with the Professional Regulation Commission, Civil Service Commission, and Commission on Human Rights on September 30, 2023, and a Webinar for members of the Philippine National Police that discussed Forensic Science and Crime Scene Preservation on December 1, 2023.
Members’ welfare is primarily important to this term’s leadership. This can be inferred through our desire to ensure that the Chapter can aid members or their loved ones who are in most need of blood. On August 10, 2023, the Chapter, in partnership with Mabini Lodge No. 39 held a bloodletting activity entitled: Donate Blood, Save Lives. To foster camaraderie and sportsmanship, the Chapter through the leadership of Directors Atty. Adolf Kissenger P. Baculi and Atty. Alvin Anthony V. Arellano, initiated the conduct of Basketball Friendship Games among its members; and to give our new members, the Cagayano lawyers who were admitted to the bar on April 2023 a grand and warm welcome, the Chapter conducted Limitless: the IBP Christmas Ball on December 8, 2023. May I also take this opportunity to inform you that the Chapter intends to conduct an MCLE Seminar for the 8th compliance period for all its members and the members of nearby chapters. We will update you once the dates have been finalized.
Our activities would not have come to fruition if not for the funds raised by our Finance Committee through the leadership of Chapter Treasurer Atty. Jasmin B. Galindon, and the fund-raisers that it initiated. While the primary purpose of Monologo ng mga Puke is to raise awareness on issues and concerns experienced by women in modern times, it was able to make a profit through ticket sales amounting to ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-EIGHT THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED PESOS (PHP 158,600.00), which was equally divided between the Chapter and CLAWS, Inc. On July 29, 2023, the Chapter was able to earn a revenue of ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-ONE THOUSAND PESOS (PHP 171,000.00) through the Sultada Para sa Hustisya: 3-Cock Derby. Finally, on August 19, 2023, the Chapter’s Bingo Bonanza generated income amounting to ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE THOUSAND PESOS (PHP 121,995.00). These amounts were used to defray expenses for the conduct of our various activities while we still await our Chapter shares from membership dues. I would like to encourage everyone to pay their annual library fee of ONE HUNDRED PESOS (PHP 100.00) to our Legal Aide Clerk Ms. Princess Melian Tapaoan. The accumulated amount will also form part of our general fund.
Continuity and Ingenuity: These are our main objectives. We vowed to continue the best practices that have been implemented by past leaderships and we commit ourselves to introducing new activities that are aligned with the platform of governance of the 26th Board of Governors.
We have not been able to accomplish so much if not for your continued support, and we rely on your support in the success of our upcoming activities for the year 2024. Serve the country, Hail the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cagayan Chapter. Agyaman kami, Dios ti Agngina.
