OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE PROVINCE OF ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY     IBP-SIBUGAY VOWS INDEPENDENCE ON CORONA TRIAL   Like the stand and position of the National Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the IBP-Sibugay Chapter will continue to remain as an independent entity and will be closely monitoring and observing the proceedings of the impeachment trial of the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, Renato Corona. This was the statement released by IBP-Sibugay President, Atty. Richard Rambuyong, in an exclusive interview on Monday, January 16. According to Rambuyong, the IBP created the ‘Impeachment Watch’ with the sole purpose of closely watching and monitoring to impeachment proceedings of Corona’s impeachment trial. The IBP also wanted to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and fair trial is observed. “Parallel to the stance of the national chapter of the IBP, we at the Zamboanga Sibugay Chapter will vow to be an independent body that will closely monitor and critically observe the impeachment proceedings of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. We want to make sure that there is fair trial and the rule of law is followed”, stated Rambuyong. The impeachment trial of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines now created different positions of many individuals and groups with regards to the issue. There are people who are against the impeachment trial and claimed that CJ Corona should not be sent to an impeachment trial because the impeachment process was violated in the very first place. Others also say that Corona should be impeached because he was influenced by former President Gloria Arroyo. However, the IBP, despite the different points and views of the people, still reiterated its independent stance as an independent group of independent lawyers in the country. Rambuyong said that the goal of the IBP is to ensure that the Judiciary is protected and saved from political influences and illegal proceedings. If the IBP notices and observes that the trial was not according to the rule of law and unfair, the group will condemn the impeachment trial and consider it as an act of staining the judicial system of the Philippines. “We will condemn the said trial to the strongest terms if we see any violations to the due process of law and if the impeachment trial was seen as unfair. But we are confident that the Senator Judges will be fair on this one and will follow due process of law to the highest degree”, Rambuyong stressed. The IBP-Sibugay Chapter was formally organized as a chapter in the year 2008 with more or less thirty (30) lawyers from the different parts of the province as members as of PRESS time. It was preceded by an organization called Sibugay Bar Association (SBA) which was organized last 2004.