Philippines counsel reprimanded over licences case

Rudolf Philip Jurado had granted the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority the jurisdiction to issue gaming licences.

The Philippines.- The Philippines Supreme Court has reached a unanimous decision against former government corporate counsel Rudolf Philip B. Jurado regarding an administrative complaint filed against for extending jurisdiction over gaming licences.

In July 2017, Jurado issued Opinion No. 174, which extended the gaming licensing jurisdiction normally corresponding to the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco).

The complaint was lodged against him in May of the following year.

President Rodrigo Duterte himself confirmed Jurado had been dismissed for overstepped his authority by granting Apeco the authority to issue gaming licences.

Deputy government corporate counsel Elpidio J. Vega and assistant government corporate counsel Efren B. Gonzales then requested Jurado’s disbarment.

Associate justices Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, Ramon Paul L. Hernando and Edgardo L. Delos Santos, have taken the decision to reprimand “and sternly warn” the former counsel “that a repetition of an offense of this character would be much more severely dealt with.”

The decision said: “It is evident that attorney Jurado fell short of what is expected of him as a lawyer in issuing Opinion No. 174 in disregard of existing law and jurisprudence, albeit without bad faith.”