IBP Cebu province elects first female prexy; ex-Citom counsel to lead Cebu City chapter

Lawyers Jose Glenn Capanas and Mundlyn Misal-Martin

A NEW set of officers was elected yesterday to lead the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City and province Chapters for two years.

Lawyer Jose Glenn Capanas ran unopposed for the position of president of the IBP Cebu City Chapter.

The 44-year-old lawyer was chosen to succeed incumbent president Hidelito Pascual.

Lawyer Mundlyn Misal-Martin won the race for presidency in the province chapter with 200 votes over lawyer Joel Seno’s 105 votes.

The IBP elections was held from 8 a.m. to noon at the IBP building located within the Capitol
compound.

Capanas said he wants to strengthen the IBP’s legal aid program, assist the court in its development programs and look into the welfare of lawyers.

“I don’t know if having been elected unopposed is a good sign of our members’ full trust. But I will, as much as I could, do my best to carry out the programs for our lawyers. We will reach out to them as well as members of the judiciary,” he told Cebu Daily News.

The newly elected IBP Cebu City chapter president said he wished to continue their partnership with the University of San Carlos and the Humanitarian Legal Assistance Foundation by sending out law students to visit jails and other detention facilities to follow up cases of inmates and help get updates from the courts, he said.

Capanas passed the Bar Examinations in 1998 and has appeared for and in behalf of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management in various meetings, cases involving traffic laws and rules, and prepared several amendatory ordinances on traffic from 2002 to 2013.

He is currently teaching at the University of San Carlos’ College of Law where he finished his law studies.

Capanas’ wife Elena Marie Madarang-Capanas is also a lawyer.

Misal-Martin, IBP Cebu province’s first female president, plans to implement programs to address issues unique to the members, assist and mentor new lawyers, enhance the legal aid program, and forge connection with government institutions and neighboring countries.

She hoped to address the problem of overstaying inmates in cramped jails by intensifying programs on jail decongestion.

Misal-Martin also echoed calls by law schools in Cebu to decentralize the bar exams to level the playing field in terms of costs and support of the families.

Misal-Martin finished his law studies at the University of Southwestern University. She passed the Bar in 2006. She is currently teaching at the University of Cebu’s graduate school.

The new set of IBP officers will hold office starting April 1.

The other elected officers in the IBP Cebu City Chapter are Regal Oliva, vice president; Christine Marie Naranjo, secretary; Andrea Lou Garcia-Avila, treasurer; Bernardino Amago IV, auditor; and Georgia May Herrera, public relations officer.

Elected directors for IBP Cebu City chapter were Jonathan Capanas, Dan Domingo delos Angeles Jr., Mark Anthony Gaviola, Elmer Mansanadez and Michelle Geraldine Mendez-Palmares.

For the Cebu province chapter, Ria Lidia Espina was elected vice president; Cheryl Condat, secretary; Rhenier Mora, treasurer; Ronnie Gocuan, auditor; and Winifredo Orcullo, public relations officer.

The directors for the province’s chapter were Francis Pepito, Marvin Miralles, Candice Niña Marie Sy, Johannes Lawrence Riñen and Manuel Elijah Sarausad.