MANILA – The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed outright a suit filed by a man seeking to be recognized as a lawyer and member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
The appellate court junked the petition filed by Lamberto Payongayong, who is also facing a usurpation of authority case before a Manila court.
He sought "acknowledgment" as a lawyer in numerous instances that he acted as one, including falsely representing himself as a legal counsel in letters sent to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in 2020.
"The petition is not only defective in form, but in substance as well. In sum, the petition has no leg to stand on," the tribunal said in its Dec. 6 ruling that was recently posted online.
In 2020, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Payongayong in an entrapment operation in Quezon City.
It was reported to the NBI that he sent several letters to BSP, addressed to then-Governor Benjamin Diokno and lawyer Henry De Vera of the Currency Integrity Staff and Currency Issue and Integrity Office.
Payongayong claimed that he was a trustee of a private individual who has trust account covering $300 dodecallion that allegedly matured in 2007 and which he sought to withdraw with the help of the BSP.
He also claimed that he’s an assignee of a parcel of land covered by original certificate of title allegedly “being used by the BSP to back up the printing of legal tender notes”
The Office of the Bar Confidant and IBP confirmed he is not a member of the Philippine Bar. (PNA)
