The Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City and Cebu Chapters will leave their Capitol Compound Office to transfer to a bigger and more conducive one at the DA Compound along M. Velez St. in Cebu City.
This was agreed upon during a meeting called by Gov. Gwen Garcia and attended by local officials of the IBP, headed by Atty. Michael Francis Hubahib of the Cebu City Chapter and Atty. Rosendo Hernaez III of Cebu Chapter.
The current IBP headquarters inside the Capitol Compound has an area of 200 square meters. The Capitol, meanwhile, is due to complete the construction of the IBP’s relocation office at the DA Compound which has an area of 648 sq.m., or over three times bigger than the current one the IBP is occupying.
The Provincial Engineering Office, in the same meeting, reported that construction of the new IBP Building is already 90% complete. The Capitol is also the owner of the DA Compound properties.
Gov. Gwen saw that the current location of the IBP is “no longer viable and appropriate” since the Palace of Justice has since transferred from within the Capitol Compound just at the back of the Executive Building to its current location now at the Qimonda Building located at the North Reclamation Area.
Aside from relocating to a bigger facility, the IBP will also be situated nearer the regional, provincial, and city Prosecutor’s Office; the Public Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as the city and provincial Register of Deeds — all of which are located inside the DA Compound.
The IBP’s use of the facility at the DA Compound will be covered by a usufruct agreement for 25 years which will be signed by the parties next month.
The IBP is the mandatory bar association for Filipino lawyers. | BJR
