Ferdinand Topacio

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Atty. Ferdinand Topacio

Ferdinand Sumague Topacio is a Filipino lawyer and the Managing Partner of the Topacio Law Office (Founded 1961). At present, around 40 percent of the office’s clients are pro bono.

Biography

Topacio was born on 9 November 1965 in Cavite City, the younger son of former Cavite Senior Provincial Board Member and three-term City Councilor Atty. Arturo M. Topacio, Jr. of Imus and Cavite City and of former City Treasury Administrative Officer Belen Sumague-Topacio of Tanauan, Batangas.

He graduated with Honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Sebastian College in 1987, and finished his Bachelor of Laws (Honorable Mention) at the University of the East in 1992. He passed the Philippine Bar Examination the same year, and was admitted to the practice of law on 14 May 1993.

He married Dinnah Cureg Aguila of Batangas and Isabela, on 14 July 1997. They have two children: Jose Arturo III, born 5 November 1998; and Ferdinand Martin, born 24 August 2006. His wife, who graduated valedictorian from the San Sebastian College Manila, is presently a Judge of the Regional Trial Court in Manila, Branch 42.

He is an admirer of Adolph Hitler, whom he regards as a "great leader" and displays a portrait of Hitler on his office wall. He denies Hitler's role in the Holocaust .

Government positions

He began his career as speechwriterin the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic, (1989–1991). He has subsequently been Special Legal Counsel to the Mayor of Manila (1993–1998,), Chairman of Manila Athletic Sports Council, (1994–98). Director in the Office of Media Affairs, Office of the Mayor of Manila, (1998), Director in the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG),(February to December, (1988), Assistant Secretary for Local Government at the DILG (1989). From 2008 to 2009 he was Secretary-General of the Chinatown Development Authority of Manila.

Cases handled

Topacio undertakes extensive pro bono publico work: the U.E. Legal Aid Clinic, Katapat Legal Aid (under ABS-CBN), Pasang Masda Jeepney Driver’s Organization, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), the Sulongbayan Movement and Barangay Youth Against Graft and Corruption (BAYAGCO) He is counsel of Col. Cezar O. Mancao II, principal witness against Sen. Panfilo Lacson in the Dacer-Corbito Double Murder Case. He was Lead Counsel in Marcos v. Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) (G.R. No. 166910)169917), companion case to Francisco v. Toll Regulatory Board, which questioned the constitutionality of the transfer of the Philippine National Construction Corporation toll franchise to a private corporation. He is Lead Counsel for Pasang Masda in Social Justice Movement v. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum, et al., where he succeeded in temporarily halting oil price hike for close to six months and in having the Supreme Court declare that oil companies’ books may be subject to audit.

He also works for show-business personalities. He is Counsel of teen star Yasmien Kurdi in a string of sexual harassment cases against another actor Baron Geisler in 2009, and of actress Angelica Jones in her electoral protest for a seat in the Provincial Board of Laguna (1st District) in 2007.

Topacio is a defense attorney: He is lead counsel for Jaime Paule, principal witness in the so-called Fertilizer Fund Scam hearings held before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in 2009. He was lead defense Counsel for Lope Jimenez, one of the principal accused in the Ruby Rose Barrameda Murder Case, who was consequently excluded from the Information by the Department of Justice. Presently, he is the lead defense counsel for former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes in the Ortega Murder Case, which resulted in Reyes’ being exonerated. He is under retainer as defense counsel for former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Chairman Efraim Genuino and lead counsel for Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte in the fight to prevent the division of Camarines Sur.

He is a public interest lawyer as well, being one of the Petitioners in the Supreme Court case of Topacio v. House of Representatives which questioned the so-called “One Hundred Thousand Peso Hocus-Bonus” of Congressmen in 1991, where he succeeded in having the members of the House return their “Christmas bonuses” and obtained a pronouncement from the Supreme Court that such “bonuses” cannot be granted to Congressmen. He was one of the Counsels of the City of Manila in the cases for the closure of nightclubs and beer houses in the Ermita-Malate District in 1992, and in the successful recovery from foreclosure of the historic Manila Metropolitan Theater.

His exposure in politics include being election lawyer for former Batangas Gov. Armand C. Sanchez (+), former Palawan Gov. Joel T. Reyes, Negros Occidental Congressmen Jing Paras and Masbate Congressman Antonio Kho, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, and for various other public figures.

Counsel for Former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo

Topacio is legal counsel for former Philippine First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. He represented Arroyo in his petition before the Supreme Court asking that Department Circular No. 41 of the Department of Justice be invalidated for being unconstitutional. He also filed a separate case before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of a joint order of the Justice Department and the Commission on Elections creating a joint panel to investigate allegations of poll fraud during the 2004 and 2007 general elections. Department of Justice. Topacio himself paid the 2 million peso bond required by the Supreme Court after it issued a temporary restraining order on 15 November 2011 allowing the former President to leave the country. After Arroyo was refused departure from the country despite the Supreme Court order, Topacio expressed confidence that his client would return to the country if allowed departure, and announced in a televised interview that should Arroyo not return to the Philippines, he would have one of his testicles removed.

Civic and professional activities

He has been the lecturer for continuing legal education courses, at the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) seminars of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) He is a Professorial Lecturer in Commercial Law at the New Era University College of Law (June 2010 to the present).

He is Past President of the Rotary Club of Grace Park, Caloocan (District 3800). He is Vice-President of the SulongBayan Movement and a Lifetime Member of the Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa) and the Circulo Caviteño, He is volunteer legal counsel for the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC). and the Pasang Masda, a nationwide jeepney drivers’ organization. He was head of the Katapat Legal Assistance Program and a member of the UE Legal Aid Clinic. He is one of the lead conveners of the People’s Movement for Justice (PMJ), a coalition working for reforms in the country’s justice system.

Topacio is a regular columnist of the daily tabloid Dyaryong Pinoy with his column, On Second Thought. He had a legal advice column in the daily tabloid Commuter Express from 2008 to 2010 and in January 2011. He was a columnist of the tabloids Barako, Banat, and Iskandal, and co-anchored several public affairs shows on radio.

In business, he is Vice-President for Legal Affairs and Director of Noxelle Properties, Inc., Vice-President for Legal Affairs of XRC Resources, Inc., Director of Galaxy Cable Corporation, Inc. and Galaxy Corporation (Subic), Inc., and Senior Consultant of Eyespy Detectives and Investigators.

Topacio is a jazz singer, being the featured vocalist at Merk’s Place, Pasay Road, Makati on Wednesdays. In the 1980s he was the vocalist of the late Eli Saison at the Concourse Lounge at the then Manila Garden Hotel (now Dusit Hotel) in Makati. He continues to perform in locales in and around Metro Manila s with his band “The Jazz Holes.”