Nilo Divina

Nilo Divina (born February 20, 1965) is a Filipino lawyer, professor, author, and educational administrator. He is the founding and managing partner of Divina Law, a law firm in the Philippines based in Makati.[2] He is President of the Philippine Association of Law Schools.[3]

Nilo Divina
Dean of the UST Faculty of Civil Law
Assumed office
2009[1]
Personal details
Born
Nilo T. Divina

(1965-02-20) February 20, 1965
Roxas, Isabela, Philippines
Political partyUnited Citizens of Caloocan Party
ParentsLando Divina
Aurora Divina
Alma materUniversity of Santo Tomas
Robert Kennedy College
OccupationLawyer, Professor
WebsiteDivinaLaw Official website

Education

Divina is an alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters, graduating Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Science with honors in 1985. He pursued law at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law and graduated magna cum laude as valedictorian in 1989. He placed fourth in the 1990 Philippine Bar Examination.[4]

Career

Divina started as Clerk of Court at a Regional Trial Court in Pasig City. In 1992, he became an associate attorney at Misa, Castro, and Associates. He was also appointed at corporate secretary of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and was promoted into General Manager and Chief Legal Adviser. In 1993, Divina started consultancy services for Equitable PCI Bank he was ultimately promoted as executive vice president, corporate secretary, and general counsel.[5]

He authored the law textbook "Handbook on Philippine Commercial Law"[6] and is part of the board of directors of the United Coconut Planters Bank. He was appointed dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law in 2009, succeeding Roberto A. Abad who was appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo into the Supreme Court of the Philippines as Associate Justice.[7]

Issues

UST Hospital tax case

UST Hospital was audited and it was discovered that there was a failure to disclose more than P700 million pesos income in 2006. Divina was the lawyer for UST Hospital when the Court of Tax Appeals of the Philippines ruled against the Bureau of Internal Revenue (Philippines) on a case involving P171.5 million in income tax and a compromise penalty of P56,000. The win of the UST hospital was due to a technicality of jurisdiction where tax assessment is invalidated because the "letter of authority" issued by the tax bureau to open the hospital's books in 2007 came from BIR Manila Region 6, but the hospital is already under the jurisdiction of the tax bureau's "Large Taxpayers Services" based in Quezon City.[8]

Andres Bautista case

In 2017, Philippine polls officer Andres Bautista's estranged wife pointed that Bautista is involved in corrupt practices as chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, claiming that Bautista received commissions from Divina for helping the latter's clients with the Commission on Elections (Philippines). Patricia Bautista called for Divina's debarment.[9][10]

Horacio Castillo case

In 2018, Horacio Castillo, III, a law student of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law was killed due to hazing. The fraternity Castillo was applying for is the same fraternity that Divina was a member of. He was summoned into a senate inquiry, wherein the line of questioning pertains to his seeming tolerance of hazing in the university, and for supposedly failing to stop the fraternity, Aegis Juris, from performing the illegal act.[11][12][13]

Kris Aquino case

Divina was among the lawyers of Kris Aquino for a case against Aquino's former staff, Nicko Falcis, whom she has accused of stealing P1,270,980.31 charged using the credit card of Aquino's entertainment production company.[14]

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References
  1. Santos, Tomas. "Youngest Civil Law dean appointed". The Varsitarian. University of Santo Tomas. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  2. Inquirer. "Biz Buzz: From enemies to friends". Inquirer Business. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. Public Affairs Office. "Dean Divina of Civil Law heads Philippine Association of Law Schools; Atty. Festin heads IBP – Manila 1 Chapter". University of Santo Tomas. University of Santo Tomas. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  4. Divina, Nilo. "Profile". DivinaLaw. DivinaLaw. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. The Philippine Star. "Men of Influence". PhilStar Global. The Philippine Star. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. Divina, Nilo. Handbook on Phillippine Commercial Law. Equitable Bank Foundation. ISBN 9789716913804.
  7. GMA News. "UST Law dean is new SC justice". GMA News. GMA News. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. Villanueva, Jerome (July 30, 2015). "BIR loses P171M tax case against UST Hospital" (Volume 86 No 10). University of Santo Tomas. The Varsitarian.
  9. Lopez, Virgil. "Ex-solon asks NBI for documents to support impeach rap vs. Bautista". GMA News. GMA News. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  10. Buan, Lian. "Patricia Bautista seeks disbarment of UST law dean Nilo Divina". Rappler. Rappler. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  11. Avecilla, Victor. "In defense of Dean Nilo Divina". Manila Standard. Manila Standard. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  12. Buan, Lian. "UST Law dean will not resign over Atio Castillo hazing case". Rappler. Rappler. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  13. Lagrimas, Nicole-Anne. "DOJ indicts Lorna Kapunan for slander over remarks vs. UST law dean Divina". GMA News. GMA News. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  14. Abellon, Bam. "In the words of Kris Aquino (in case you missed her FB Live)". ABS-CBN News. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
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