OBUSAN v. OBUSAN
OBUSAN v. OBUSAN
Four days after the birth of John, Generoso married Preciosa (petitioner) and lived for
more than a year. Respondent took a vacation in Camarines Norte but he has never
returned.
Preciosa looked for him and discovered that he was living and cohabiting with Natividad
in Quezon City.
The housemaid, neighbors and several other persons known to Natividad and Obusan
testified and confirmed their relationship.
He answered that his relationship with Natividad was terminated when he married
Preciosa and he only goes to Quezon City to provide financial support to Jun-Jun. He
also denied the testimonies of the maid, the plumber and several other persons and
contended that he does not live together with Natividad.
He also contended that he only left the conjugal home for he cannot contain the nagging
of his wife and her interference with his professional obligations.
Respondent was not able to overcome the evidence of his wife that he was guilty of
grossly immoral conduct. Abandoning one's wife and resuming carnal relations with a
former paramour, a married woman, fails within "that conduct which is willful, flagrant,
or shameless, and which shows a moral indifference to the opinion of the good and
respectable members of the community"
Thus, lawyer shall be disbarred when he abandoned his lawful wife and cohabited with
another woman who had borne him a child.