Adm. Case No. 3319. June 8, 2000. Leslie Ui, Complainant, vs. Atty. Iris Bonifacio, Respondent
Adm. Case No. 3319. June 8, 2000. Leslie Ui, Complainant, vs. Atty. Iris Bonifacio, Respondent
*
Adm. Case No. 3319. June 8, 2000.
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* SECOND DIVISION.
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Ui vs. Bonifacio
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as the facts of the case may sound, the effects of the actuations of
respondent are not only far from simple, they will have a rippling
effect on how the standard norms of our legal practitioners should
be defined. Perhaps morality in our liberal society today is a far
cry from what it used to be before. This permissiveness
notwithstanding, lawyers, as keepers of public faith, are burdened
with a higher degree of social responsibility and thus must handle
their personal affairs with greater caution. The facts of this case
lead us to believe that perhaps respondent would not have found
herself in such a compromising situation had she exercised
prudence and been more vigilant in finding out more about Carlos
Ui’s personal background prior to her intimate involvement with
him.
Same; Same; Same; To warrant disciplinary action, conduct
must be “grossly immoral,” that is, it must be so corrupt and false
as to constitute a criminal act or so unprincipled as to be
reprehensible to a high degree.—All these taken together leads to
the inescapable conclusion that respondent was imprudent in
managing her personal affairs. However, the fact remains that
her relationship with Carlos Ui, clothed as it was with what
respondent believed was a valid marriage, cannot be considered
immoral. For immorality connotes conduct that shows
indifference to the moral norms of society and the opinion of good
and respectable members of the community. Moreover, for such
conduct to warrant disciplinary action, the same must be “grossly
immoral,” that is, it must be so corrupt and false as to constitute a
criminal act or so unprincipled as to be reprehensible to a high
degree.
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Ui vs. Bonifacio
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1 Records, Vol. I, p. 5.
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ents’ funds. By way of counterclaim, respondent sought
moral damages in the amount of Ten Million Pesos
(Php10,000,000.00) against complainant for having filed
the present allegedly malicious and groundless disbarment
case against respondent.
7
In her Reply dated April 6, 1990, complainant states,
among others, that respondent knew perfectly well that
Car-los Ui was married to complainant and had children
with her even at the start of her relationship with Carlos
Ui, and that the reason respondent went abroad was to
give birth to her two (2) children with Carlos Ui.
During the pendency of the proceedings before the
Integrated Bar, complainant also charged her husband,
Carlos Ui, and respondent with the crime of Concubinage
before the Office of the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal, docketed
as I.S. No. 89-5247, but the same was dismissed for
insufficiency of evidence to establish probable cause for the
offense charged. The resolution dismissing the criminal
complaint against respondent reads:
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If good moral character is a sine qua non for admission to the bar,
then the continued possession of good moral character is also a
requisite for retaining membership in the legal profession.
Membership in the bar may be terminated when a lawyer ceases
to have good moral character. (Royong vs. Oblena, 117 Phil. 865).
A lawyer may be disbarred for “grossly immoral conduct, or by
reason of his conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude.” A
member of the bar should have moral integrity in addition to
professional probity.
It is difficult to state with precision and to fix an inflexible
standard as to what is “grossly immoral conduct” or to specify the
moral delinquency and obliquity which render a lawyer unworthy
of continuing as a member of the bar. The rule implies that what
appears to be unconventional behavior to the straight-laced may
not be the immoral conduct that warrants disbarment.
Immoral conduct has been defined as “that conduct which is
willful, flagrant, or shameless, and which shows a moral
indifference to the opinion of the
26
good and respectable members of
the community.” (7 C.J.S. 959).
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Simple as the facts of the case may sound, the effects of the
actuations of respondent are not only far from simple, they
will have a rippling effect on how the standard norms of
our legal practitioners should be defined. Perhaps morality
in our liberal society today is a far cry from what it used to
be before. This permissiveness notwithstanding, lawyers,
as keepers of public faith, are burdened with a higher
degree of social responsibility and thus must handle their
personal affairs with greater caution. The facts of this case
lead us to believe that perhaps respondent would not have
found herself in such a compromising situation had she
exercised prudence and been more vigilant in finding out
more about Carlos Ui’s personal background prior to her
intimate involvement with him.
Surely, circumstances existed which should have at least
aroused respondent’s suspicion that something was amiss
in her relationship with Carlos Ui, and moved her to ask
probing questions. For instance, respondent admitted that
she knew that Carlos Ui had children with a woman from
Amoy, China, yet it appeared that she never exerted the
slightest effort to find out if Carlos Ui and this woman were
indeed unmarried. Also, despite their marriage in 1987,
Carlos Ui never lived with respondent and their first child,
a circumstance that is simply incomprehensible considering
respondent’s allegation that Carlos Ui was very open in
courting her.
All these taken together leads to the inescapable
conclusion that respondent was imprudent in managing
her personal affairs. However, the fact remains that her
relationship with Carlos Ui, clothed as it was with what
respondent believed was a valid marriage, cannot be
considered immoral. For immorality connotes conduct that
shows indifference to the moral norms of society and the
opinion of 27 good and respectable members of the
community. Moreover, for such conduct to warrant
disciplinary action, the same must be “grossly immoral,”
that is, it must be so corrupt and false as to consti-
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28 Reyes vs. Wong, 63 SCRA 667, 673 citing Section 27, Rule 138, New
Rules of Court; Soberano vs. Villanueva, 6 SCRA 893, 895; Mortel vs.
Aspiras, December 28, 1956, 100 Phil. 586, 591-593; Royong vs. Oblena,
April 30, 1963, 7 SCRA 869-870; Bolivar vs. Simbol, April 29, 1966, 16
SCRA 623, 630; and Quingwa vs. Puno, February 28, 1967, 19 SCRA 439-
440, 444-445.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
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