Case Digest (A.C. No. 3319)
Facts:
Leslie Ui v. Atty. Iris Bonifacio, A.C. No. 3319, June 08, 2000, Supreme Court Second Division, De Leon, Jr., J., writing for the Court; promulgated February 11, 2002.
Complainant Leslie Ui married Carlos L. Ui on January 24, 1971; they had four children. In December 1987 complainant discovered that Carlos Ui was carrying on a relationship with respondent Atty. Iris Bonifacio, who allegedly bore him a daughter in 1986 and later a second child in December 1988, and that the couple were living together at an Ayala Alabang address. Respondent was admitted to the bar in 1982. Carlos Ui admitted the relationship to complainant.
Complainant confronted respondent in mid‑1988; respondent admitted having a child with Carlos Ui and represented that the relationship had ended. Complainant later learned the relationship continued, met respondent again in March 1989 and unsuccessfully begged her to end it. Complainant also learned respondent had been employed by Carlos Ui in his company.
On August 11, 1989 complainant filed an administrative disbarment complaint (Adm. Case No. 3319) with the Commission on Bar Discipline of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), charging respondent with gross immorality for carrying on an illicit relationship with a married man. Respondent answered that she met Carlos Ui in 1983, believed him a bachelor, that they were married in Hawaii (variously alleged as 1985 in her Answer and 1987 in an authenticated copy), and that after learning of his prior marriage she cut off ties and left for Honolulu; she counterclaimed for moral damages arising from the allegedly malicious complaint.
During the disciplinary proceedings, complainant also filed a criminal complaint for concubinage against Carlos Ui and respondent before the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal (I.S. No. 89‑5247); the fiscal dismissed the criminal complaint for insufficiency of evidence to show probable cause, a ruling the Department of Justice later affirmed. Complainant moved to cite respondent for contempt in the IBP proceedings, alleging respondent attached an altered marriage certificate to her Answer; respondent maintained she relied in good faith on the copy in Carlos Ui’s possession and that he later admitted altering the date.
The IBP Commission on Bar Discipline, after hearings and memoranda, recommended dismissal of the gross immorality charge, finding respondent more a victim than a wrongdoer and that she severed ties upon learning the truth. The IBP Board of Governors adopted the Commission’s Report and Recommendation on December 13, 1997, dismissing the gross immorali...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did complainant prove that respondent’s conduct amounted to gross immorality warranting disbarment?
- Did respondent’s attachment of a marriage certificate bearing an altered/intercalated date to her Answer constitute misconduct meriting discipline, and i...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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