The Supreme Court has ordered the disbarment of a local government lawyer in Cebu for gross immorality.
In a 14-page decision, the SC disbarred lawyer Eliseo Ceniza Jr., a Mandaue City assistant legal officer, for abandoning his family and living with his mistress who is a married woman herself.
The high court ordered his name stricken off the Roll of Attorneys after finding him guilty of gross immorality in violation of Rules 1.01 and 7.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility.
“There is no question that a married person’s abandonment of his or her spouse in order to live and cohabit with another constitutes immorality. The offense may even be criminal—either as concubinage or as adultery,” the SC decision stated.
The high court turned down Ceniza’s defense that there was no direct evidence that he and his mistress were living together, citing his failure to “present proof that he or she still maintains the degree of integrity and morality expected of him or her at all times.”
According to the tribunal, although this was a matter involving Eliseo’s private life, it had “exhorted all lawyers to always conduct themselves in a manner as to avoid scandalizing the public by creating the belief that they are flouting the moral standards of the legal profession.”
“By his scandalous and highly immoral conduct, therefore, the respondent showed that he did not possess the requisite good moral character needed for the continued practice of law. He deserves the extreme penalty of disbarment,” the SC ruled.