The Supreme Court disbarred a lawyer for abandoning his family, cohabiting with another woman, and flaunting their illicit relationship publicly.
Lawyers, the SC said, are expected to be “honorable and reliable at all times,” upholding their oath as members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
The lawyer’s actions, the court said, violated the fundamental ethical canons expected of legal professionals and constituted “grossly immoral conduct.”
The disbarment stemmed from a complaint filed by the lawyer’s wife in 2016, who said her husband abandoned her and their child, lived with another woman, and even posted their relationship on social media.
The lawyer eventually married his concubine in 2015.
The IBP Commission on Bar Discipline initially recommended disbarment, which was later modified by the IBP Board of Governors to an indefinite suspension and a P20,000 fine.
However, the High Court, upon reviewing the case, ultimately imposed the harshest penalty.
“Jurisprudence abounds with iterations that a married lawyer’s abandonment of his spouse in order to live and cohabit with another constitutes gross immorality. The offense may even be criminal, amounting to concubinage or adultery,” the Supreme Court said.