THE Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer for telling his client he can bribe justices of the Court of Appeals.
The SC en banc said William Delos Santos told his client, Norma Flores, that he can bribe CA justices belonging to the appellate court’s Fifteenth Division.
Records of the case showed that Flores’ son, Mark, was convicted by Branch 23 of the Manila City Regional Trial Court for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Flores sought Delos Santos’ services prior to appealing the case before the CA.
Delos Santos asked for P20,000 as initial acceptance fee, and ₱5,000 as payment for documents.
Flores paid Delos Santos the amount and made additional payments the lawyer asked for.
Sometime in 2015, Delos Santos coaxed Flores to produce an additional payment of P160,000 which he said would be used to “bribe” the CA justices, particularly of the Fifteenth Division, where her son’s case was pending.
Delos Santos was able to persuade Flores to produce the amount, according to the SC, by insisting it was the only option she had to obtain a favorable judgment for her son.
Relying on this guarantee, Flores borrowed money from her friends and relatives to raise the amount and after collecting the money, she, as instructed by Delos Santos, deposited P160,000 in a Banco De Oro savings account under the name of Delos Santos’ wife.
Upon receiving the amount, Delos Santos reassured Norma that the money would be delivered to his insider or “facilitator” in the CA Fifteenth Division.
To Flores’ dismay, the appellate court upheld her son’s conviction on the drug charges.
She said when she called Delos Santos, the latter told her that “he did not know what happened” since he had made “the necessary arrangement with the justices including his facilitator inside the Court of Appeals.”
Delos Santos then promised Flores he would return the money. When he failed, Flores filed a complaint seeking his disbarment.
The SC said Delos Santos failed to comment on the petition, prompting it to refer the matter to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines for additional investigation.
But despite being informed of the petition, Delos Santos failed to attend a mandatory conference and submit pleadings. Thus, the IBP found him liable for gross misconduct and recommended his disbarment from legal practice.
The IBP Board of Governors adopted the Investigating Commissioner’s recommendation but modified the penalty, ordering Delos Santos to return the amount of P160,000 with legal interest, to Flores.
Echoing the findings and recommendation of the IBP, the SC said Delos Santos’ failure to comply with its notice of resolution, which required him to comment on the complaint, lent credence to the allegations in the complaint.
“His obstinate snobbery to comply with the Court’s and the IBP’s orders not only betrays a recalcitrant flaw in his character, but also underscores his disrespect of lawful orders which is only too deserving of reproof,” the en banc decision penned by Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao said.
The SC likewise noted Delos Santos’ previous suspension from the practice of law in another case for serious misconduct and violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility.
Hence, on account of his previous suspension and his evident violations of the Lawyer’s Oath and the Code of Professional Responsibility in the Flores’ case, the SC stressed that Delos Santos deserved no less than the ultimate penalty of disbarment.
The SC also ordered Delos Santos to return to Flores the amount of P160,000 with interest at the rate of six percent per annum.
