A.C. No. 1037 - VICTORIANO P. RESURRECCION, COMPLAINANT, VS. ATTY. CIRIACO C. SAYSON.

Ruling

Accordingly, lawyers who violate their oath and engage in deceitful conduct have no place in the legal profession. In a Complaint-Affidavit, Victoriano P. Resurrecion charged Respondent Atty. Ciriaco C. Sayson with acts constituting "malpractice, deceit and gross misconduct in his office and a violation of his duties and oath as a lawyer." The Complaint arose from a homicide through reckless imprudence case, in which Complainant Resurrecion was the defendant and Respondent Sayson was the counsel for the offended party, Mr. Armando Basto Sr. The complainant alleged that, pursuant to the amicable settlement previously reached by the parties, he gave P2,500 to the respondent who, however, never gave the money to his client. Thus, the complainant was compelled to give another P2,500 to Mr. Basto as settlement of the case. The complainant then demanded the return of the money from respondent, to no avail. Thus, the Complaint for Disbarment. The records show that the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) conducted several hearings on the matter; during which the complainant was represented by Atty. Ronaldo Lopez. Although respondent had been notified, he failed to attend a number of such hearings. He eventually appeared through his new counsel, Atty. Wenceslao Fajardo. Because respondent once again failed to attend the next hearing, the OSG, in its September 4, 1973 Order, [2] deemed the investigation of the case terminated. But upon the motion of the respondent, the OSG on October 31, 1973, set aside its earlier Order and once again set the case for a hearing of the former's evidence. Since then, however, it appears that the OSG has not been able to submit its report and recommendation on the case. In 1990, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) took cognizance of the case [3] and tasked Commissioner Jesulito A. Manalo with the investigation, of which both the complainant and the respondent were duly notified. Complainant Resurreccion manifested his assent to the pursuit of the matter, but Respondent Sayson could not be found. [4] In his Report, Commissioner Manalo presented the following facts: "Respondent, a member of the Philippine Bar was accused of having converted and appropriated [for] his own personal benefit the amount of P2,500.00 representing the amount which was delivered by the complainant to the respondent as compensation or settlement money of a case for homicide thru reckless imprudence. xxx xxx xxx "Complainant alleged that on 13 May 1970, he was involved in a vehicular accident which occurred at Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, Quezon City which involved a boy [named] the name of Armando Basto resulting [in] the death of the latter. By reason of the said incident, complainant was accused of homicide thru reckless imprudence before the City Fiscal's Office at Quezon City. In the preliminary investigation, the father of the victim Mr. Armando Basto, Sr., was represented by respondent. Complainant was however, represented by Atty. Ram