A.M. No. 3249 – 179 SCRA 680 – Legal Ethics – Moral DelinquencyÂ
In 1985, Atty. Laurence Cordova, while being married to Salvacion Delizo and with two children, left his wife and children to cohabit with another married woman. In 1986, Salvacion and Cordova had a reconciliation where Cordova promised to leave his mistress. But apparently, Cordova still continued to cheat on her wife as Cordova again lived with another woman and worse, he took one of his children with him and hid the child away from Salvacion.
In 1988, Salvacion filed a letter-complaint for disbarment against Cordova. Eventually, multiple hearing dates were set but no hearing took place because neither party appeared. In 1989, Salvacion sent a telegraphic message to the Commission on Bar Discipline intimating that she and her husband has reconciled. The Commission, since Salvacion failed to submit her evidence ex parte, merely recommended the reprimand and admonishment of Cordova.
ISSUE: Whether or not Cordova should be merely reprimanded.
HELD: No. He should be suspended indefinitely until he presents evidence that he has been morally reformed and that there was true reconciliation between him and his wife. Before a person can be admitted to the bar, one requirement is that he possesses good moral character. That requirement is not exhausted and dispensed with upon admission to membership of the bar. On the contrary, that requirement persists as a continuing condition for membership in the Bar in good standing. The moral delinquency that affects the fitness of a member of the bar to continue as such includes conduct that outrages the generally accepted moral standards of the community, conduct for instance, which makes “a mockery of the inviolable social institution or marriage” such was the case in the case at bar.
