A.C. No. 7136 – 555 Phil. 713; 104 OG No. 31 – 529 SCRA 1 – Legal Ethics – Propriety – Fidelity – Obedience to Law
Remedial Law – Rules of Evidence – Admissions and Denials – Negative Pregnant
Jose Emmanuel “Noli” Eala, a lawyer, is married to Mary Anne Tantoco. They have three children.
In January 2000, Irene Moje introduced Eala to her fiancé Joselano Guevarra.
In October 2000, Joselano and Irene married each other.
After their marriage, Guevarra observed that his wife often comes home late. He also found several intimate text messages from Eala to Irene. Guevarra even saw Eala and Irene dating. Guevarra confronted Irene which resulted in Irene leaving their conjugal home.
In April 2001, Guevarra crashed Irene’s birthday celebration and there he saw Eala celebrating Irene’s special day with Irene’s family.
Later, Guevarra found a love letter written by Eala to Irene on the day of Guevarra’s wedding with Irene. The love letter reads as follows:
My everdearest Irene,
By the time you open this, you’ll be moments away from walking down the aisle. I will say a prayer for you that you may find meaning in what you’re about to do.
Sometimes I wonder why we ever met. Is it only for me to find fleeting happiness but experience eternal pain? Is it only for us to find a true love but then lose it again? Or is it because there’s a bigger plan for the two of us?
I hope that you have experienced true happiness with me. I have done everything humanly possible to love you. And today, as you make your vows . . . I make my own vow to YOU!
I will love you for the rest of my life. I loved you from the first time I laid eyes on you, to the time we spent together, up to the final moments of your single life. But more importantly, I will love you until the life in me is gone and until we are together again.
Do not worry about me! I will be happy for you. I have enough memories of us to last me a lifetime. Always remember though that in my heart, in my mind and in my soul, YOU WILL ALWAYS
. . . AND THE WONDERFUL THINGS YOU DO!
BE MINE . . . . AND MINE ALONE, and I WILL ALWAYS BE YOURS AND YOURS ALONE!
I LOVE YOU FOREVER, I LOVE YOU FOR ALWAYS. AS LONG AS I’M LIVING MY TWEETIE YOU’LL BE!”
Eternally yours,
NOLI
Guevarra also found out that Irene got pregnant with Eala’s child. He was able to obtain a birth certificate of the child where Eala and Irene were indicated as the parents of the child.
In March 2002, Guevarra filed a disbarment case against Eala.
In his responsive pleadings, Eala did not deny his special relationship with Irene. He simply argued that his relationship with Irene was not under scandalous circumstances and that his wife, Mary Ann, even knew about his romantic involvement with Irene.
The IBP Committee on Bar Discipline recommended for disciplinary actions against Eala but the IBP Board of Governors dismissed the case against Eala. Guevarra appealed to the Supreme Court.
ISSUE: Whether or not Eala should be disbarred.
HELD: Yes. The dismissal by the IBP Board of Governors was improper. Eala’s allegations in his Answer support a finding of administrative liability against him.
In his Answer, Eala does not deny carrying on an adulterous relationship with Irene. What he denied was having flaunted such relationship, he maintaining that it was “low profile and known only to the immediate members of their respective families.”
In other words, Eala’s denial is a negative pregnant,
a denial pregnant with the admission of the substantial facts in the pleading responded to which are not squarely denied. It was in effect an admission of the averments it was directed at. Stated otherwise, a negative pregnant is a form of negative expression which carries with it in affirmation or at least an implication of some kind favorable to the adverse party. It is a denial pregnant with an admission of the substantial facts alleged in the pleading. Where a fact is alleged with qualifying or modifying language and the words of the allegation as so qualified or modified are literally denied, it has been held that the qualifying circumstances alone are denied while the fact itself is admitted.
Eala’s assertion that his relationship with Irene does not constitute grossly immoral conduct warranting disbarment is also not tenable. A relationship between a married lawyer and a married woman who is not his wife is against the law. It is immaterial whether the affair was carried out discreetly.
When Eala took the Lawyer’s Oath, he swore to uphold and obey the laws of the Philippines which include our marriage laws. The ethical rules for lawyers further prohibit lawyers from engaging in deceitful, dishonest, unlawful, and immoral acts. Eala’s acts of maintaining an illicit relationship renders him unfit to be a member of the bar.
