G.R. No. A.C. No. 7733, October 1, 2019
Daisy D. Panagsagan, Complainant, vs. Atty. Bernie Y. Panagsagan, Respondent.

FACTS

Complainant Daisy D. Panagsagan filed a disbarment complaint against her husband, Atty. Bernie Y. Panagsagan, for gross immorality, infidelity, and abandonment of family. The parties were married on December 18, 2000. Complainant alleged that respondent entered into an illicit relationship with Corazon Igtos, a fellow employee at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), with whom he begot two children born in May 2004 and July 2006. Respondent abandoned the conjugal home on November 3, 2002, and later cohabited with Igtos in Mandaluyong. On May 3, 2003, complainant confronted respondent at Igtos’s residence, where respondent assaulted her by boxing her several times and bumping her head against a cement wall, witnessed by their minor child. Respondent subsequently ceased providing support for their child and completely abandoned his family. In his Answer, respondent denied the extra-marital affair but admitted fathering Igtos’s children. He claimed complainant had suicidal tendencies, violent outbursts, and was herself unfaithful. He also asserted he converted to Islam in 2003. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Board of Governors, after investigation and reconsideration, recommended disbarment, finding respondent guilty of grossly immoral conduct. The Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) concurred, noting respondent’s admission of paternity, documentary evidence (birth certificates and social media photos), and the violence and abandonment committed.

ISSUE

Whether respondent should be disbarred from the practice of law due to his grossly immoral acts and abandonment of family.

RULING

Yes, the Supreme Court disbarred Atty. Bernie Y. Panagsagan. The Court found respondent guilty of gross immorality in violation of Rule 1.01 and Rule 7.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility. His conduct—maintaining an illicit affair, siring two children with his mistress, abandoning his lawful wife and child, committing violence against complainant, and flaunting the affair on social media—constituted grossly immoral conduct. Such conduct is defined as being so corrupt as to constitute a criminal act or so unprincipled as to be reprehensible to a high degree, shocking the common sense of decency. The Court rejected respondent’s defense of conversion to Islam, noting the conversion certificate was registered only in 2010 (years after the affair began), and he had indicated his religion as “Catholic” on his children’s birth certificates. The Court emphasized that lawyers must possess and maintain good moral character, and respondent’s actions displayed a deliberate disregard for the sanctity of marriage and the moral standards of the legal profession. Disbarment is the appropriate penalty for such grossly immoral conduct, which renders him unfit to remain a member of the Bar. Respondent’s name was ordered stricken from the Roll of Attorneys.