AC 1856; (October, 1983) (Digest)
G.R. No. A.C. No. 1856 October 28, 1983
SALVACION E. MARCAYDA, complainant, vs. JUSTINIANO P. NAZ, respondent.
FACTS
Complainant Salvacion E. Marcayda initially sought to prevent respondent Justiniano P. Naz from taking his oath as a lawyer, alleging immorality due to his failure to support their alleged child, Rey, born from an affair in 1964 while both were married to others. Naz denied paternity. On April 28, 1977, the day before his scheduled oath-taking, the parties executed a notarized agreement wherein Naz admitted paternity and promised specific monthly and lump-sum support payments. Based on this agreement, Marcayda withdrew her complaint, and Naz was allowed to take his oath on April 29, 1977.
Naz subsequently failed to provide the agreed support. Marcayda reopened the administrative case in December 1977. Naz then repudiated the notarized agreement, again denying paternity and claiming he signed it only under coercion, likening the complaint to “an Armalite trained on [his] head.” He pointed to the child’s birth certificate, which indicated the boy was born to Marcayda and her then-living husband.
ISSUE
Whether respondent Justiniano P. Naz should be disbarred for gross immorality.
RULING
No, disbarment is not warranted, but the respondent is severely reprimanded. The Court, agreeing with the Solicitor General, held that Naz’s act of formally admitting paternity and undertaking to support the child in a public document mitigated the gravity of his initial immorality, rendering it not “so gross and scandalous” as to merit disbarment under prevailing precedent. However, his subsequent brazen repudiation of that same notarial agreement was deemed highly censurable. The Court found his claim of coercion unconvincing and self-serving. By attempting to nullify an instrument he voluntarily executed to facilitate his admission to the bar, Naz engaged in conduct unbecoming a lawyer, showing unscrupulousness and making a mockery of judicial proceedings. This repudiation contradicted his oath to do no falsehood. The proper remedy for Marcayda is a civil action for support based on the binding agreement, not disbarment. A copy of this resolution is ordered attached to Naz’s record with the Bar Confidant. Justice Makasiar dissented, voting for disbarment based on the admitted adultery and the repudiation of the deed.