G.R. No. 516 ; August 30, 1967
TRANQUILINO O. CALO, JR., petitioner, vs. ESTEBAN DEGAMO, respondent.

FACTS

The respondent, Esteban Degamo, filed a motion for reconsideration of the Court’s prior decision dated June 27, 1967, which had imposed upon him the penalty of disbarment. In his verified motion, he disclosed new facts: that he had been appointed Chief of Police of Carmen, Agusan on January 17, 1959, serving until May 17, 1959; that he was subsequently elected Mayor of Carmen and served from 1960 to 1964; and that he was later appointed and acted as Election Registrar in 1965. The motion also stated there was no evidence that he had served dishonestly or inefficiently in these offices, nor were there any complaints against his official actions.

ISSUE

Whether the penalty of disbarment originally imposed on the respondent is excessively severe, warranting a modification to a lesser penalty.

RULING

The Court granted the motion for reconsideration and modified its prior decision. Considering the new facts presented regarding the respondent’s subsequent public service without evidence of dishonesty or complaints, the Court found the original sanction of disbarment too harsh. Applying the precedent in Macale vs. Gan, the Court deemed a suspension of three years from the practice of law as adequate to the merits of the case and as a warning to other members of the bar. The dispositive portion of the prior decision was amended to suspend respondent Esteban Degamo from the practice of law for a period of three years from the date of the decision.