EN BANC

[A.C. No. 4881. October 8, 2003.]

RAU SHENG MAO, complainant, vs. ATTY. ANGELES A.

VELASCO, respondent.

DECISION

BELLOSILLO, J : p

Complainant is a Taiwanese national. He came to the Philippines to

invest in a beach resort for leisure and recreation. He engaged the services
of respondent as legal consultant and retained counsel. Complainant now
seeks his disbarment for gross misconduct and immorality. 1
Complainant Rau Sheng Mao narrates that sometime in 1993 he hired
respondent Atty. Angeles A. Velasco as his legal consultant and counsel for
his company, the Foreign Investors Consultancy and Management Inc.
(FICMI). As he was new in the country, he trusted the business judgment of
respondent who crowed about his being president of the Integrated Bar of
the Philippines, Virac, Catanduanes Chapter.
A year later, complainant, in his capacity as President of FICMI, entered
into a Management Agreement with Haru Gen Beach Resort and Hotel
Corporation ("Haru Gen") for the operation and management of Twin Rock
Beach Resort in Virac, Catanduanes. Haru Gen was represented in this
transaction by respondent as director and stockholder. After concluding the
management agreement, respondent sold complainant his ten thousand
shares of stock with Haru Gen for P1,000,000.00. Complainant alleges that
although he had fully paid for the shares, as evidenced by receipts
acknowledged by respondent, the latter failed and refused to deliver the
certificates for the purchased shares.
Complainant also alleges that respondent persuaded him to buy three
(3) parcels of land belonging to the latter for P3,660,800.00. Although he
paid respondent P3,300,000.00, the latter reneged on his obligation to
deliver the certificates of title covering the purchased properties.
To further complicate his woes, in the course of FICMI's management of
Twin Rock Beach Resort, several complaints were filed against him by former
employees of the beach resort. Respondent acted as his counsel and in the
course of their professional relationship respondent asked for several sums
of money purportedly to be given to the judges hearing his cases. In one of
his letters to complainant, respondent wrote — "the judge (whom he did not
identify) was not contented of the P6,000.00 claiming that he dismissed two
(2) cases. I suggest that you give additional P5,000.00 . . ." 2 In another
letter he reported to complainant that "Judge Barsaga has already rendered
the decision in my case regarding the three (3) parcels of land . . . He is
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 asking — 'Christmas gift' . . ." 3

Complainant also claims that respondent represented him in the

special proceedings involving the settlement of the estate of the deceased
Miharu Matsuzawa where he (complainant) was appointed administrator.
Thereafter however their relationship turned sour and respondent did not
only sever their professional relationship but went further and moved for the
revocation of complainant's appointment as administrator. cDSaEH

Lastly, complainant charges respondent with immorality for flaunting

his illicit relationship with a certain Ludy Matienzo despite his being legally
married to one Rosita Velasco. Complainant declares that the affaire d'
amour, which was common knowledge in the place, produced three (3)
children, namely, Jesebeth, Jenny and Jenneth, all of whom were
acknowledged by respondent as his own.
Respondent denies the allegations and insists that he could not have
deceived complainant in their business dealings inasmuch as the latter was
represented in all their transactions by Atty. Ricardo B. Purog, Jr. Insofar as
the charge of non-delivery of the purchased shares of stock is concerned, he
asserts that complainant very well knew that he had not paid for his shares
hence his failure to immediately deliver the certificates corresponding to the
shares sold. As for the non-delivery of the certificates of title covering the
three (3) parcels of land, respondent avers that he had told complainant that
the purchased properties were still under litigation.
Without disclaiming authorship of any of the letters presented by
complainant where respondent bragged about his influence over judges,
respondent avers that in all his thirty-five (35) years of practice he had never
asked favors from judges nor privately sought an audience with them. He
likewise denies having had any relationship with Ludy Matienzo and in
support thereof he presented the affidavit of Ludy Matienzo refuting the
imputed relationship between them as well as the affidavit of his wife Rosita
attesting to his fidelity. 4
In retort to respondent's denial of fathering any of Ludy Matienzo's
daughters, complainant presented in evidence the baptismal certificate of
Jenny M. Velasco which listed respondent Angeles Velasco as her father and
Ludy Matienzo as her mother. 5 He likewise presented affidavits of several
persons residing within the municipality, including a lawyer, a court
employee and a neighbor of the Matienzos, confirming respondent's intimate
relationship with Ludy Matienzo. 6
Consistent with Rule 139-B of the Rules of Court, the matter was
referred to the Commission on Bar Discipline of the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines for investigation, report and recommendation. After conducting a
thorough investigation, the Commission recommended that respondent Atty.
Angeles A. Velasco be "suspended for a period of at least two (2) years."
Mainly, the recommendation was premised on the ground that
notwithstanding complainant's failure to support his allegation that
respondent duped him in their business transactions, the evidence on record
supports the charge of immorality against respondent. Also, respondent by
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 writing letters to complainant boasting about being able to influence judges
undermined the integrity of the judiciary.
Upon a review of the records, we are convinced that respondent's
conduct leaves much to be desired. We however agree with the findings of
the Investigating Commissioner that complainant was as not as gullible in
his business dealings with respondent as he presented himself to be. The
Commission found it unlikely for complainant to have been deceived by
respondent inasmuch as the former was represented by his own counsel
Atty. Purog, Jr. in all his business transactions with the latter. Thus,
complainant could not have been misled by respondent with respect to the
import of their contracts regarding the sale of the shares of stock with Haru
Gen as well as the sale of the three (3) parcels of land. Nonetheless,
respondent must still be chastised for his grossly immoral conduct.
Respondent Atty. Angeles A. Velasco has been living an adulterous life
with Ludy Matienzo with whom he has three (3) children. The children bear
respondent's surname; their school records even refer to their mother Ludy
Matienzo as "Ludy M. Velasco." By flaunting his relationship with a woman
not his wife respondent has transgressed the high moral standard required
for membership in the bar.
Under Rule 1.01 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, a lawyer
shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct. It may
be difficult to specify the degree of moral delinquency that may qualify an
act as immoral, yet, for purposes of disciplining a lawyer, immoral conduct
has been defined as that "conduct which is willful, flagrant, or shameless,
and which shows a moral indifference to the opinion of respectable members
of the community." 7 Thus, in several cases, the Court did not hesitate to
discipline a lawyer for keeping a mistress in defiance of the mores and sense
of morality of the community. 8

As keepers of the public faith, lawyers are burdened with the highest
degree of social responsibility and thus must handle their personal affairs
with the greatest caution. They are expected at all times to maintain due
regard for public decency in the community where they live. Their exalted
positions as officers of the court demand no less than the highest degree of
morality. Indeed, those who have taken the oath to assist in the dispensation
of justice should be more possessed of the consciousness and the will to
overcome the weakness of the flesh.
What is more, respondent has violated another basic tenet of legal
ethics — he has given complainant the impression that he was in a position
to influence the court. 9 Thus, in a series of letters presented by
complainant, which respondent meekly claimed were private
communications between them, respondent trumpeted his connection with
judges and their supposed demand for money. A lawyer is duty bound to
avoid improprieties which give the appearance of influencing the court.
Respondent's actions could not but place the integrity of the administration
of justice in peril, hence the need for strict disciplinary action.
aCcHEI

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 On these considerations, we feel strongly the impulse to purge
respondent from the ranks of our noble profession. However, considering
that he is in the declining years of his life 10 and has rendered years of
service to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines as President of the Virac,
Catanduanes Chapter, we feel that disbarment would be too harsh a penalty
for him. Hence, a suspension of two (2) years, as recommended by the
Commission on Bar Discipline, would suffice as a punitive but compassionate
disciplinary measure.
Indeed, no profession offers greater opportunity for public service than
that of a lawyer. For the privilege conferred upon him, a lawyer is tasked
with the equally great responsibility of upholding the ethics and ideals
established by the learned lawyers of ancient times. Into his hands are
entrusted the life, liberty and property of a trusting man. The only guarantee
that this trust will be carried with honor is ;the character of the lawyer. Such
character, on the other hand, can only be observed through one's reputation
and conduct. Thus, when a lawyer so deports himself that confidence can no
longer be rested in him without fear, his usefulness to the court and to the
society ceases.
WHEREFORE, respondent Atty. Angeles A. Velasco is SUSPENDED
from the practice of law for two (2) years from notice, with warning that a
repetition of the acts charged will be dealt with more severely. Respondent
is further ordered to notify this Court of his receipt of this Decision.
Let copies of this Decision be furnished all courts in the land, the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Office of the Bar Confidant, and let it be
spread in respondent's personal record.
SO ORDERED.
Davide, Jr., C .J ., Puno, Vitug, Panganiban, Quisumbing, Ynares-
Santiago, Sandoval-Gutierrez, Carpio, Austria-Martinez, Carpio Morales,
Callejo, Sr., Azcuna and Tinga, JJ ., concur.
Corona, J ., is on leave.

Footnotes
1. Rollo , pp. 1-19.
2. Id., p. 10.
3. Id., p. 11.
4. Id., pp. 51-65.
5. Id., p. 292.
6. Id., pp. 293-297.
7. Words and Phrases, Vol. 20, p. 85, citing In Re Hicks, 20 P2d, 896, 897.
8. Toledo v. Toledo , 117 Phil. 768 (1963); Arciga v. Maniwang, Adm. Case No.
1608, 14 August 1981, 106 SCRA 591; Obusan v. Obusan; Adm. Case No.
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 1392, 2 April 1984, 128 SCRA 485; Mendoza v. Mala , Adm. Case No. 1129, 27
July 1992, 211 SCRA 839; Narag v. Narag, Adm. Case No. 3405, 29 June
1998, 291 SCRA 451.

9. Canon 13. A lawyer shall rely upon the merits of his cause and refrain from
any impropriety which tends to influence, or gives the appearance of
influencing the court.
10. Respondent was sixty (69) years of age when he filed his Comment on 28
August 1998; Rollo , p. 51.

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