ANTONI

OT.AGUI
NALDOVS.ATTY.I
SAI
AHC.ASUNCI
ON,
JR.

A.
C.No.12086,
Oct
ober7,
2020

FACTS:

I
nOct ober2010,hereinrespondentAt
ty.Isai
ahC.Asunci
on,Jr.(At
ty.Asunci
on)andhismotheragreed
t
osellt hei
r4.4-hectarepropert
yatBanauang,Moncada,Tar l
actocompl ai
nantAnt
onioT.Aguinaldo
(
Aguinaldo).Aspartoft heagreement,thecompl
ainanthandedtorespondentP100,
000.00asearnest
money .

Later,At
ty.Asunci
onaskedt hecompl ainanttheamountofP400, 000.00whichthecompl ai
nantref
used
togiveduet othefactthatAtty.Asuncionf ai
ledtopresentdocumentspertai
ningtot hepropert
y.Dueto
the cont
inued fai
lur
e ofr espondentt o giv
et he part
icul
ardetail
s oft he pr
opertysubj ectofthei
r
agreement,complainantsoughtt her eturn ofhismoney .Howev er,despi
ter epeated demand,Atty
.
Asuncionfail
edtoretur
nt heearnestmoneyt othedamageoft hecompl ai
nant.

Hence,
complai
nantaccusesAt
ty.Asunci
onoffr
audandofusi
nghi
spr
ofessi
ont
otakeadv
ant
ageoft
he
hi
slimi
tedknowl
edgewhichisi
nv i
olat
ionoft
heLawyer
'sOat
handt
heCPR.

Inhisdef ense,At
ty.Asunci
onclaimedt hatt
heagr eementhehadwi t
ht hecompl ai
nantwast hatthe
earnestmoneywoul dserveasguarantythatt
helatterwoul
dnotbackoutf rom t
hetransact
ionandt hat
thesubjectlandwil
lnotbesoldtootherbuyersunti
lNovember20,2012,t hedatewhent hecompl ai
nant
i
sboundt opaythedownpay mentofP400, 000.00.Heassertedthathisf ai
lur
etor et
urnt heearnest
moneydoesnotgi verisetoanywrongdoingonhispartbecausethebackingoutofthecompl ainantfr
om
thetransacti
onmeanst heamounthepaidwasf or
feit
ed.

I
nAugust28,2012,aft
eramandat
oryconf
erence,bot
hpar t
iesf
il
edaJoi
ntManif
estat
ionandMot
ionto
Di
smissst
ati
ngt hataset
tl
ementbet
weenthem wasr eachedoutoft
hei
rmutualdesi
retomakepeace
wit
heachot
her.

Howev er
,onDecember4,2012,t hecomplainantfi
ledhisPositi
onPaperst atingthatthesett
lement
betweenhim andAtty
.Asunci ondidnotmat eri
ali
zeforthefai
lur
eofther espondenttocomplywi t
hthe
ter
ms ofset tl
ement.Inr esponse,Atty.Asuncion cl
aimed thatthe complainantdid notenterthe
sett
lementi
ngoodf ai
thfaulti
ngthelat
terforthenothonori
ngtheprevi
ousset t
lement.

TheIBP-CBDsubmi tteditsReportandRecommendat i
onfindi
ngAtty.Asunciontohavev i
olatedCanon1
ofthe CPR,speci fi
call
y Rule 1.01 forengaging in deceit
fulconduct.They hel d Atty
.Asunci on
admini
str
ati
vel
yl i
ablef ormisconductandr ecommendedt hathebemet edthepenaltyofsuspensi on
fr
om thepract
iceofl awf orsi
x( 6)months.Thisruli
ngisbasedonAt ty.Asuncion'
sfail
uret odisclose
materi
alf
actsregardi
ngt hestatusofthesubjectpropert
yandhi sobsti
naterefusalt
oreturnt heearnest
money.

TheIBPBoar
dofGov
ernors(I
BP-BOG)resolvedt
oadoptt
heaforesai
dReportandRecommendati
on.
Att
y.
Asunci
onmovedf
orreconsi
derat
ionr
eit
erat
inghi
sargument
sfrom prev
iouspleadi
ngsbutt
hesamewas
deni
ed.

I
SSUE:

WON r espondentshoul
d be hel
d admi
nist
rat
ivel
yli
abl
eforv
iol
ati
ng t
he Code ofPr
ofessi
onal
Responsi
bil
it
y
RULI
NG:

YES.At
ty.Asunci
onwasguil
tyofcommit
ti
ngdishonest
,decei
tf
ul,andf
raudulentact
spr ejudi
cialt
othe
l
egalpr
ofessi
onandi
nviol
ati
onofCanon1,Rul
e1.01oftheCodeofProf
essionalResponsibil
it
y.

Canon1oft
heCodeofPr
ofessi
onalResponsi
bil
it
ypr
ovi
des:

CANON1-Al awyershal
luphol
dtheConst
it
uti
on,
obeyt
hel
awsoft
hel
andandpr
omot
erespectf
or
l
awofandl
egalpr
ocesses.

Rul
e1.
01-Al
awy
ershal
lnotengagei
nunl
awf
ul,
dishonest
,immor
alordecei
tf
ulconduct
.

Canon1cl earlymandatest heobedi

enceofev er
ylawyert ol
awsandlegalpr
ocesses.Tothebestofhis
abili
ty,al
awy eri
sexpect edt or
espectandabi debythel awand,t
hus,avoi
danyactoromi ssi
onthatis
contraryt
hereto.Alawy er'sper
sonaldeferencetothelaw notonlyspeaksofhischaract
erbutitalso
inspir
esrespectandobedi encet
othelaw, onthepartofthepubl
ic.

Her e,Atty
.Asuncionemployedtri
cker ybyluri
ngt heAguinaldoi nt
oagr eei
ngtobuyt hesubjectpropert
y.
Hel edt hecomplainantt
obeliev
et hatt hesubjectparceloflandwasst il
lownedbyhi smot herwheni n
truthandi nfact
,itwasal
readysoldt oanotherbuy erandwast henalreadyownedbyt hePosadasf amil
y.
Thiswassubst antiat
edbyt hef actt hatther espondentf ai
ledt o producedocument st o pr
ov ehis
ti
tle/ownershipoft hepr
opert
ywheni twasr equiredbyt hecompl ainant.Here,At
ty .Asunci
oncl ear
ly
fail
edt oupholdhisdutyt
oobservef air
nessandcandori nhi sdeali
ngwi ththecomplainant.

Further
,despitethepersist
entdemand byt hecomplai
nant
,At ty.Asuncion wi
ll
ful
lyand stubbor
nly
refusedtogivebackt heearnestmoneyconsi der
ingt
hatthetr ansacti
ondi dnotmateri
ali
ze.Heev en
blamedt hecompl ai
nantforthefail
edtransacti
onandinsi
stt hatt helat
terhadf or
fei
tedtheearnest
moneyf orbackingoutfrom t
hetransact
ioninv i
ewoftheunrealist
icconditi
onhehasi mposedandhi s
fail
uretopaythedownpay ment.

Iti
sclearunderAr ticl
e1482oft heCivi
lCodet hatwheneverearnestmoneyi sgiveninacont ractofsale,
itshal
lbeconsi deredaspar toft hepurchasepr i
ceandaspr oofoftheperfecti
onoft hecontract.I
nthis
case,thecompl ainantandAt ty.Asunciondidnotagr eetohav etheearnestmoneyf or
fei
tedshoul dthe
buyerfailt
opayt hebal anceofthepricesincenoexpr essagr
eementexiststosuppor tsuchclaim.Hence,
inthefir
stplace,Atty.Asuncionshouldhav ereturnedthemoneywhent hetransacti
ondi dnotmat er
ial
ize.

Lastl
y,r
egardl
essofthechancest hathasbeengiventoAtt
y.Asunci
ontoreturntheearnestmoney,he
simplyi
gnoredthecomplainant
.Itmustbenot edthatt
herehasbeenanegot i
atedset
t l
ementbetween
thepart
iesi
nt hi
scasebutheagainf ai
ledt
oretur
nt hemoneyat
tri
but
ingt
ot hecomplainantthef
aultf
or
thenon-ful
fi
ll
mentoftherespondent'
sobli
gat
ion.

Thus,theCourtcannotascr
ibegoodfai
thtot
herespondentashedi
dnotshowanywi
ll
ingnesst
omake
goodofhi sobli
gati
on.Inst
ead,asnotedbytheIBP-CDB,heconti
nuedtobuyti
meandput supnew
excusesforhi
sfail
uretoret
urntheear
nestmoney
.

Inviewoft heforegoing,t
heCour tfi
ndsnocogentr easontodepartfr
om t heresolut
ionoftheIBP-BOGt o
suspendt herespondentf rom thepract
iceoflawf oraper i
odofsix( 6)mont hs.Respondent
'sf ai
lureto
disclosematerialfactsr
egardingthestatusofthesubjectproper
tyandhi sobstinat
erefusalt
or eturnthe
earnestmoneyconst i
tut
esmi sconductwhichshouldbeadmi nist
rat
ivelysancti
oned.
WHEREFORE,r espondentAtty.I
saiahC.Asunci on,Jr.i
sherebyfoundGUILTYofcommi t
tingdishonest
,
deceitf
ul,andfraudul
entactsprejudi
cialtothelegalprof
essionandinvi
olati
onofCanon1,Rule1. 01of
theCodeofPr ofessi
onalResponsibil
ity
.Accor di
ngly,heisSUSPENDEDf rom t
hepract
iceofl aw fora
periodofsix(6)months,reckonedfrom recei
ptofthisDecisi
on,wit
hWARNI NGthatasi
milarmisconduct
i
nt hefutureshallbedeal
twithmor eseverely.

______________________________________________________________________________

Not
e:

TheCourthasruledthatt
obe"
dishonest
"meanst hedisposi
ti
ont
ol i
e,cheat
,decei
ve,def
raudorbetray
;
be untr
ustworthy;lacki
ng i
n integri
ty, honest
y, probi
ty,i
ntegri
ty in pri
nci
ple, fai
rness and
st
rai
ght
forwardness.

Aconductthatis"decei
tf
ul"meanstheproclivi
tyf orfraudulentanddecept i
vemi sr
epresent
ati
on,arti
fi
ce
ordevi
cethatisuseduponanot herwhoisignor antoft het r
uef acts,totheprejudi
ceanddamageoft he
partyi
mposedupon.I nordertobedecei t
ful,theper sonmustei therhav eknowledgeoft hefalsi
tyor
actedi
nrecklessandconsciousignor
ancet hereof ,especiall
yifthepar tiesarenotonequalt erms,and
wasdonewi t
ht hei
ntentt
hattheaggri
evedpar t
yactt hereon,andt helatt
erindeedactedinreli
anceofthe
fal
sestat
ementordeedi nthemannercontempl atedt ohisinjury
.