A lawyer’s deliberate failure to pay just debts and the issuance of worthless checks constitute gross misconduct, for which a lawyer may be sanctioned.

Thus reiterated the Supreme Court in a Per Curiam Decision ordering the disbarment of Atty. Cipriano D. Robielos III (Atty. Robielos) for gross misconduct.

In 2016, Atty. Robielos obtained a loan from Adrian M. Kelley (Kelley) in the amount of PHP 240,000. As payment for the loan, Atty. Robielos issued a check which was later dishonored for having been drawn against insufficient funds. Despite demand, Atty. Robielos failed to pay.

Both subsequently entered into a “Kasunduan ng Pagaayos” before the Office of the Barangay Chairman, Barangay 33, Caloocan City, with Atty. Robielos promising to pay the full amount in installments over a period of six months.

Atty. Robielos, however, paid only PHP 60,000 and failed to pay the subsequent installments, leaving a balance of PHP 180,000.

This prompted Kelley to file a small claims complaint before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) against Atty. Robielos, but the latter failed to file an answer nor appear during the hearing. In a Decision, the MeTC ordered Atty. Robielos to pay Kelsey the amount of PHP 180,000 with 6% interest per annum.

Atty. Robielos opposed the execution of the MeTC Decision, arguing that the check he issued was merely to “return a favor” and not intended to be encashed as payment for a debt.

Kelley was prompted to file an administrative complaint against Atty. Robielos before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). Despite repeated orders, however, Atty. Robielos failed to file his answer, respond to instructions from the IBP, nor submit his position paper.

The IBP Investigating Commissioner thus recommended that Atty. Robielos be suspended from the practice of law for two years. The IBP Board of Governors adopted the findings of the IBP Investigating Commissioner, but increased the penalty to suspension for five years.

In disbarring Atty. Robielos, the Court stressed that membership in the Bar is a privilege burdened with conditions. Thus, the Court has, time and again, imposed the penalty of suspension or disbarment for any gross misconduct that a lawyer may have committed, whether it is in his or her professional or private capacity. 

Citing Canon II, Section 1 of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA), which expressly prohibits lawyers from engaging in unlawful, dishonest, immoral, or deceitful conduct, the Court lamented that not only is deceitful conduct unacceptable, disgraceful, and dishonorable to the legal profession, it is also revealing of a basic moral flaw that makes one unfit to practice law.

Specific to the conduct of issuing worthless checks, the Court reiterated its 2018 ruling in Lim v. Rivera that deliberate failure to pay just debts and the issuance of worthless checks constitute gross misconduct, for which a lawyer may be sanctioned with suspension from the practice of law.

Further, in the 2015 case of Enriquez v. De Vera, the Court categorically pronounced that a lawyer’s act of issuing worthless checks, punishable under Batas Pambansa Blg. 22, constitutes serious misconduct penalized by suspension from the practice of law for one (1) year, for which no conviction of the criminal charge is even necessary.

In the case of Atty. Robielos, the Court found that he did not even dispute that he issued a check in the amount of PHP 240,000 and that such check was eventually dishonored by the drawee bank. Instead, Atty. Robielos gave a flimsy excuse that he issued the check to “repay a favor” and that he was not actually indebted to Kelley. The Court, however, did not find any evidentiary support to these assertions by Atty. Robielos, nor did he offer any explanation on what he meant by this so called “favor” or why he had to issue a check to “repay this favor.”

In addition, the Court found Atty. Robielos liable for violating Canon III, Section 2 of the CPRA requiring lawyers to promote respect for legal processes when he abjectly failed to comply with the directives of the IBP Committee on Bar Discipline (IBP-CBD) to file his position papers and to attend the required mandatory conference.

As a member of the Bar, Atty. Robielos should have known that the orders of the IBP-CBD as the investigating arm of the Court in administrative cases against lawyers are not mere requests but directives which should be complied with promptly and completely.

The Court thus reminded Atty. Robielos to maintain respect not only to the courts, but also to judicial officers and other duly constituted authorities, including the IBP.

In determining the appropriate penalty for Atty. Robielos, the Court held that under the CPRA, a lawyer may be disbarred for being guilty of a serious offense, such as gross misconduct.

It also considered that Atty. Robielos had already been previously sanctioned twice for unprofessional conduct: (1) he was suspended for three months for failing to comply with the lawful orders of the IBP; and (2) he was suspended for five years for issuing ten worthless checks as payment for a loan of PHP 594,185.

As Atty. Robielos has repeatedly engaged in a vicious cycle of borrowing money and later on refusing to pay his debts each time, the Court found that he has demonstrated an abject lack of remorse and disrespect to the legal processes, and made a mockery of the judicial system and processes by continuing to evade the writ of execution issued on him.

Thus, the Court found it proper to impose the ultimate penalty of disbarment on Atty. Robielos for his propensity to issue worthless checks to pay his debts. He was likewise fined PHP 35,000 for his brazen disregard of the lawful orders and processes of the IBP-CBD.

Full text of the Court’s Decision in A.C. No. 13955, Kelley v. Robielos, at: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/13955-adrian-m-kelley-vs-atty-cipriano-d-robielos-iii/