(NOTARIAL RULES)
FACTS:
This
is petition for disbarment against respondent for the falsification of a deed
of donation and notarizing the same. In that said Deed the alleged donor is one
Cesar Flores and the alleged donee is Gregorio Gamad Flores, the brother of
Maria Eugenia who is the wife of the respondent. Respondent was later on the
appointed attorney-in-fact by the donee, his brother-in-law, with the broad
power of administering and selling the property donated. The subject Deed was
notarized by respondent Atty. Garcia however he did not submit a copy of the
notarized deed of donation to the Office of the Clerk of Court, Pasig City, as
required. He explained that his "secretary at the time could
have misplaced it inadvertently as it was she who has the responsibility of
reporting [his] notarial documents, or [his] father-in-law could have kept all
the copies forgetting to give [him] a copy. After examining several
specimen signatures, the PNP Crime Laboratory, Questioned Documents Section, found
that the signature in the deed of donation is different from the usual
signature of the donor, Cesar Flores.
ISSUE: Whether or not respondent
may be disbarred.
HELD: YES. Respondent's conduct
warrants his severance from the legal profession for life.
As a notary public, he is required to keep a copy
of the documents he notarized and he cannot impose this obligation to his
subordinates, much less to his clients.
"Where the notary public is
a lawyer, a graver responsibility is placed upon his shoulder by reason of his
solemn oath to obey the laws and to do no falsehood or consent to the doing of
any." In the case at bar, respondent violated his solemn oath as a lawyer
not to engage in unlawful, dishonest or deceitful conduct. He
maintained that the signature of the donor was a genuine despite the finding of
experts to the contrary. He also tried to make a mockery of the
legal profession by advancing the flimsy excuse that his failure to submit a
copy of the document to the Clerk of Court was his secretary's fault.
A
notary who acknowledged a document that was a forgery destroys the integrity
and dignity of the legal profession. He does not deserve to continue
as member of the bar.
IN VIEW WHEREOF, we find
respondent VIRGILIO R. GARCIA guilty of grave misconduct rendering
him unworthy of continuing membership in the legal profession. We
order him DISBARRED from the practice of law and his name stricken off the
Roll of Attorneys, effective immediately.
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