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Magdalena T Arciga Vs Segundino D Maniwang

Magdalena Arciga filed a case seeking the disbarment of Segundino Maniwang for grossly immoral conduct after he promised to marry her but then married someone else. Maniwang acknowledged he promised to marry Arciga and is the father of her child, but claimed Arciga also had a child from a previous relationship. The court found that while Maniwang's actions were wrong, reneging on a marriage promise did not constitute grossly immoral conduct warranting disbarment under the law.

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Caryle Gosiaoco
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327 views2 pages

Magdalena T Arciga Vs Segundino D Maniwang

Magdalena Arciga filed a case seeking the disbarment of Segundino Maniwang for grossly immoral conduct after he promised to marry her but then married someone else. Maniwang acknowledged he promised to marry Arciga and is the father of her child, but claimed Arciga also had a child from a previous relationship. The court found that while Maniwang's actions were wrong, reneging on a marriage promise did not constitute grossly immoral conduct warranting disbarment under the law.

Uploaded by

Caryle Gosiaoco
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Arciga vs.

Maniwang (1981)

Summary Cases:

● Magdalena T. Arciga vs. Segundino D. Maniwang

Subject: Grossly immoral conduct to warrant disbarment not present

Facts:

Magdalena Arciga filed a case of disbarment against Segundino Maniwang on the ground of grossly
immoral conduct as he refused to fulfill his promise of marriage to her.

When Maniwang was still a law student, he had a relationship with Arciga, then a medical technology
student. They started having a sexual relationship in 1971. In 1973, Arciga got pregnant. The two then
went to Arciga’s hometown to tell the latter’s parent about the pregnancy. They also made Arciga’s
parents believe that they were already married but they would have to have the church wedding in
abeyance until Maniwang passes the bar exams. Maniwang secured a copy of his birth certificate in
preparation of securing a marriage license.

Maniwang passed the bar in 1975. But after his oath taking, he stopped communicating with Arciga. The
latter located his whereabouts and eventually found out that Maniwang married another woman. Arciga
confronted Maniwang’s wife and this irked Maniwang so he inflicted physical injuries against Arciga.

In the case filed against him, he admitted that he is the father of the child and that he promised to marry
Arciga many times. He however broke these promises because Arciga apparently had a child even
before Maniwang’s child was born.

The Solicitor General recommends the dismissal of the case. In his opinion, reneging his promise of
marriage and cohabitation do not warrant a disbarment.

Held:

Grossly immoral conduct to warrant disbarment not present

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1. A lawyer may be disbarred for "grossly immoral conduct, or by reason of his conviction of a crime
involving moral turpitude." A member of the bar should have moral integrity in addition to
professional probity. It is difficult to state with precision and to fix an inflexible standard as to what is
"grossly immoral conduct" or to specify the moral delinquency and obliquity which render a lawyer
unworthy of continuing as a member of the bar. The rule implies that what appears to be unconventional
behavior to the straight-laced may not be the immoral conduct that warrants disbarment.

2. There is an area where a lawyer's conduct may not be in consonance with the canons of the moral
code but he is not subject to disciplinary action because his misbehavior or deviation from the path of
rectitude is not glaringly scandalous. It is in connection with a lawyer's behavior to the opposite sex
where the question of immorality usually arises. Whether a lawyer's sexual congress with a woman
not his wife or without the benefit of marriage should be characterized as "grossly immoral
conduct" will depend on the surrounding circumstances.

3. The court gave examples of instances when a grossly immoral conduct would warrant a lawyer’s
disbarment. As compared to the other cases, the court ruled that the present situation is not so corrupt
nor unprincipled as to warrant disbarment.

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