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In re Almacen

No. L-27664. February 18, 1970.

IN THE MATTER OF PROCEEDINGS FOR

DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST ATTY.VICENTE
RAUL ALMACEN in L-27654, ANTONIO H. CALERO VS.
VIRGINIA Y. YAPTINCHAYO

Remedial law; Civil procedure; Appeals; Review of Court of

Appeals, discretionary.—The supervisory jurisdiction vested upon
the Supreme Court over the Court of Appeals is not intended to
give every losing party another hearing. This axiom Is implied in
Sec. 4 of Eule 45 of the Rules of Court,
Same; Same; Motion for reconsideration; Requirements.—For
a motion for reconsideration to stay the running of the period of
appeal, the movant must not only serve a copy of the motion upon
the adverse party but also notify the adverse party of the time
and place of hearing.
Same; Legal ethics; Criticism of courts and judges.—A lawyer,
both as an officer of the court and as a citizen, may criticize in
properly respectful terms and through legitimate channels the act
of courts and judges. But it is the cardinal condition of all such
criticism that it shall be bona fide, and shall not spill over the
walls of decency and propriety.
Same; Same; Same; Acts as lawyer and citizen.—In his
relations with the courts, a lawyer may not divide his personality
so as to be an attorney at one time and a mere citizen at another.
Thus, statements made by an attorney in private con-

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versations or communications or in the course of a political

campaign, if couched in insulting language as to bring into scorn
and disrepute the administration of justice, may subject the
lawyer to disciplinary action.
Same; Same; Same; Post-litigation utterances and
publications of lawyer critical of courts may be the basis of
disciplinary action.—Post-litigation utterances or publications,
made by lawyers, critical of the courts and their judicial
actuations, whether amounting to a crime or not, which transcend
the permissible bounds of fair comment and legitimate criticism
and thereby tend to bring them into disrepute or to subvert public
confidence in their integrity and in the orderly administration of
justice, constitute grave professional misconduct which may be
visited with disbarment or other lesser appropriate disciplinary
sanctions by the Supreme Court in the exercise of the
prerogatives inherent in it as the duly constituted guardian of the
morals and ethics of the legal fraternity.
Same; Special civil action; Contempt; Termination of case is
no defense.—The rule that bars contempt after a judicial
proceeding has terminated has lost much of its vitality. For
sometime, this was the prevailing view in this jurisdiction. The
first stir for a modification thereof, however, came when, in People
Vo Alarcon, 69 Phil. 265, the then Chief Justice Manuel V. Moran
dissented with the holding of the majority, speaking thru Justice
Jose P. Laurel, which upheld the rule above-adverted to. A
complete disengagement from the settled rule was later to be
made in In re Brillantes, 42 O.G. 59, a contempt proceeding,
where the editor of the Manila Guardian was adjudged in
contempt for publishing an editorial which asserted that the 1944
Bar examinations were conducted in a farcical manner after the
question of the validity of the said examinations had been
resolved and the case closed. Virtually, this was an adoption of
the view expresed by Chief Justice Moran in his dissent in
Alarcon to the effect that there may still be contempt by
publication even after a case has been terminated. More than this
however, is the fact that the pendency or non-pendency of a
proceeding is immaterial in a disciplinary action against a lawyer
as an officer of the court and to preserve the purity of the legal
profession.
Same; Legal ethics; Disciplinary proceedings; Nature;
Supreme Court does not sit as judge, prosecutor and investigator
in administrative proceeding against lawyers.—Disciplinary
proceedings against lawyers are sui generis. Neither purely civil
nor purely criminal, they do not involve a trial of an action or a
suit, but are rather investigations by the Court into the conduct of
one of its officers. Not being intended to inflict punishment, it is
in no sense a criminal prosecution. Accordingly,

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there is neither a plaintiff nor a prosecutor therein. It may be

initiated by the Court motu proprio. Public interest is its primary
objective, and the real question for determination is whether or
not the attorney is still a fit person to be allowed the privileges as
such. Hence, in the exercise of its disciplinary powers, the Court
merely calls upon a member of the Bar to account for his
actuations as an officer of the Court with the end in view of
preserving the purity of the ltgal profession and the proper and
honest administration of justice by purging the profession of
members who by their misconduct have proved themselves no
longer worthy to be entrusted with the duties and responsibilities
pertaining to the office of an attorney. In such posture, there can
thus be no occasion to speak of a complainant or a prosecutor.
Same; Same; Same; Indefinite suspension may be ordered.—
Where the demonstrated persistence of the misconduct of the
lawyer leaves the court unable to assess or determine how long
that suspension should last and that disbarment should not be
decreed where a lesser sanction would accomplish the end
desired, the erring lawyer was merely suspended indefinitely. In
such a case at any time after the suspension becomes effective,
the lawyer may prove to the Court that’he is once again fit to
resume the practice of law.

PETITION to Surrender Lawyer^ Certificate of Title.

The facts are stated in the resolution of the Court.

RESOLUTION

CASTRO, J.:

Before us is Atty. Vicente Raul Almacen’s “Petition to

Surrender Lawyer’s Certificate of Title/1 filed on Sep^
tember 25, 1967, in protest against what he therein asserts
is “a great injustice committed against his client by this
Supreme Court.’1 He indicts this Court, in his own phrase,
as a tribunal “peopled by men who are calloused to our
pleas for justice, who ignore without reasons their own
applicable decisions and commit culpable violations of the
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Constitution with impunity.” His client’s he continues, who

was deeply aggrieved by this Court’s

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“unjust judgment,” has become “one of the sacrificial

victims before the altar of hypocrisy.” In the same breath
that he alludes to the classic symbol of justice, he ridicules
the members of this Court, saying “that justice as
administered by the present members of the Supreme
Court is not only blind, but also deaf and dumb.” He then
vows to argue the cause of his client “in the people’s
forum,” so that “the people may know of the silent
injustices committed by this Court,” and that “whatever
mistakes, wrongs and injustices that were committed must
never be repeated.” He ends his petition with a prayer that

“x x x a resolution issue ordering the Clerk of Court to receive the

certificate of the undersigned attorney and counsellor-at-law IN
TRUST with reservation that at any time in the future and in the
event we regain our faith and confidence, we may retrieve our
title to assume the practice of the noblest profession.”

He reiterated and disclosed to the press the contents of the

aforementioned petition. Thus, on September 26, 1967, the
Manila Times published statements attributed to him, as
follows:

“Vicente Raul Almacen, in an unprecedented petition, said he did

it to expose the tribunal’s ‘unconstitutional and obnoxious’
practice of arbitrarily denying petitions or appeals without any
reason.
“Because of the tribunal’s ‘short-cut justice,’ Almacen deplored,
his client was condemned to pay F120,000, without knowing why
he lost the case.

x x x

“There is no use continuing his law practice, Almacen said in

this petition, ‘where our Supreme Court is composed of men who
are calloused to oiir pleas for justice, who ignore without reason
their own applicable decisions and commit culpable violations of
the Constitution with impunity.’

x x x

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“He expressed the hope that by divesting himself of his title by

which he earns his living, the present members of the Supreme
Court ‘wiii become responsive to all cases brought to its attention
without discrimination, and will purge itself of those

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In re Almacen

unconstitutional and obnoxious “lack of merit” or “denied

resolutions.’“ (Italics supplied)

Atty. Almacen’s statement that

“x x x our own Supreme Court is composed of men who are

calloused to our pleas of [sic] justice, who ignore their own
applicable decisions and commit culpable violations of the
Constitution with impunity,”

was quoted by columnist Vicente Albano Pacis in the issue

of the Manila Chronicle of September 28, 1967. In
connection therewith, Pacis commented that Atty. Almacen
had “accused the high tribunal of offenses so serious that
the Court must clear itself,” and that “his charge is one of
the constitutional bases for impeachment.”
The genesis of this unfortunate incident was a civil case
1

entitled Virginia Y. Yaptinchay vs. Antonio H. Calero, in

which Atty. Almacen was counsel for the defendant The
trial court, after due hearing, rendered judgment against
his client. On June 15, 1966 Atty. Almacen received a copy
of the decision. Twenty days later, or on July 5, 1966, he
moved for its reconsideration. He served on the adverse
counsel a copy of the motion, but did not notify the latter of
the time and place of hear* ing on said motion. Meanwhile,
on July 18, 1966, the plaintiff moved for execution of the
judgment. For ‘lack of proof of service,” the trial court
denied both motions. To prove that he did serve on the
adverse party a copy of his first motion for reconsideration,
Atty. Almacen filed on August 17, 1966 a second motion for
reconsideration to which he attached the required registry
return card. This second motion for reconsideration,
however, was ordered withdrawn by the trial court on
August 30, 1966, upon verbal motion of Atty. Almacen
himself, who, earlier, that is, on August 22, 1966, had
already perfected the appeal. Because the plaintiff
interposed no objection to the record on appeal and appeal
bond, the trial court elevated the case to the Court of
Appeals.
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_______________

1 Docketed as Civil Case 8909 on September 17,1966 in the Court of

First Instance of Rizal.

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But the Court of Appeals, on the authority of this Court’s

decision in Manila Surety and Fidelity Co., Inc. vs. Batu
Construction & Co., L-16636, June 24, 1965, dismissed the
appeal, in the following words:

“Upon consideration of the motion dated March 27, 1967, filed by

plaintiff-appellee praying that the appeal be dismissed, and of the
opposition thereto filed by defendant-appellant; the Court
RESOLVED TO DISMISS, as it hereby dismisses, the appeal, for
the reason that the motion for reconsideration dated July 6, 1966
(pp. 90-113, printed record on appeal) does not contain a notice of
time and place of hearing thereof and is, therefore, a useless piece
of paper (Manila Surety & Fidelity Co,, Inc. vs. Batu Construction
& Co., G.R. No, L-16636, June 24, 1965), which did not interrupt
the running of the period to appeal, and, consequently, the appeal
was perfected out of time.”

Atty. Almacen moved to reconsider this resolution, urging

that Manila Surety & Fidelity Co. is not decisive. At the
same time he filed a pleading entitled “Latest decision of
the Supreme Court in Support of Motion for
Reconsideration” citing Republic of the Philippines vs.
Gregorio A. Venturanza. L-20417, decided by this Court on
May 30, 1966, as the applicable case. Again, the Court of
Appeals denied the motion for reconsideration, thus:

“Before this Court for resolution are the motion dated May 9,
1967 and the supplement thereto of the same date filed by
defendant-appellant, praying for reconsideration of the resolution
of May 8, 1967, dismissing the appeal.
“Appellant contends that there are some important distinctions
between this case and that of Manila Surety and Fidelity Co., Inc.
vs. Batu Construction & Co., G.R. No. L-16636, June 24, 1965,
relied upon by this Court in its resolution of May 8, 1967.
Appellant further states that in the latest case, Republic vs.
Venturanza, L-20417, May 30, 1966, decided by the Supreme
Court concerning the question raised by appellant’s motion, the
ruling is contrary to the doctrine laid down in the Manila Surety
& Fidelity Co., Inc. case.

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“There is no substantial distinction between this case and that

of Manila Surety & Fidelity Co.
“In the case of Republic vs. Venturanza, the resolution denying
the motion to dismiss the appeal, based on grounds

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In re Almacen

similar to those raised herein was issued on November 26, 1962. v

hich was much earlier than the date of promulgation o^ the
decision in the Manila Surety Case, which was June 24, 1965.
Further, the resolution in the Venturanza case was interlocutory
and the Supreme Court issued it ‘without prejudice to appellee’s
restoring the point in the brief/ In the main decision in said case
(Rep. vs. Venturanza), the Supreme Court passed upon the issue
sub silencio presumably because of its prior decisions contrary to
the resolution of November 26, 1962, one of which is that in the
Manila Surety and Fidelity case. Therefore Republic vs.
Venturanza is no authority on the matter in issue.”

Atty. Almacen then appealed to this Court by certiorari. We

refused to take the case, and by minute resolution denied
the appeal. Denied shortly thereafter was his motion for
reconsideration as well as his petition for leave to file a
second motion for reconsideration and for extension of time.
Entry of judgment was made on September 8, 1967. Hence,
the second motion for reconsideration filed by him after the
said date was ordered expunged from the records.
It was at this juncture that Atty. Almacen gave vent to
his disappointment by filing his “Petition to Surrender
Lawyer’s Certificate of Title/’ already adverted to—a
pleading that is interspersed from beginning to end with
the insolent, contemptuous, grossly disrespectful and
derogatory remarks hereinbefore reproduced, against this
Court as well as its individual members, a behavior that is
as unprecedented as it is unprofessional.
Nonetheless we decided by resolution dated September
28, 1967 to withhold action on his petition until he shall
have actually -surrendered his certificate. Patiently, we
waited for him to make good his proffer. No word came
froir him. So he was reminded to turn over his certificate,
which he had earlier vociferously offered to surrender, so
that this Court could act on his petition. To said reminder
he manifested “that he has no pending petition in
connection with Case G.R. No. L-27654, Calero vs.

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Yaptinchay, said case is now final and executory;” that this

Court’s September 28, 1967 resolution did not
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require him to do either a positive or negative act; and that

since his offer was not accepted, he “chose to pursue the
negative act.”
In the exercise of its inherent power to discipline a
member of the bar for contumely and gross misconduct,
this Court on November 17, 1967 resolved to require Atty.
Almacen to show cause “why no disciplinary action should
be taken against him.” Denying the charges contained in
the November 17 resolution, he asked for permission “to
give reasons and cause why no disciplinary action should
be taken against him x x x in an open and public hearing.”
This Court resolved (on December 7) “to require Atty.
Almacen to state, within five days from notice hereof, his
reasons for such request, otherwise, oral argument shall be
deemed waived and incident submitted for decision/’ To
this resolution he manifested that since this Court is “the
complainant, prosecutor and Judge,” he preferred to be
heard and to answer questions “in person and in an open
and public hearing” so that this Court could observe his
sincerity and candor. He also asked for leave to file a
written explanation “in the event this Court has no time to
hear him in person,” To give him the ampliest latitude for
his defense, he was allowed to file a written explanation
and thereafter was heard in oral argument.
His written answer, as undignified and cynical as it is
unchastened, offers no apology. Far from being contrite,
Atty. Almacen unremittingly repeats his jeremiad of
lamentations, this time embellishing it with abundant
sarcasm and innuendo. Thus:

“At the start, let me quote passages from the Hoiy Bible, Chapter
7, St. Matthew:—

“‘Do not judge, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you
judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you measure, it shall
be measured to you. But why dost thou see the speck in thy brother’s eye,
and yet dost not consider the beam in thy own eye? Or how canst thou
say to thy brother, “Let me cast out the speck from thy eye”; and behold,
there is a beam in thy

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own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thy own eye, and
then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eyea.
“ ‘Therefore all that you wish men to do to you, even to do you also to
them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.’

x x x

“Your respondent has no intention of disavowing the

statements mentioned in his petition. On the contrary, he refirms
the truth of what he stated, compatible with his lawyer’s oath
that ‘he will do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in
court. But he vigorously DENY under oath that the underscored
statements contained in the CHARGE are insolent,
contemptuous, grossly disrespectful and derogatory to the
individual members df the Court; that they tend to bring the
entire Court, without justification, into disrepute; and constitute
conduct unbecoming of a member of the noble profession of law.

x x x

“Respondent stands four-square that his statement is borne by

TRUTH and has been asserted with NO MALICE BEFORE AND
AFTER THOUGHT but mainly motivated with the highest
interest of justice that in the particular case of our client, the
members have shown callousness to our various pleas for
JUSTICE, our pleadings will bear us on this matter, x x x

x x x

“To all these beggings, supplications, words of humility,

appeals for charity, generosity, fairness, understanding,
sympathy and above all in the highest interest of JUSTICE,—
what did we get from this COURT? One word, DENIED, with all
its hardiness and insensibility. That was the unfeeling of the
Court towards our pleas and prayers, in simple word, it is plain
callousness towards our particular case.

x x x

“Now that your respondent has the guts to tell the members of
the Court that notwithstanding the violation of the Constitution,
you remained unpunished, this Court in the reverse order of
natural things, is now in the attempt to inflict punishment on
your respondent for acts he said in good faith.

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“Did His Honors care to listen to our pleadings and

supplications for JUSTICE. CHARITY, GENEROSITY and

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In re Almacen

FAIRNESS? Did His Honors attempt to justify their stubborn

denial with any semblance of reason, NEVER. Now that your
respondent is given the opportunity to face you, he reiterates the
same statement witn emphasis, DID YOU? Sir. Is this the way of
life in the Philippines today, that even our own President, said:
—‘the story is current, though nebulous as to its truth, it is still
being circulated that justice in the Philippines today is not what it
is used to be before the war. There are those who have told me
frankly and brutally that justice is a commodity, a marketable
commodity in the Philippines.’

x x x

“We condemn the SIN, not the SINNER. We detest the ACTS,
not the ACTOR. We attack the decision of this Court, not the
members, xxx We were provoked. We were compelled by force of
necessity. We were angry but we waited for the finality of the
decision. We waited until this Court has performed its duties. We
never interfered nor obstruct in the performance of their duties.
But in the end, after seeing that the Constitution has placed
finality on your judgment against our client and sensing that you
have not performed your duties with ^circumspection,
carefulness, confidence and wisdom’, your Respondent rise to
claim his God-given right to apeak the truth and his
Constitutional right of free speech.

x x x

“The INJUSTICES which we have attributed to this Court and

the further violations we sought to be prevented is impliedly
shared by our President, xxx

x x x

“What has been abhored and condemned, are the very things
that were applied to us. Recalling Madam Roland’s famous
apostrophe during the French revolution, ‘O Liberty, what crimes
are committed in thy name’, we may dare say, ‘O JUSTICE, what
technicalities are committed in thy name’ or more appropriately,
‘O JUSTICE, what injustices are committed in thy name.’

x x x

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“We must admit that this Court is not free from commission of
any abuses, but who would correct such abuses considering that
yours is a court of last resort. A strong public opinion must be
generated so as to curtail these abuses.

x x x

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“The phrase, Justice is blind is symbolize in paintings that can be

found in all courts and government offices. We have added oniy
two more symbols, that it is aiso deaf and dumb. Deaf in the sense
that no members of this Court has ever heard our cries for
charity, generosity, fairness, understanding, sympathy and for
justice; dumb in the sense, that Inspite of our beggings,
supplications, and pleadings to give us reasons why our appeal
has been DENIED, not one word was spoken or given xxx We
refer to no human defect or ailment in the above statement. We
only describe the impersonal state of things and nothing more.

x x x

“As we have stated, we have lost our faith and confidence in

the members of this Court and for which reason we offered to
surrender our lawyer’s certificate, IN TRUST ONLY. Because
what has been lost today may be regained tomorrow. As the offer
was intended as our self-imposed sacrifice, then we alone may
decide as to when we must end our self-sacrifice. If we have to
choose between forcing ourselves to have faith and confidence in
the members of the Court but disregard our Constitution and to
uphold the Constitution and be condemned by the members of
this Court, there is no choice, we must uphold the latter.”

But overlooking, for the nonce, the vituperative chaff which

he claims is not intended as a studied disrespect to this
Court, let us examine the grain of his grievances.
He chafes at the minute resolution denial of his2 petition
for review. We are quite aware of the criticisms expressed
against this Court’s practice of rejecting petitions by
minute resolutions. We have been asked to do away with it,
to state iiie facts and the law, and to spell out the reasons
for denial We have given this suggestion very careful
thought. For we know the abject frustration of a lawyer
whq tediously collates the facts and for many weary hours
meticulously marshalls his arguments, only to have his
efforts rebuffed with a terse unadorned denial. Truth to
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tell, however, most petitions rejected by this Court are

utterly frivolous and

_______________

2 See e.g. “Mounting Discontent against the Supreme Court’s Minute

Resolution,” 32 Lawyers J. p. 825; “Lack of Merit Resolutions are
Obnoxious,” 31 Lawyers J. p. 329.

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In re Almacen
3

ought never to have been lodged at all, The rest do exhibit

a first-impression cogency, but fail to withstand critical
scrutiny. By and large, this Court has been generous in
giving due course to petitions for certiorari. Be this as it
may, were we to accept every case or write a full opinion for
every petition we reject, we would be unable to carry out
effectively the burden placed upon us by the Constitution.
The proper role of the Supreme Court, as Mr. Chief Justice
Vinson of the U.S. Supreme Court has defined it, is to
decide “only those cases which present questions whose
resolutions will have immediate importance beyond the
particular facts and parties involved.’ Pertinent here is the
observation of Mr. Justice Frankfurter in Maryland vs.
Baltimore Radio Shotv, 94 L. ed 562, 566 :

“A variety of considerations underlie denials of the writ, and as to

the same petition different reasons may read different justices to
the same result xxx.
“Since there are these conflicting, and, to the uninformed, even
confusing reasons for denying petitions for certiorari, it has been
suggested from time to time that the Court indicate its reasons for
denial. Practical considerations preclude. In order that the Court
may be enabled to discharge its indispensable duties, Congress
has placed the control of tire Court’s business, in effect, within the
Court’s discretion. During the last three terms the Court disposed
of 260, 217, 224 cases, respectively, on their merits. For the same
three terms the Court denied, respectively, l,2G0, 1,105, 1,189
petitions calling for discretionary review. If the Court is to do its
work it would not be feasible to give reasons, however brief, for
refusing to take these cases. The time that would be required is
prohibitive. Apart from the fact that as already indicated different
reasons not infrequently move different members of the Court in
concluding that a particular case at a particular time makes
review undesirable.”

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_______________

3 In the years 1966, 1967 and 1968, this Court rejected by minute
resolutions 803, 682 and 848 petitions, respectively, and resolved by
extended decisions or resolutions 584, 611 and 760 cases, respectively. For
the period covering the first six months of the year 1969, this Court
rejected by minute resolutions 445 petitions, and resolved by extended
decisions or resolutions 279 cases.

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Six years ago, in Novino, et al. vs. Court of Appeals, et al, L-

21098, May 31, 1963 (60 O.G. 8099), this Court through the
then Chief Justice Cesar Bengzon, articulated its
considered view on this matter. There, the petitioner’s
counsel urged that a “lack of merit” resolution violates
Section 12 of Article VIII of the Constitution. Said Chief
Justice Bengzon:

“In connection with identical short resolutions, the same question

has been raised before; and we held that these ‘resolutions’ are
not ‘decisions’ within the above constitutional requirement, They
merely hold that the petition for review should not be entertained
in view of the provisions of Rule 46 of the Rules of Court; and
even ordinary lawyers have all this time so understood it It
should be remembered that a petition to review the decision of the
Court of Appeals is not a matter of right, but of sound judicial
discretion; and so there is no need to fully explain the court’s
denial. For one thing, the facts and the law are already mentioned
in the Court of Appeals’ opinion.
“By the way, this mode of disposal has—as intended—helped
the Court in alleviating its heavy docket; it was patterned after
the practice of the U.S. Supreme Court, wherein petitions for
review are often merely ordered ‘dismissed’.”

We underscore the fact that cases taken to this Court on

petitions for certiorari from the Court of Appeals have had
the benefit of appellate review. Hence, the need for
compelling reasons to buttress such petitions if this Court
is to be moved into accepting them. For it is axiomatic that
the supervisory jurisdiction vested upon this Court over the
Court of Appeals is not intended to give every losing party
another hearing. This axiom is implied in sec. 4 of Rule 45
of the Rules of Court which recites:

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“Review of Court of Appeals’ decision discretionary.—A review is

not a matter of right but of sound judicial discretion, and will be
granted only when there are special and important reasons
therefor. The following, while neither controlling nor fully
measuring the court’s discretion, indicate the character of reasons
which will be considered:

“(a) When the Court of Appeals has decided a question of

substance, not theretofore determined by the Supreme
Court, nor has decided it in a way probably not in accord
with law or with the applicable decisions of the Supreme
Court;

575

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 575

In re Almacen

“(b) When the Court of Appeals has so far departed from the
accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings, or so far
sanctioned such departure by the lower court, as to call for
the exercise of the power of supervision.”

Recalling Atty. Almacen’s petition for review, we found,

upon a thoroughgoing examination of the pleadings and
records, that the Court of Appeals had fully and correctly
considered the dismissal of his appeal in the light of the
law and applicable decisions of this Court. Far from
straying away from the “accepted and usual course of
judicial proceedings/’ it traced the procedural lines etched
by this Court in a number of decisions. There was,
therefore, no need for this Court to exercise its supervisory
power.
As a law practitioner who was admitted to the Bar as far
back as 1941, Atty. Almacen knew—or ought to have
known—that for a motion for reconsideration to stay the
running of the period of appeal, the movant must not only
serve a copy of the motion upon the adverse party (which
he did), but also notify the adverse party of the time and
place of hearing (which admittedly he did not). This rule
was unequivocally articulated in Manila Surety & Fidelity
vs. Batu Construction & Co., supra:

“The written notice referred to evidently is prescribed for motions

in general by Rule 15, Sections 4 and 5 (formerly Rule 26), which
provides that such notice shall state the time and place of hearing
and shall be served upon all the parties concerned at least three
days in advance. And according to Section 6 of the same Rule no

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motion shall be acted upon by the court without proof of such

notice. Indeed it has been held that in such a case the motion is
nothing but a useless piece of paper (Philippine National Bank v.
Damasco, L-18638, Feb. 28, 1963; citing Manakil v. Revilla, 42
Phil. 81; Roman Catholic Bishop of Lipa v, Municipality of
Unisan, 41 Phil. 866; and Director of Lands vs. Sanz, 45 Phil.
117). The reason is obvious: Unless the movant sets the time and
place of hearing the Court would have no way to determine
whether that party agrees to or objects to the motion, and if he
objects, to hear him on his objection, since the Rules themselves
do not fix any period within which he may file his reply or
opposition.”

If Atty. Almacen failed to move the appellate court to

576

576 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

review the lower court’s judgment, he has only himself to

blame. His own negligence caused the forfeiture of the
remedy of appeal, which, incidentally, is not a matter of
right. To shift away from himself the consequences of his
carelessness, he looked for a “whipping boy.” But he made
sure that he assumed the posture of a martyr, and, in
offering to surrender his professional certificate, he took
the liberty of vilifying this Court and inflicting his
exacerbating rancor on the members thereof. It would thus
appear that there Is no justification for his scurrilous and
scandalous outbursts.
Nonetheless we gave this unprecedented act of Atty.
Almacen the most circumspect consideration. We know
that it is natural for a lawyer to express his dissatisfaction
each time he loses what he sanguinely believes to be a
meritorious case. That is why lawyers are given wide
latitude to differ with, and voice their disapproval of, not
only the courts’ rulings but also the manner in which they
are handed down.
Moreover, every citizen has the right to comment upon
and criticize the actuations of public officers. This right is
not diminished by 4 the fact that the criticism is aimed at a5
judicial authority, or that it is articulated by a lawyer.
Such right is especially recognized
6 where the criticism
concerns a concluded litigation, because then the 7 court’s
actuations are thrown open to public consumption.

_______________

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4 U.S. vs. Bustos, 37 Phil. 731 (1918); In re Gomez, 48 Phil. 376; Salcedo
vs. Hernandez, 61 Phil. 736 (Malcolm, J., dissenting); Austria vs.
Masaquel, G.R. L-22536, Aug. 81, 1967; Cabansag vs. Fernandez, et al.,
G.R. L-8974, Oct. 18, 1957.
5 In re Gomez, supra.
6 In re Gomez, supra; In re Lozano and Quevedo, 54 Phil. 801 (1930); In
re Abistado, 57 Phil. 668 (1932); People vs. Alarcon; In re Contempt
Proceedings, Mangahas, 69 Phil. 265 (1939). See Pennekamp v. State of
Florida, 328 U.S. 331, 90 L. ed. 1295; In re Bozorth, 118 A. 2d 432; In re
Jameson, 340 Pac. 2d 432 (1959); In re Pryor, 26 Am. Rep. 474; Hill v.
Lymttn, 126 NYS 2d 286; Craig v. Hecht, 68 L. ed. 293 (Concurring
opinion of Justice Taft).
7 Strebel v. Figueras, 96 Phil. 321 (1954),

577

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 577

In re Almacen

“Our decisions and all our 8 official actions/’ said the

Supreme Court of Nebraska, “are public property, and the
press and the people have the undoubted right to comment
on them, criticize and censure them as they see fit. Judicial
officers, like other public servants, must answer for their
official actions before the chancery of public opinion.”
The likely danger of confusing the fury of human
reaction to an attack on one’s integrity, competence and
honesty, with “imminent danger to the administration of
justice,” is the reason why courts have been loath to 9inflict
punishment on those who assail their actuations. This
danger lurks especially in such a case as this where those
who sit as members of an entire Court are themselves
collectively the aggrieved parties.
Courts thus treat with forbearance and restraint 10 a
lawyer who vigorously assails their actuations. For
courageous and fearless advocates are the strands that
weave durability into the tapestry of justice. Hence., as-
citizen and officer of the court, every lawyer is expected not
only to exercise the right, but also to consider it his duty to
expose 11the shortcomings and indiscretions of courts and
judges.

_______________

8 State v. Bee Pub. Co., 83 N.W. 204, Sullivan, J. See also Slate ex rel
Atty. Gen. v. Circuit Ct., 72 N. W. 193.
9 In re Jameson, 340 Pae. 2d 432 (1959).

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10 U.S. vs. Bustos, 37 Phil. 731 (1918); In re Gomez, 43 Phil. 376;

Cabansag v. Fernandez, L-18974, Oct. 18, 1957; Austria vs. Masaquel, L-
22536, Aug. 31, 1967; Re Troy (1920), 111 Atl. 723; State ex rel. Atty. Gen.
v. Circuit Ct. (1897), 65 Am. St. Rep. 90; Goons v. State, 134 N.E. 194;
Stale vs. Sweetland, 54 N.W. 415; Hill vs. Lyman, 126 NYS 2d 286; Case of
Austin, 28 Am. Dec. 657.
11 State Board of Examiners v. Hart, 116 N.W. 212, 17 LRA (NS) 585;
Re Pryor, 26 Am. Rep. 747; Ex Parte Steinman, 40 Am. Rep. 637; Case of
Austin, 28 Am. Dec. 657; Brannon v. State, 29 So. 2d 918; Mcdgar Evers v.
Stair, 131 So. 2d 653; Re Ades, 6 F 2d 467.

578

578 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen
12

Courts and judges are not sacrosanct. They should 13 and

expect critical evaluation of their performance. For like
the executive and the legislative branches, the judiciary is
rooted in the soil of democratic society, nourished by the
periodic appraisal of the citizens whom it is expected to
serve.
Well-recognized therefore is the right of a lawyer, both

_______________

12 “A judge as a public official,” said Justice Thornal in State v,

Calhoon, 102 So. 2d 604, “is neither sacrosanct, nor immune to public
criticism of his conduct in office.”
13 In re Bozorth, 118 Atl. 432: “The harsh and sometimes unfounded
criticism of the members of any of the three branches of our Government
may be unfortunate lot of public officials xxx, but it has always been
deemed a basic principle that such comment may be made by the public
xxx. Nor should the judicial branch xxx enjoy any more enviable condition
than the other two branches.”
In Bridges v. California, 86 L. ed. 192, Mr. Justice Black, speaking for
the majority, said: “x x x an enforced silence, liowever, limited, solely in
the name of preserving the dignity of the bench, would probably engender
resentment, suspicion, and contempt much more than it would enhance
respect.” Mr. Justice Frankfurter, who wrote the minority opinion, said:
“Judges as persons, or courts as institutions, are entitled to no greater
immunity from criticism than other persons or institutions. Just because
the holders of judicial office are identified with the interest of justice they
may forget their common human frailties and fallibilities. There have
sometimes been martinets upon the bench as there have sometimes been
wielders of authority whor have used the paraphernalia of power in
support of what they called their dignity. Therefore judges must be kept

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mindful of their limitations and of their ultimate public responsibility by a

vigorous stream of criticism expressed with candor however blunt. ‘A man
cannot be summarily laid by the heels because his words may make public
feeling more unfavorable in case the judge should be asked to act at some
later date, any more than he can for exciting public feeling against a judge
for what he already has done.’ xxx Courts and judges must take their
share of the gains and pains of t discussion which is unfettered except by
laws of libel, by self-restraint, and by good taste. Winds of doctrine should
freely blow for the promotion of good and the correction of evil. Nor should
restrictions be permitted that cramp the feeling of freedom in the use of
tongue or pen regardless of the temper of the truth of what may be
uttered.”

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VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 579

In re Almacen

as an officer of the court and as a citizen, to criticize in

properly respectful terms and through legitimate channels
the acts of courts and judges. The reason is that

“An attorney does not surrender, in assuming the important place

accorded to him in the administration of justice, his right as a
citizen to criticize the decisions of the courts in a fair and
respectful manner, and the independence of the bar, as well as of
the judiciary, has always been encouraged by the courts.” (In re
Ades, 6 F Supp. 487)

Criticism of the courts has, indeed, been an important part

of the traditional work of the lawyer. In the prosecution of
appeals, he points out the errors of lower courts. In articles
written for law journals he dissects with detachment the
doctrinal pronouncements of courts and fearlessly lays bare
for all to see the flaws and inconsistencies of the doctrines
(Hill v. Lyman, 126 NYS 2d 286). As aptly stated by Chief
Justice Sharswood in Ex Parte Steinman, 40 Am. Rep. 641:

“No class of the community ought to be allowed freer scope in the

expression or publication of opinions as to the capacity,
impartiality or integrity of judges than members of the bar. They
have the best opportunities for observing and forming a correct
judgment. They are in constant attendance on the courts, x x x To
say that an attorney can only act or speak on this subject under
liability to be called to account and to be deprived of his profession
and livelihood, by the judge or judges whom he may consider it his
djity to attack and expose, is a position too monstrous to be
entertained, xxx

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Hence, as a citizen and as officer of the court, a lawyer is

expected not only to exercise the right, but also to consider
it his duty to avail of such right. No law may abridge this
right. Nor is he “professionally answerable for a scrutiny
into the official conduct of the judges, which would not
expose him to legal animadversion as a citizen.’ (Case of
Austin, 28 Am. Dec. 657, 665).

“Above all others, the members of the bar have the beat
opportunity to become conversant with the character and
efficiency of our judges. No class is less likely to abuse the
privilege, as no other class has as great an interest in the
preservation of an able and upright bench.” (State Board of
Examiners in Law v. Hart 116 N.W. 212, 216)

580

580 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

To curtail the right of a lawyer to be critical of the foibles of

courts and judges is to seal the lips of those in the best
position to give advice and who might consider it their duty
to speak disparagingly. “Under such a rule/’ so far as the
bar is concerned, “the merits of a sitting judge may he
rehearsed, but as to his demerits there must be profound
silence.” (State v. Circuit Court, 72 N.W. 196)
But it is the cardinal condition of all such criticism that
it shall be bona fide, and shall not spill over the walls of
decency and propriety. A wide chasm exists between fair
criticism, on the one hand, and abuse and slander of courts
and the judges thereof, on the other. Intemperate and
unfair criticism is a gross violation of the duty of respect to
courts. It is such a misconduct that subjects a lawyer to
disciplinary action.
For, membership in the Bar imposes upon a person
obligations and duties which are not mere flux and
ferment. His investiture into the legal profession places
upon his shoulders no burden more basic, more exacting
and more imperative than that of respectful behavior
toward the courts. He vows solemnly to14 conduct himself
“with all good fidelity x x x to the courts;” and the Rules of
Court constantly remind him “to observe and maintain 15 the

respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers.” The

first canon of legal ethics enjoins him “to maintain towards
the courts a respectful attitude, not for the sake of the
temporary incumbent of the judicial office, but for the
maintenance of its supreme importance.*’
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As Mr, Justice Field puts it:

“x x x the obligation which attorneys impliedly assume, if they do

not by express declaration take upon themselves, when they are
admitted to the Bar, is not merely to be obedient to the
Constitution and laws, but to maintain at all times the respect
due to courts of justice and judicial officers. This obligation is not
discharged by merely observing the rules

_______________

14 Sec. 3, Rule 138.

15 Sec. 20(b), Rule 138.

581

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 581

In re Almacen

of courteous demeanor in open court, but includes abstaining out

of court from all insulting language and offensive conduct toward
judges personally for their judicial acts.” (Bradley, v. Fisher, 20
Law. 4d. 647, 652)

The lawyer’s duty to render respectful subordination to the

courts is essential to the orderly administration of justice.
Hence, in the assertion of their clients’ rights, lawyers—
even those gifted with superior intellect—are enjoined to
rein up their tempers.

“The counsel in any case may or may not be an abler or more

learned lawyer than the judge, and it may tax his patience and
temper to submit to rulings which he regards as incorrect, but
discipline and self-respect are as necessary to the orderly
administration of justice as they are to the effectiveness of an
army. The decisions of the judge must be obeyed, because he is
the tribunal appointed to decide, and the bar should at all times
be the foremost in rendering respectful submission.” (In Re
Scouten, 40 Atl. 481)
“We concede that a lawyer may think highly of his intellectual
endowment. That is his privilege. And he may suffer frustration
at what he feels is others’ lack of it. That is his misfortune. Some
such frame of mind, however, should not be allowed to harden
into a belief that he may attack a court’s decision in words
calculated to jettison the time-honored aphorism that courts are
the temples of right.” (Per Justice Sanchez in Rheem of the
Philippines vs. Ferrer, L-22979, June 26, 1967)

In his relations with the courts, a lawyer may not divide

his personality so as to be an attorney at one time and a
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mere citizen at another. Thus, statements made 16by an

attorney in private conversations or communications or

_______________

16 See e.g. Re Chopac, 66 F. Supp., where an attorney was suspended

for three years for writing a judge a letter in which he said that the judge
in signing an order took “ad-vantage of your office to rule with passion and
vehemence.” Also People v. Green, 3 P. 65, where an attorney was
disbarred for stopping a judge upon the street and addressed abusive,
insulting language to him. See also Johnson v. State, 44 So. 671; In re
McCawan, 170 P. 1101: State v. Calhoon, 102, 2d 604; Re Huppe, 11 Pac.
2d 793; State v. Rhodes, 131 NW 2d 118; Re Rogers, 212 Pac. 1034; In re
Griffin, 1 NYS 7; In re Wilkes, 3 NYS 753; Re Manheim, 99 NYS 87; Re
Greenfield, 262 NYS 2d 349- In re Klein, 262 NYS 2d 416; In re Smith, 36
A 130.

582

582 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen
17

in the course of a political campaign, if couched in

insulting language as to bring into scorn and disrepute the
administration of justice, may subject the attorney to
disciplinary action.
Of fundamental pertinence at this juncture is an
examination of relevant parallel precedents.
1. Admitting that a “judge as a public official is neither
sacrosanct nor immune to public criticism of his conduct in
office,” the Supreme Court of Florida in State v. Calhcan,
102 So. 2d 604, 608, nevertheless declared that “any
conduct of a lawyer which brings into scorn and disrepute
the administration of justice demands condemnation and
the application of appropriate penalties,” adding that:

“It would be contrary to every democratic theory to hold that a

judge or a court is beyond bona fide comments and criticisms
which do not exceed the bounds of decency and truth or which are
not aimed at the destruction of public confidence in the judicial
system as such. However, when the likely impairment of the
administration of justice is the direct product of false and
scandalous accusations then the rule is otherwise”

2. In In Re Glenn, 130 N.W. 2d 672, an attorney was

suspended for putting out and circulating a leaflet entitled
“JUSTICE??? IN OTUMWA,” which accused a municipal
judge of having committed judicial error, of being so
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prejudiced as to deny his clients a fair trial on appeal and

of being subject to the control of a group of city officials. As
a prefatory statement he wrote: “They say that Justice is
BLIND, but it took Municipal Judge Willard to prove that
it is also DEAF and DUMB!” The court did not hesitate to
find that the leaflet went much further than the accused,
as a lawyer, had a right to do.

“The entire publication evidences a desire on the part of the

accused to belittle and besmirch the court and to bring it into
disrepute with the general public.”

_______________

17 In re Humphrey, 163 P. 60; In re Thatcher, 89 KE. 39; In Snyder’s

Case, 76 ALR 666; Re Troy, 111 A. 723; State v. Sprigs, 155 P. 2d 285.

583

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 583

In re Almacen

3. In In Re Humphrey, 163 Pac. 60, the Supreme Court of

California affirmed the two-year suspension of an attorney
who published a circular assailing a judge who at that time
was a candidate for re-election to a judicial office. The
circular which referred to two decisions of the judge
concluded with a statement that the judge “used his
judicial office to enable said bank to keep that money.” Said
the court:

“We are aware that there is a line of authorities which place no

limit to the criticism members of the bar may make regarding the
capacity, impartiality, or integrity of the courts, even though it
extends to the deliberate publication by the attorney capable of
correct reasoning of baseless insinuations against the intelligence
and integrity of the highest courts. See State Board, etc. v. Hart.
116 N.W. 212, 17 LRA (N.S.) 585, 15 Ann Cas 197 and note: Ex
parte Steinman 95 Pac. 220, 40 Am. Rep, 637. In the first case
mentioned it was observed, for instance:

“ ‘It may be (although we do not so decide) that a libelous publication by

an attorney, directed against a judicial officer, could be so vile and of
such a nature as to justify the disbarment of its author.’

“Yet the false charges made by an attorney in that case were of

graver character than those made by the respondent here. But, in
our view, the better rule is that which requires of those who are
permitted to enjoy the privilege of practicing law the strictest

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observance at all times of the principles of truth, honesty and

fairness, especially in their criticism of the courts, to the end that
the public confidence in the due administration of justice be
upheld, and the dignity and usefulness of the courts be
maintained. In re Collins,, 81 Pac. 220.”

4. In People ex rel Chicago Bar Asso, v. Metzen, 123 N.E.

734, an attorney, representing a woman who had been
granted a divorce, attacked the judge who set aside the
decree on bill of review. He wrote the judge a threatening
letter and gave the press the story of a proposed libel suit
against the judge and others. The letter began:

“Unless the record in In re Petersen v. Petersen is cleared up so

that my name is protected from the libel, lies, and

584

584 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

perjury committed in the eases involved, I shall be compelled to

resort to such drastic action as the law allows and the case
warrants.”

Further, he said: “However let me assure you I do not

intend to allow such dastardly work to go unchallenged/’
and said that he was engaged in dealing with men and not
irresponsible political manikins or appearances of men.
Ordering the attorney’s disbarment, the Supreme Court of
Illinois declared:

“x x x Judges are not exempt from just criticism, and whenever

there is proper ground for serious complaint against a judge, it is
the right and duty of a lawyer to submit his grievances to the
proper authorities, but the public interest and the administration
of the law demand that the courts should have the confidence and
respect of the people. Unjust criticism, insulting language, and
offensive conduct toward the judges personally by attorneys, who
are officers of the court, which tend to bring the courts and the
law into disrepute and to destroy public confidence in their
integrity, Cannot be permitted. The letter written to the judge
was plainly an attempt to intimidate and influence him in the
discharge of judicial functions, and the bringing of the
unauthorised suit, together with the write-up in the Sunday
papers, was intended and calculated to bring the court into
disrepute with the public.”

5. In a public speech, a Rhode Island lawyer accused the

courts of the state of being influenced by corruption and
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greed, saying that the seats of the Supreme Court were

bartered. It does not appear that the attorney had criticized
any of the opinions or decisions of the Court. The lawyer
was charged with unprofessional conduct, and was ordered
suspended for a period of two years. The Court said:

“A calumny of that character, if believed, would tend to weaken

the authority of the court against whose members it was made,
bring its judgments into contempt, undermine its influence as an
unbiased arbiter of the people’s right, and interfere with the
administration of justice, xxx
“Because a man is a member of the bar the court will not,
under the guise of disciplinary proceedings, deprive him

585

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1979 585

In re Almacen

of any part of that freedom of speech which he possesses as a

citizen. The acts and decisions of the courts of this state, in cases
that have reached finai determination, are not exempt from fair
and honest comment and criticism. It is only when an attorney
transcends the limits of legitimate criticism that he will be held
responsible for an abuse of his liberty of speech. We well
understand that an independent bar, as well as independent
court, is always a vigilant defender of civil rights.” In Re Troy, 111
Atl. 723. 725.

6. In In Re Rod-more, 111 NYS 879, an attorney was

suspended for six months for submitting to an appellate
court an affidavit reflecting’ upon the judicial integrity of
the court from which the appeal was taken. Such action,
the Court said, constitutes unprofessional conduct
justifying suspension from practice, notwithstanding that
he fully retracted and withdrew the statements, and
asserted that the affidavit was the result of an impulse
caused by what he considered grave injustice. The Court
said:

“We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that there is a growing habit
in the profession of criticising the motives and integrity of judicial
officers in the discharge of their duties, and thereby reflecting on
the administration of justice and creating the mpression that
judicial action is influenced by corrupt or in proper motives. Every
attorney of this court, as well as every other citizen, has the right
and it is his duty, to submit charges to the authorities in whom is
vested the power to remove judicial officers for any conduct or act
of a judicial officer that tends to show a violation of his duties, or
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would justify an inference that he is false to his trust, or has

improperly administered the duties devolved upon him; and such
charges to the tribunal, if based upon reasonable inferences, will
be encouraged, and the person making them protected, xxx While
we recognize the inherent right of an attorney in a ca^e decided
against him, or the right of the public generally, to criticise the
decisions of the courts, or the reasons announced for them, the
habit of criticising the motives of judicial officers in the
performance of their official duties, when the proceeding is not
against the officers whose acts or motives are criticised, tends to
subvert the confidence of the community in the courts of justice
and in the administration of justice; ana vhen such charges are
made by officers of the courts, who are bound by their duty to pro-

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586 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

tect the administration of justice, the attorney making such

charges is guilty of professional misconduct.’

7. In In Re Mitchell, 71 So. 467, a lawyer published this

statement:

“I accepted the decision in this case, however, with patience,

barring possible temporary observations more or less
vituperative, and finally concluded, that, as my clients were
foreigners, it might have been expecting too much to look for a
decision in their favor against a widow residing here.”

The Supreme Court of Alabama declared that:

“x x x the expressions above set out, not only transcend the

bounds of propriety and privileged criticism, but are an
unwarranted attack, direct, or by insinuation and innuendo, upon
the motives and integrity of this court, and make out a prima
facie case of improper conduct upon the part of a lawyer who
holds a license from this court and who is under oath to demean
himself with all good fidelity to the court as well as to his client.”

The charges, however, were dismissed after the attorney

apologized to the Court.
8. In State ex rel. Dabney v. Breckenridge, 258 Pac. 747,
an attorney published in a newspaper an article in which
he impugned the motives of the court and its members to
try a case, charging the court of having arbitrarily and for a
sinister purpose undertaken to suspend the writ of habeas
corpus. The Court suspended the respondent for 30 days,
saying that:
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“The privileges which the law gives to members of the bar is one
most subversive of the public good, if the conduct of such members
does not measure up to the requirements of the iaw itself, as well
as to the ethics of the profession. xxx
“The right of free speech and free discussion as to judicial
determination is of prime importance under our system and ideals
of government. No right thinking man would concede for a
moment that the best interest to private citizens, as well as to
public officials, whether he labors in a judicial capacity or
otherwise, would be served by denying this right of free speech to
any individual. But such right does not have as its corollary that
members of the bar who are

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VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 587

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sworn to act honestly and honorably both with their client and
with the courts where justice is administered, if administered at
all, could ever properly serve their client or the public good by
designedly misstating facts or carelessly asserting the law. Truth
and honesty of purpose by members of the bar in such discussion
is necessary. The health of a municipality is none the less
impaired by a polluted water supply than is the health of the
thought of a community toward the judiciary by the filthy,
wanton, and malignant misuse of members of the bar of the
confidence the public, through its duly established courts, has
reposed in them to deal with the affairs of the private individual,
the protection of whose rights he lends his strength and money to
maintain the judiciary. For such conduct on the part of the
members of the bar the law itself demands retribution—not the
court.”

9. In Bar Ass’n of San Francisco v. Philbrook, 170 Pac. 440,

the filing of an affidavit by an attorney in a pending action
using in respect to the several judges the terms “criminal,
corrupt, and wicked conspiracies,” “criminal confederates,”
“colossal and confident insolence/’ “criminal prosecution,”
“calculated brutality,” “a corrupt deadfall,” and similar
phrases, was considered conduct unbecoming of a member
of the bar, and the name of the erring lawyer was ordered
stricken from the roll of attorneys.
10. In State Board of Examiners v. Hart, 116 N.W. 215,
the erring attorney claimed that greater latitude should be
allowed in case of criticism of cases finally adjudicated than
in those pending. This lawyer wrote a personal letter to the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Minnesota

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impugning both the intelligence and the integrity of the

said Chief Justice and his associates in the decisions of
certain appeais in which he had been attorney for the
defeated litigants. The letters were published in a
newspaper. One of the letters contained this paragraph:

“You assigned it (the property involved) to one who has no better

right to it than the burglar to his plunder. It seems like robbing a
widow to reward a fraud, with the court acting as a fence, or
umpire, watchful and vigilant that the widow got no undue
advantage, xxx The point is this: Is a proper

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588 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

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motive for the decisions discoverable, short of assigning to the

court emasculated intelligence, or a constipation of morals and
faithlessness to duty? If the state bar association, or a committee
chosen from its rank, or the faculty of the University Law School,
aided by the researches of its hundreds of bright, active students,
or if any member of the court, or any other person, can formulate
a statement of a correct motive for the decision, which shall not
require fumigation before it is stated, and quarantine after it is
made, it will gratify every right-minded citizen of the state to read
it.”

The Supreme Court of Minnesota, in ordering the

suspension of the attorney for six months, delivered its
opinion as follows:

“The question remains whether the accused was guilty of

professional misconduct in sending to the Chief Justice the letter
addressed to him. This was done, as we have found, for the very
purpose of insulting him and the other justices of this court; and
the insult was so directed to the Chief Justice personally because
of acts done by him and his associates in .their official capacity.
Such a communication, so made, could never subserve any good
purpose. Its only effect in any case would be to gratify the spite of
an angry attorney and humiliate the officers so assailed. It would
not and could not ever enlighten the public in regard to their
judicial capacity or integrity. Nor was it an exercise by the
accused of any constitutional right, or of any privilege which any
reputable attorney, uninfluenced by passion, could ever have any
occasion or desire to assert. No judicial officer, with due regard to
his position, can resent such an insult otherwise than by methods
Fanctioned by law; and for any words, oral or written, however
abusive, vile, or indecent, addressed secretly to the judge alone,
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he can have no redress in any action triable by a jury, ‘The

sending of a libelous communication or libelous matter to the
person defamed does not constitute an actionable publication.’ 18
Am. & Eng, Enc. Law (2d Ed.) p. 1017. In these respects the
sending by the accused of this letter to the Chief Justice was
wholly different from his other acts charged in the accusation,
and, as we have said, wholly different principles are applicable
thereto.
“The conduct of the accused was in every way discreditable; but
so far as he exercised the rights of a citizen, guaranteed by the
Constitution and sanctioned by considerations of public policy, to
which reference has been made, he was immune, as we hold, frort
the penalty here sought to be

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VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 589

In re Almacen

enforced. To that extent his rights as a citizen were paramount to

the obligation which he had assumed as an officer of this court.
When, however he proceeded and thus assailed the Chief Justice
personally, he exercised no right which the court can recognize,
but, on the contrary, willfully violated his obligation to maintain
the respect due to courts and judicial officers. ‘This obligation is
not discharged by merely observing the rules of courteous
demeanor in open court, but it includes abstaining out of court
from all insulting language and offensive conduct toward the
judges personally for their official acts/ Bradley v. Fisher, 13 Wall.
(U.S.) 355, 20 L. Ed. 646. And there appears to be no distinction,
as regards the principle involved, between the indignity of an
assault by an attorney upon a judge, induced by his official act,
and a personal insult for like cause by written or spoken words
addressed to the judge in his chambers or at his home or
elsewhere. Either act constitutes misconduct wholly different
from criticism of judicial acts addressed or spoken to others. The
distinction made is, we think, entirely logical and well sustained
by authority. It was recognized in Ex parte McLeod, supra. While
the court in that case, as has been shown, fully sustained the
right of a citizen to criticise rulings of the court in actions which
are ended, it held that one might be summarily punished for
assaulting a judicial officer, in that case a commissioner of the
court, for his rulings in a cause wholly concluded. ‘Is it in the
power of any person/ said the court, *by insulting or assaulting
the judge because of official acts, if only the assailant restrains his
passion until the judge leaves the building, to compel the judge to
forfeit either his own self-respect to the regard of the people by
tame submission to the indignity, or else set in his own person the

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evil example of punishing the insult by taking the law in his own
hands? xxx No high-minded, manly man would hold judicial office
under such conditions/
“That a communication such as this, addressed to the Judge
personally, constitutes professional delinquency for which a
professional punishment may be imposed, has been directly
decided. ‘An attorney who, after being defeated in a case, wrote a
personal letter to the trial justice, complaining of his conduct and
reflecting upon his integrity as a justice, is guilty of misconduct
and will be disciplined by the court/ Matter of Manheim, 133 App.
Div. 136, 99 N.Y. Supp. 87, The same is held in Re Griffin (City
Ct.) 1 N.Y, 7 and in re Wilkes (City Ct.) 3 N.Y. In the latter case it
appeared that the accused attorney had addressed a sealed letter
to a justice of the City Court of New York, in which it was stated,
in reference to his decision: ‘It is not law; neither is it

590

590 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

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common sense. The result is I have been robbed of 80/ And it was
decided that, while such misconduct was not a contempt under
the state, the matter should be ‘called to the attention of the
Supreme Court, which has power to discipline the attorney.’ ‘If,’
says the court, ‘counsel learned in the law are permitted by
writings leveled at the heads of judges, to charge them with
ignorance, with unjust rulings, and with robbery, either as
principals or accessories, it will not be long before the general
public may feel that they may redress their fancied grievances in
like manner, and thus the lot of a judge will be anything but a
happy one, and the administration of justice will fall into bad
repute/
‘The recent case of Johnson v. State (Ala.) 44 South. 671, was
in this respect much the same as the case at bar. The accused, an
attorney at law, wrote and mailed a letter to the circuit judge,
which the latter received by due course of mail, at his home, while
not holding court, and which referred in insulting terms to the
conduct of the judge in a cause wherein the accused had been one
of the attorneys. For this it was held that the attorney was rightly
disbarred in having ‘willfully failed to maintain respect due to
him [the judge] as a judicial officer, and thereby breached his oath
as an attorney/ As recognizing the same principle, and in support
of its application to the facts of this case, we cite the follow-ing; Es
parte Bradley, 7 Wall (U.S.) 364, 19 L. Ed. 214; Beene v. State, 22
Ark. 149; Commonwealth v. Dandridge, 2 Va. Cas. 408; People v.
Green, 7 Colo. 237, 244, 3 Pac. 65, 374, 49 Am. Rep. 351; Smith’s

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Appeal, 179 Pa. 14, 36 Atl. 134; Scouten’s Appeal, 186 Pa. 270,
Atl. 481.
“Our conclusion is that the charges against the accused have
been so far sustained as to make it our duty to impose such a
penalty as may be sufficient lesson to him and a suitable warning
to others, xxx”

11. In Cobb v. United States, 172 F* 641, the court affirmed

a lawyer’s suspension for 18 months for publishing a letter
in a newspaper in which he accused a judge of being under
the sinister influence of a gang that had paralyzed him for
two years.
12. In In Re Graves, 221 Pac, 411, the court held that an
attorney’s unjustifiable attack against the official acts and
decisions of a judge constitutes “moral turpitude.” There,
the attorney was disbarred for criticizing not only the
judge, but his decisions in general, claiming that the
591

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 591

In re Almacen

judge was dishonest in reaching his decisions and unfair in

his general conduct of a case.
13. In In Re Doss, 12 N.E. 2d 659, an attorney published
newspaper articles after the trial of cases, criticising the
court in intemperate language. The invariable effect of this
sort of propaganda, said the court, is to breed disrespect for
courts and bring the legal profession into disrepute with
the public, for which reason the lawyer was disbarred.
14. In State v. Grimes, 354 Pac. 2d 108, an attorney,
dissatisfied with the loss of a case, prepared over a period
of years vicious attacks on jurists. The Oklahoma Supreme
Court declared that his acts involved such gross moral
turpitude as to make him unfit as a member of the bar. His
disbarment was ordered, even though he expressed an
intention to resign from the bar.
The teaching derived from the above disquisition and
impressive affluence of judicial pronouncements is
indubitable: Post-litigation utterances or publications,
made by lawyers, critical of the courts and their judicial
actuations, whether amounting to a crime or not, which
transcend the permissible bounds of fair comment and
legitimate criticism and thereby tend to bring them into
disrepute or to subvert public confidence in their integrity
and in the orderly administration of justice, constitute
grave professional misconduct which may be visited witk
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disbarment or other lesser appropriate disciplinary

sanctions by the Supreme Court in the exercise of the
prerogatives inherent in it as the duly constituted guardian
of the morals and ethics of the legal fraternity.
Of course, rarely have we wielded our disciplinary
powers in the face of unwarranted outbursts of counsel
such as those catalogued in the above-cited jurisprudence.
Cases of comparable nature have generally been disposed
of under the power of courts to punish for contempt which,
although resting on different bases and calculated to attain
a different end, nevertheless illustrates that universal
abhorrence of such condemnable practices.
592

592 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

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A perusal of the more representative of these instances

may afford enlightenment.
1. In Salcedo vs. Hernandez, 61 Phil. 724, where counsel
branded the denial of his motion for reconsideration as
“absolutely erroneous and constituting an outrage to the
rights of the petitioaer Felipe Salcedo and a mockery of the
popular will expressed at the polls/’ this Court, although
conceding that

“It is right and plausible that an attorney, in defending the cause

and rights of his client, should do so with all the fervor and
energy of which he is capable, but it is not, and never will be so
for him to exercise said right by resorting to intimidation or
proceeding without the propriety and respect which the dignity of
the courts requires. The reason for this is that respect for the
courts guarantees the stability of their institution. Without such
guaranty, said institution would be resting on a very shaky
foundation,”

found counsel guilty of contempt inasmuch as, in its

opinion, the statements made disclosed

“x x x an inexcusable disrespect of the authority of the court and

an intentional contempt of its dignity, because the court is
thereby charged with no less than having proceeded in utter
disregard of the laws, the rights to the parties, and of the
untoward consequences, or with having abused its power and
mocked and flouted the rights of Attorney Vicente J. Francisco’s
client x x x.”

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2. In In re Sotto, 82 Phil. 595, counsel, a senator and the

author of the Press Freedom Law, reaching to the
imprisonment for contempt of one Angel Parazo, who,
invoking said law, refused to divulge the source of a news
item carried in his paper, caused to be published in a local
newspaper a statement expressing his regret “that our
High Tribunal has not only erroneously interpreted said
law, but it is once more putting in evidence the
incompetency or narrow mindedness of the majority of its
members,” and his belief that ‘In the wake of so many
blunders and injustices deliberately committed during
these last years, xxx the only remedy to put an end to so
much evil, is to change the members of the Supreme
Court,” which tribunal he denounced as “a constant peril to
liber-
593

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 593

In re Almacen

ty and democracy” and “a far cry from the impregnable

bulwark of justice of those memorable times of Cayetano
Arellano, Victorino Mapa, Manuel Araullo and other
learned jurists who were the honor and glory of the
Philippine Judiciary/’ He there also announced that one of
the first measures he would introduce in then forthcoming
session of Congress would have for its object the complete
reorganization of the Supreme Court. Finding him in
contempt, despite his avowals of good faith and his
invocation of the guarantee of free speech, this Court
declared:

“But in the above-quoted written statement which he caused to be

published in the press, the respondent does not merely criticize or
comment on the decision of the Parazo case, which was then and
still is pending consideration by this Court upon petition of Angel
Parazo. He not only intends to intimidate the members of this
Court with the presentation of a bill in the next Congress, of
which he is one of the members, reorganizing the Supreme Court
and reducing the number of Justices from eleven, so as to change
the members of this Court which decided the Parazo case, who
according to his statement, are incompetent and narrow minded,
in order to influence the final decision of said case by this Court,
and thus embarrass or obstruct the administration of justice. Bat
the respondent also attacks the honesty and integrity of this
Court for the apparent purpose of bringing the Justices of this

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Court into disrepute and degrading the administration of justice x

x x.
“To hurl the false charge that this Court has been for the last
years committing deliberately so many blunders and injustices/
that is to say, that it has been deciding in favor of one party
knowing that the law and justice is on the part of the adverse
party and not on the one in whose favor the decision was
rendered, in many cases decided during the last years, would tend
necessarily to undermine the confidence of the people in the
honesty and integrity of the members of this Court, and
consequently to lower or degrade the administration of justice by
this Court. The Supreme Court of the Philippines is, under the
Constitution, the last bulwark to which the Filipino people may
repair to obtain relief for their grievances or protection of their
rights when these are trampled upon, and if the people los>e their
confidence in the honesty and integrity of the members of this
Court and believe that they cannot expect justice therefrom, they
might be driven to take the law into their own hands, and
disorder and perhaps chaos might be the result. As a member of
the

594

594 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

bar and an officer of the courts, Atty. Vicente Sotto, like any
other, is in duty bound to uphold the dignity and authority of this
Court, to which he owes fidelity according to the oath he has
taken as such attorney, and not to promote distrust in the
administration of justice. Respect to the courts guarantees the
stability of other institutions, which without such guaranty would
be resting on a very shaky foundation.”

Significantly, too, the Court therein hastened to emphasize

that

“xxx an attorney as an officer of the court is under special

obligation to be respectful in his conduct and communication to
the courts; he may be removed from office or stricken from the roll
of attorneys as being guilty of flagrant misconduct (17 L.R.A,
[N.S.], 586, 594.)”

3, In Rheem of the Philippines vs. Ferrer: In re Proceedings

against Alfonso Ponce Entile, et al., supra, where counsel
charged this Court with having “repeatedly fallen*’ into the
pitfall of blindly adhering to its previous “erroneous”
pronouncements, “in disregard of the law on jurisdiction” of
the Court of Industrial Relations, our condemnation of
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counsel’s misconduct was unequivocal. Articulating the

sentiments of the Court, Mr. Justice Sanchez stressed:

“As we look back at the language (heretofore quoted) employed in

the motion for reconsideration, implications there are which
inescapably arrest attention. It speaks of one pitfall into which
this Court has repeatedly fallen whenever the jurisdiction of the
Court of Industrial Relations comes into question. That pitfall is
the tendency of this Court to rely on its own pronouncements in
disregard of the law on jurisdiction. It makes a sweeping charge
that the decisions of this Court, blindly adhere to earlier rulings
without as much as making ‘any reference to and analysis of the
pertinent statute governing the jurisdiction of the industrial
court. The plain import of all these is that this Court is so
patently inept that in determining the jurisdiction of the
industrial court, it has committed error and continuously
repeated that error to the point of perpetuation. It pictures this
Court as one which refuses to hew to the line drawn by the law on
jurisdictional boundaries. Implicit in the quoted statements is
that the pronouncements of this Court on the jurisdiction of the
industrial court are not entitled to respect. Those statements
detract much from the dignity of and respect due this Court. They
bring into question

595

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 595

In re Almacen

the capability of the members—and some former members—of

this Court to render justice. The second paragraph quoted yields a
tone of sarcasm which counsel labeled as ‘so-called’ the ‘rule
against splitting of jurisdiction.’ ”

Similar thoughts
18 and sentiments have been expressed in
other cases which, in the interest of brevity, need not now
be reviewed in detail.
Of course, a common denominator underlies the
aforecited cases—all of them involved contumacious
statements made in pleadings filed pending litigation. So
that. in line with the doctrinal rule that the protective
mantle of contempt may ordinarily be invoked only against
scurrilous remarks or malicious innuendoes while a court
mulls over
19 a pending case and not after the conclusion
thereof, Atty. Almacen would now seek to sidestep the
thrust of a contempt charge by his studied emphasis that
the remarks for which he is now called upon to account
were made only after this Court had written finis to his
appeal. This is of no moment.
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The rule that bars contempt after a judicial proceeding

has terminated, has lost much of its vitality. For sometime,
this was the prevailing view in this jurisdiction. The first
stir for a modification
20 thereof, however, came when, in
People vs. Alarcon the then Chief Justice Manuel V.
Moran dissented with the holding of the majority,

_______________

18 Medinn vs. Rivera, 66 Phil. 151; In the matter of the Intestate Estate
of Rosario Olba, Contempt proceedings against Antonio Franco, 67 Phil.
312, 315; People vs. Carillo, 77 Phil. 579; People vs. Ventvranza, et al, 85
Phil. 211, 214; De Joya, et al vs. CFI of Rizal 99 Phil. 907, 914; Sison vs.
Sandejas, L-D270, April 29, 1959: Paragas vs. Cruz, L-24438, July 30,
H.65: Cornejo vs. Tmu 85 Phil 772, 775.
19 In re Gomez, 41 Phil. 376; In re Lozano, 54 Phil. 801; In re Abistado,
57 Phil. 668; People vs. Alareon, 69 Phil. 1965; Cornejo vs. Tan, 85 Phil.
772, 775. State vs. Dist. Court, 151 Pac. 2d 1002: In re Shannon, 27 Pac,
352; State ex rel Grice vs. Dist. Court, 97 Pac. 1032; Weston vs.
Commonwealth, 77 S.E. 2d 405; State vs. Kaiser, 13 P. 964; State vs. Bee
Pub. Co. 83 N.W. 204; Patterson vs. Colorado, 51 L. ed. 879; Re Hart, 116
N.W. 212.
20 69 Phil. 265.

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596 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

speaking thru Justice Jose P. Laurel, which upheld the

rule above-adverted to. A complete disengagement from 21the
settled rule was later to be made in In re Brillantes, a
contempt proceeding, where the editor of the Manila
Guardian was adjudged in contempt for publishing an
editorial which asserted that the 1944 Bar Examinations
were conducted in a farcical manner after the question of
the validity of the said examinations had been resolved and
the case closed. Virtually, this was an adoption of the view
expressed by Chief Justice Moran in his dissent in Alarcon
to the effect that there may still be contempt by publication
even after a case has been terminated. Said Chief Justice
Moran in Alarcon:

“A publication which tends to impede, obstruct, embarrass or

influence the courts in administering justice in a pending suit or
proceeding, constitutes criminal contempt which is summarily
punishable by courts. A publication which tends to degrade the
courts and to destroy public confidence in them or that which
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tends to bring them in any way into disrepute, constitutes

likewise criminal contempt, and is equally punishable by courts.
What is sought, in the first kind of contempt, to be shielded
against the influence of newspaper comments, is the all-important
duty of the courts to administer justice in the decision of a
pending case. In the second kind of contempt, the punitive hand of
justice is extended to vindicate the courts from any act or conduct
calculated to bring them into disfavor or to destroy public
confidence in them. In the first there is no contempt where there
is no action pending, as there is no decision which might in any
way be influenced by the newspaper publication. In the second,
the contempt exists, with or without a pending case, as what is
sought to be protected is the court itself and its dignity. Courts
would lose their utility if public confidence in them is destroyed.”

Accordingly, no comfort is afforded Atty, Almacen by the

circumstance that his statements and actuations now
under consideration were made only after the judgment in
his client’s appeal had attained finality. He could as much
be liable for contempt therefor as if it had been perpetrated
during the pendency of the said appeal.

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21 42 O.G. 59.

597

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 597

In re Almacen

More than this, however, consideration of whether or not

he could be held liable for contempt for such post-litigation
utterances and actuations, is here immaterial. By the tenor
of our Resolution of November 17, 1967, we have
confronted the situation here presented solely in so far as it
concerns Atty. Almacen’s professional identity, his sworn
duty as a lawyer and his fitness as an officer of this Court,
in the exercise of the disciplinary power inherent in our
authority and duty to safeguard the morals and ethics of
the legal profession and to preserve its ranks from the
intrusions of unprincipled and unworthy disciples of the
noblest of callings. In this inquiry, the pendency or non-
pendency of a case in court is altogether of no consequence.
The sole objective of this proceeding is to preserve the
purity of the legal profession, by removing or suspending a
member whose misconduct has proved himself unfit to

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continue to *be entrusted with the duties and

responsibilities belonging to the office of an attorney.
Undoubtedly, this is 22well within our authority to do. By
constitutional mandate, ours is the solemn duty, amongst
others, to determine the rules for admission to the practice
of law. Inherent in this prerogative is the corresponding
authority to discipline and exclude from the practice of law
those who have proved themselves unworthy of continued
membership in the Bar. Thus—

“The power to discipline attorneys, who are officers of the court, is

an inherent and incidental power in courts of record, and one
which is essential to an orderly discharge of judicial functions. To
deny its existence is equivalent to a declaration that the conduct
of attorneys towards courts and clients is not subject to restraint.
Such a view is without support in any respectable authority, and
cannot be tolerated. Any court having the right to admit attorneys
to practice—and in this state that power is vested in this court—
has the inherent right, in the exercise23 of a sound judicial
discretion, to exclude them from practice. “

This, because the admission of a lawyer to the practice of

law is a representation to all that he is worthy of their

_______________

22 Article VIII, Section 12, Constitution.

23 Re Simpson, 83 N.W. 541.

598

598 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

confidence and respect. So much so that—

“x x x whenever it is made to appear to the court that an attorney

is no longer worthy of the trust and confidence of the public and of
the courts, it becomes, not only the right, but the duty, of the
court which made him one of its officers, and gave him the
privilege of ministering within its bar, to withdraw the privilege.
Therefore it is almost universally held that both the admission
and disbarment of attorneys are judicial acts, and that one is
admitted to the bar and exercises his functions as an attorney, not
as a matter of right, but as a privilege conditioned on his own 24

behavior and the exercise of a just and sound judicial discretion.”

Indeed, in this jurisdiction, that power to remove or

suspend has risen above being a mere inherent or
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incidental power. It has been 25 elevated to an express

mandate by the Rules of Court.
Our authority and duty in the premises being
unmistakable, we now proceed to make an assessment of
whether or not the utterances and actuations of Atty,
Almacen here in question are properly the object of
disciplinary sanctions.
The proffered surrender of his lawyer’s certificate is, of
course, purely potestative on Atty. Almacen’s part.
Unorthodox though it may seem, no statute, no law stands
in its way. Beyond making the mere offer, however, he
went farther. In haughty and coarse language, he actually
availed of the said move as a vehicle for his vicious tirade
against this Court. The integrated entirety of his petition
bristles with vile insults all calculated to drive home his
contempt for and disrespect to the Court and its members.
Picturing his client as “a sacrificial victim at the altar of
hypocrisy/’ he categorically denounces the justice
administered by this Court to be ftot only blind “but also
deaf and dumb.” With unmitigated acerbity, he virtually
rakes this Court and its members with verbal talons,
imputing to the Court the perpetration of ‘‘silent injustices”
and “short-cut justice” while at the same time

_______________

24 Re Thatcher, 89 N.E. 39, 84.

25 Section 27, Rule 138, Rules of Court.

599

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 599

In re Almacen

branding its members as “calloused to pleas of justice.”

And, true to his announced threat to argue the cause of his
client “in the people’s forum”, he caused the publication in
the papers of an account of his actuations, in a calculated
effort to startle the public, stir up public indignation and
disrespect toward the Court. Called upon to make an
explanation, he expressed no regret, offered no apology.
Instead, with characteristic arrogance, he rehashed and
reiterated his vituperative attacks and, alluding to the
Scriptures, virtually tarred and feathered the Court and its
members, as inveterate hypocrites incapable of
administering justice and unworthy to impose disciplinary
sanctions upon him.

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The virulence so blatantly evident in Atty. Almaeen’s

petition, answer and oral argumentation speaks for itself.
The vicious language used and the scurrilous innuendoes
they carried far transcend the permissible bounds of
legitimate criticism. They could never serve any purpose
but to gratify the spite of an irate attorney, attract public
attention to himself and, more important of all, bring this
Court and its members into disrepute and destroy public
confidence in them to the detriment of the orderly
administration of justice. Odium of this character and
•texture presents no redeeming feature, and completely
negates any pretense of passionate commitment to the
truth. It is not a whit less than a classic example of gross
misconduct, gross violation of the lawyer’s oath and gross
transgression of the Canons of Legal Ethics. As such, it
cannot be allowed to go unrebuked. The way for the
exertion of our disciplinary powers is thus laid clear, and
the need therefor is unavoidable.
We must once more stress our explicit disclaimer of
immunity from criticism. Like any other Government
entity in a viable democracy, the Court is not., and should
not be, above criticism. But a critique of the Court must be
intelligent and discriminating, fitting to its high function
as the court of last resort And more than this, valid and
healthy criticism is by no means synonymous to obloquy,
and requires detachment and disinterestedness,
600

600 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

real qualities approached only through constant striving to

attain them. Any criticism of the Court must possess the
quality of judiciousness and must26 be informed by
perspective and infused by philosophy.
It is not accurate to say, nor is it an obstacle to the
exercise of our authority in the premises, that, as Atty.
Almacen would have appear, the members of the Court are
the “complainants, prosecutors and judges” all rolled up
into one in this instance. This is an utter misapprehension,
if not a total distortion, not only of the nature of the
proceeding at hand but also of our role therein.
Accent should be laid on the fact that disciplinary
proceedings like the present are sui generis. Neither purely
civil nor purely criminal, this proceeding is not—and does
not involve—a trial of an action or a suit, but is rather an27

investigation by the Court into the conduct of its officers.

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Not being intended to inflict punishment, it is in no sense a

criminal prosecution. Accordingly, there is neither a
plaintiff nor a prosecutor
28 therein. It may be initiated by the
Court motu proprio. Public interest is its primary
objective, and the real question for determination is
whether or not the attorney is still a fit person to be
allowed the privileges as such. Hence, in the exercise of its
disciplinary powers, the Court merely calls upon a member
of the Bar to account for his actuations as an officer of the
Court with the end in view of preserving the purity of the
legal profession and the proper and honest administration
of justice by purging the profession of members who by
their misconduct have proved themselves no longer worthy
to be entrusted with the duties and responsibilities
pertaining to

_______________

26 See Norman Dorsen, Frontiers of Civil Liberties, pp. 60-61; Griswold,

“Of Time and Attitudes,” 74 Harvard Law Review, 81, 94; Paul A. Freund,
The Supreme Court of the United States, (1961) pp. 176-177; see also
Freund, On Law and Justice (1968) ch. 4.
27 In re Montagne and Dominguez, 3 Phil. 577; De DuranL 10 Ann. Cas.
1913, 1220.
28 State vs. Peck, 91 Atl. 274; 286; Fairfield County Bar vs. Taylor, 22
Atl. 441.

601

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 601

In re Almacen
29

the office of an attorney. In such posture, there can thus

be no occasion to speak of a complainant or a prosecutor.
Undeniably, the members of the Court are, to a certain
degree, aggrieved parties. Any tirade against the Court as
a body is necessarily and inextricably as much so against
the individual members thereof. But in the exercise of its
disciplinary powers, the Court acts as an entity separate
and distinct from the individual personalities of its
members. Consistently with the intrinsic nature of a
collegiate court, the individual members act not as such
individuals but only as a duly constituted court. Their
distinct
30 individualities are lost in the majesty of their of-
fice. So that, in a very real sense, if there be any
complainant in the case at bar, it can only be the Court
itself, not the individual members thereof—as well as the
people themselves whose rights, fortunes and properties,
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nay, even lives, would be placed ab grave hazard should the

administration of justice be threatened by the retention in
the Bar of men unfit to discharge the solemn
responsibilities of membership in the legal fraternity.
Finally, the power to exclude persons from the practice
of law is but a necessary incident of the power to admit
persons to said practice. By constitutional precept, this
power is vested exclusively in this Court. This duty it
cannot abdicate just as much as it cannot unilaterally
31

renounce jurisdiction legally invested upon it. So that

even if it be conceded that the members collectively are in a
sense the aggrieved parties, that fact alone does not and
cannot disqualify them from the exercise of that power

_______________

29 Ex Parte Tyler, 40 Pac. 33, 34; Treadwell’s case, 7 Pac. 724; Deles vs.
Aragona, March 28, 1969, 27 SCRA 634, 644, and the cases therein cited.
30 Sarcos vs. Castillo, et al., L-29755, January 21, 1969.
31 Cf. Radiowealth, Inc. vs. Agregado, 47 O.G., No. 12 (Supp.) pp. 87, 89,
citing Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, Vol. 2, P. 870; Perfecto vs. Meer,
85 Phil. 552, 553; Ex parte Alabama State Bar Ass’n., 8 So. 768.

602

602 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

In re Almacen

because public policy demands that they, acting as a Court,

exercise the power in ali cases which call for disciplinary
action. The present is such a case. In the end, the imagined
anomaly of the merger in one entity of the personalities of
complainant, prosecutor and judge is absolutely inexistent,
Last to engage our attention is the nature and extent of
the sanctions that may be visited upon Atty. Almacen for
his transgressions. As marked out by the Rules of Court,
these may range
32 from mere suspension to total removal or
disbarment. The discretion to assess under the
circumstances the imposable sanction is, of course,
primarily addressed to the sound discretion of the Court
which, being neither arbitrary and despotic nor motivated
by personal animosity or prejudice, should ever be
controlled by the imperative need that the purity and
independence of the Bar be scrupulously guarded and the
dignity of and respect due to the Court be zealously
maintained.
That the misconduct committed by Atty. Almacen is of
considerable gravity cannot be overemphasized. However,
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heeding the stern injunction that disbarment should never

be decreed where a lesser sanction would accomplish the
end desired, and believing that it may not perhaps be futile
to hope that in the sober light of some future day, Atty.
Almacen will realize that abrasive language never fails to
do disservice to an advocate and that in every effervescence
of candor there is ample room for the added glow of respect,
it is our view that suspension will suffice under the
circumstances. His demonstrated persistence in his
misconduct by neither manifesting repentance nor offering
apology therefor leave us no way of determining how long
that suspension should last and, accordingly, we are
impelled to decree that the same should be indefinite. This,
we are empowered to do not alone be-

_______________

32 Section 27, Kuie 138, Rules of Court.

603

VOL. 31, FEBRUARY 18, 1970 603

In re Almacen
33

cause jurisprudence grants us discretion on the matter

but also because, even without the comforting support of
precedent, it is obvious that if we have authority to
completely exclude a person from the practice of law, there
is no reason why indefinite suspension, which is lesser in
degree and effect, can be regarded as falling outside of the
compass of that authority. The merit of this choice is best
shown by the fact that it will then be left to Atty. Almacen
to determine for himself how long or how short that
suspension shall last. For, at any time after the suspension
becomes effective he may prove to this Court that he is
once again fit to resume the practice of law.
ACCORDINGLY, IT IS THE SENSE of the Court that
Atty. Vicente Raul Almacen be, as he is hereby, suspended
from the practice of law until further orders, the
suspension to take effect immediately.
Let copies of this resolution be furnished the Secretary
of Justice, the Solicitor General and the Court of Appeals
for thfeir information and guidance.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal,

Zaldivar, Sanchez, Teehankee, Barredo and Villamor, JJ.,
concur.
Fernando, J., did not take part.
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Petitioner indefinitely suspended.

Notes.—Criticism or attack directed to the Court.—In In

re Gomez, 43 Phil. 376, the respondent lawyer, who was an
unsuccessful litigant, was alleged to have remarked that
the Supreme Court had decided an election contest

_______________

33 Melville vs. Wettengel, 57 Pa. 2d 699; People vs. Winogard, 287 Pac.
864; People vs. Kelly, 285 Pac. 767; People vs. Harris, 112 N.E. 978;
People vs. Anderson, 112 N.E. 273; In re Gullickson, 181 Atl. 716;
Haitmanek vs. Turano, 158 A. 878; Grimsell vs. Wilcox, 98 A. 799; States
vs. Kern, 233 N.W. 629; In re Borchardt, 192 N.E. 383; State vs. Trapley,
259 Pac. 783; State vs. Jennings, 159 S.E. 627; In re Jacobson, 126 S.E. 2d
346; Mulvey vs. O’Niell, 44 Atl. 2d 880; State ex rel Oklahoma Bar Ass’n
vs. Hatcher, 209 Pac. 2d 873; Cleveland Bar Ass’n vs. Wilkerson, 156 N.E.
2d 136; In re Eddy, 292 N.Y.S. 619.

604

604 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Meris vs. Cuesta

in favor of his rival because of a secret conference and a

banquet given by the Governor-General to said rival and
the Court. Upon being charged with contempt of court, the
lawyer was held to have been guilty of impropriety, but, in
the interest of liberty of the press and freedom of public
comment, the court dismissed the matter as one that
should not be dignified by further proceedings.
It has also been held to be unprofessional, and deserving
of the highest form of rebuke, for a lawyer to attribute to a
judge a statement which he did not make in his decision
(Ferrer vs. De Inchausti, 38 Phil. 905).
And in Lualhati vs. Albert, 57 Phil. 86, it was ruled that
the submission of a motion, once previously denied by the
appellate court which had granted the motion foi new trial,
and once previously denied by the trial court asking for the
disqualification of the judge on a ground not provided,
which motion the judgment construed as misbehavior
intended to make the public believe he was not capable of
administering justice to the accused, left the judge no other
recourse, if he was to maintain his self-respect, than to
take action in finding the attorney who presented the
motion for disqualification in contempt of court.

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