SC disbars Cebuano lawyer

The Supreme Court (SC) has stricken off lawyer Luis Fernandez Diores, Jr. from its Rolls of Attorney after he was found guilty of an administrative case for allegedly using another person's property as collateral for the bail bonds for his 61 cases of estafa, without being authorized to do so.

The high court disbarred Diores after he was found guilty of deceit, in violation of Rule 1.01 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, and willful disobedience to a lawful order of the court and for his conviction of estafa, both in violation of Section 27, Rule 138 of the Rules of Court.

"Such conviction simply shows his criminal tendency to defraud and deceive other people into remitting to him their hard-earned money, which the legal profession condemns in the strongest terms," the SC decision reads.

"This, together with his willful disobedience of court orders and his act of using Verano's subject property as guaranty for his bail bond outside the criminal cases wherein he was authorized, cements his utter unfitness to continue exercising his duties as a lawyer," it added.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Roman Dela Rosa Verano on February 2, 2011.

On April 11, 2006, Verano said he executed a Special Power of Attorney in favor of Diores, authorizing the latter to use his parcel of land covered by TCT No. T-77901 as guaranty to obtain a bail bond for some criminal cases filed against him.

However, he later learned Diores entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Visayan Surety and Insurance Corporation in order to use the subject property as guarantee to obtain bail bonds for at least 61 cases of estafa and bouncing checks law filed against the lawyer, even if the latter was not authorized to do so.

On November 16, 2009, Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso convicted Diores for six counts of estafa through false pretenses and fraudulent means.

Diores allegedly failed to file his comment on the complaint of Verano.

With the foregoing, the SC ruled to adopt the resolution of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines that disbarred Diores being a member of the bar and to protect the trust and confidence of the people in this noble profession.