Lawyers and due process

In the case of PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LEONCIO SANTOCILDES, JR. y SIGA-AN, accused-appellant, GR No. 109149, December 21, 1999, the Philippine Supreme Court stressed the crucial role that trial lawyers play in the justice system.

In the said case, the Court held that “where an accused was not duly represented by a member of the Philippine Bar during trial, the judgment should be set aside and the case remanded to the trial court for a new trial”.

In the said case, the accused was represented by a person who misrepresented himself to be a lawyer. The Court held that “a person who misrepresents himself as a lawyer shall be held liable for indirect contempt of court”.

The accused-appellant contended that he was represented during trial by a person named Gualberto C. Ompong, who for all intents and purposes acted as his counsel and even conducted the direct examination and cross-examinations of the witnesses.

On appeal, however, appellant secured the services of a new lawyer, Atty. Igmedio S. Prado, Jr., who discovered that Gualberto C. Ompong was actually not a member of the bar. Further verification with the Office of the Bar Confidant confirmed this fact.

The Office of the Solicitor General argued that notwithstanding the fact that appellant’s counsel during trial was not a member of the bar, appellant was afforded due process since he has been given an opportunity to be heard and that the said person “presented the evidence for the defense with the ability of a seasoned lawyer and in general handled the case of appellant in a professional and skillful manner.”

The Court, however, held “the right of the accused to be heard by himself and his counsel was much deeper than the question of ability or skill”. It was “the heart of our adversarial system of justice”. It held that “where the interplay of basic rights of the individual may collide with the awesome forces of the state, we need a professional learned in the law as well as ethically committed to defend the accused by all means fair and reasonable”.

Citing an earlier case, where petitioner and two others were convicted by the trial court of the crime of estafa, and where after entry of judgment, petitioner discovered that her lawyer was not a member of the bar and moved to set aside the entry of judgment, the Court “remanded the case to the trial court for a new trial”, explaining that “an accused person is entitled to be represented by a member of the bar in a criminal case filed against her before the Regional Trial Court (because) unless she is represented by a lawyer, there is great danger that any defense presented in her behalf will be inadequate considering the legal perquisites and skills needed in the court proceedings”, in which case, it “would certainly be a denial of due process.”

The Court also held, citing an earlier case, that “the right to counsel is of such primordial importance that even if an accused was represented by three successive counsels from the Public Attorney’s Office, the Court has ordered the remand of a rape case when it found that accused was given mere perfunctory representation by aforesaid counsels such that appellant was not properly and effectively accorded the right to counsel”. (People v. Bermas, G.R. No. 120420, April 21, 1999).

In the instant case, the Court held that “verily, we can do no less where the accused was not even duly represented by a certified member of the Philippine Bar, no matter how zealous his representation might have been”. It added:

The presence and participation of counsel in criminal proceedings should never be taken lightly. Even the most intelligent or educated man may have no skill in the science of the law, particularly in the rules of procedure, and, without counsel, he may be convicted not because he is guilty but because he does not know how to establish his innocence. The right of an accused to counsel is guaranteed to minimize the imbalance in the adversarial system where the accused is pitted against the awesome prosecutory machinery of the State. Such a right proceeds from the fundamental principle of due process which basically means that a person must be heard before being condemned. The due process requirement is a part of a person’s basic rights; it is not a mere formality that may be dispensed with or performed perfunctorily.

The right to counsel of an accused is enshrined in no less than Article III, Sections 12 and 14 (2) of the 1987 Constitution. This constitutional mandate is reflected in Section 1 of Rule 115 of the 1985 Rules of Criminal Procedure which declares the right of the accused at the trial to be present in person and by counsel at every stage of the proceedings from the arraignment to the promulgation of judgment. In turn, Section 5 of Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution vests the power to promulgate rules concerning the admission to the practice of law to the Supreme Court. Section 1 of Rule 138 of the Rules of Court explicitly states who are entitled to practice law in the Philippines, and Section 2 thereof clearly provides for the requirements for all applicants for admission to the bar. Jurisprudence has also held that “the right to practice law is not a natural or constitutional right but is in the nature of a privilege or franchise. It is limited to persons of good moral character with special qualifications duly ascertained and certified. The right does not only presuppose in its possessor integrity, legal standing and attainment, but also the exercise of a special privilege, highly personal and partaking of the nature of a public trust.” Indeed, so strict is the regulation of the practice of law that in Beltran, Jr. v. Abad, a Bar candidate who has already successfully hurdled the Bar examinations but has not yet taken his oath and signed the roll of attorneys, and who was caught in the unauthorized practice of law was held in contempt of court. Under Section 3 (e) of Rule 71 of the Rules of Court, a person who undertakes the unauthorized practice of law is liable for indirect contempt of court for assuming to be an attorney and acting as such without authority.

By:

Atty. Manuel J. Laserna Jr.