Guilty sa sextortion sa kanyang sekretarya | ABUGADO, DINIS-BAR NG SC

DINIS-BAR ng Korte Suprema ang isang abugado dahil sa pagmamalabis at pang-aabuso nito sa kanyang propesyon para makakuha ng seksuwal na pabor sa kan­yang personal na sekretarya.

Sa ipinalabas na 15 pa­hinang per curiam decision, napatunayang ‘guilty’ si Atty. Antonio N. De Los Reyes, dating vice-president ng Legal and Administra­tive Group of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corpo­ration (NHMFC), ng gross immoral conduct at paglabag sa Rule 1.01, Canon 1 at Rule 7.03, Canon 7 ng Code of Professional Responsibility.

Kaugnay nito, pinata­tang­gal din ng Korte Supre­ma ang pangalan ni De Los Reyes sa Roll of Attorneys.

Nakasaad pa sa desisyon na ang naging aksiyon ni De Los Reyes ay nagpapakita la­mang ng kawalan ng degree of morality bilang miyembro ng legal profession na ang karampatang parusa ay dis­barment. Una rito, sa isinaga­wang pag-aaral sa transcript of stenographic notes (TSN) mula sa isinagawang hea­ring sa kaso, lumalabas sa “straight­forward” testimony ng biktima na nakaranas ito ng pang-aabuso mula kay De Los Reyes.

“[R]espondent Atty. De Los Reyes is guilty of ‘sex­tortion’ which is the abuse of his position or authority to obtain sexual favors from his subordinate, the complai­nant, his unwilling victim who was not in a position to resist respondent’s demands for fear of losing her means of livelihood. The sexual exploitation of his subor­dinate done over a period of time amounts to gross mis­behaviour on the part of res­pondent Atty. De Los Reyes that affects his stan­ding and character as a member of the Bar and as an officer of the Court. All these deplora­ble acts of respondent Atty. De Los Reyes puts the legal profes­sion in disrepute and places the integrity of the adminis­tration of justice in peril, thus warranting discip­linary action from the Court,” base sa ruling ng SC. Bukod sa disbarment, pinag-aaralan din ng biktima ang pagsa­sampa ng kasong kriminal laban kay De Los Reyes ka­ugnay ng pangya­yari.