Professional Documents
Culture Documents
General Bank and Trust Company was declared insolvent by the Central Bank and subjected it to
liquidation. A public bidding followed, which was bought by the highest bidder, Lucio Tan. Thereafter,
the government, represented by then Solicitor General, Estelito Mendoza, filed a petition with the trial
court praying for the assistance and supervision of the cour
Special Proceeding No. 107812.After the end of the Marcos administration, and the election of Corazon
Aquino as president, Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) was formed to recover the
alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and his cronies. One of the first civil cases filed by the
PCGG in the Sandiganbayan was a complaint for reversion, reconveyance, restitution, accounting and
damages against respondents Tan et al. and the then First Couple, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos
together with several others.
By the time Civil Cases Nos. 0005 and 0096-0099 were filed, Estelito Mendoza has returned to his
private life together into the private practice of law. He was engaged as counsel for respondents Tan, et
al. and thereafter filed petitions for certiorari, prohibition and injunction to annul the writs of
sequestration issued by the PCGG. This led to the filing of several motions by the PCGG to disqualify
Mendoza from the cases he was representing for the respondents, alleging that as former Solicitor
General, he actively intervened in the liquidation proceedings of GENBANK (currently Allied Bank) that
was acquired by the same group of Tan et al. The allegation of the government in its motions stresses
that as former Solicitor General, and acting as counsel for Central Bank, he advised the Central Banks
officials on how to go about with the procedure of the liquidation. In doing so, PCGG says that he
violated Rule 6.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, prohibiting former government lawyers
from accepting engagement or employment in connection with any matter in which he had
intervened while in said service. The Sandinbayan, through a resolution, denied the motion to disqualify
which led to the filing of a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Supreme Court.
Issues:
W
the definitions contemplated by the Code of Professional Responsibility And,
Whether or not Estelito Mendoza violated Rule 6.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility in
his engagement with the civil cases involving Tan, et al.
Held:
The issues were resolved both in the negative.
The Court resolved the case by going through the history of the adoption of the Code of the Professional
Conduct from the American System and stating the rationale behind Rule 6.03. The evil sought to be
prevented is that a government lawyers actions be influenced by the temptation to take action on
behalf of the government client that latter could be to the advantage of parties who might later become
private practice clients. In the adoption of the said rule from Canon 36 paragraph 2 of the American Bar
Associations Canons of Professional Ethics, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines replaced the phrase
investigated and passed upon with the word intervened.
This led to the explanation behind the phrasing of the canon in the AmericanLegal System where
members of the ABA addressed the issues of revolving door, adverse-interest, conflicts, and congruent-