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FACTS
ISSUE
WON respondent should be held guilty of immorality based on the evidence
presented [YES]
HELD
The baptismal certificate cannot be used to prove filiation and therefore
cannot be used to imply that respondent maintained illicit relations with
Dedje. The baptismal certificate does not prove the veracity of the
declarations and statements contained therein. It merely attests to the fact
of the sacrament performed on such date.
With regards the affidavit of desistance executed by complainant, it was
only for the favor of Dedje and not for the respondent.
Respondent, himself admitted to the relations however he justified this with
the spouses having previously entered into an agreement regarding their
marriage. In which they said that they shall be separated and consented to
each other seeking any other partner to live with.
As an employee of the judiciary, the respondent ought to have known that
the said agreement had absolutely no force and effect on the validity of the
marriage between the complainant and his wife.
Respondents act of having illicit relations with the complainantss wife is a
disgraceful and immoral act and the court therefore found him guilty of
immorality and as such suspended him for 6 months and 1 day without pay
and a starn warning.