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Same; Pendency of criminal case is not a prejudicial question; Violation of criminal law does not preclude
disbarment.—The pendency of the perjury case is not a prejudicial question, since the ground for disbarment
in the present proceeding is not for conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude but for gross misconduct.
A violation of a criminal law is not a bar to disbarment. An acquittal is no obstacle to cancellation of the
lawyer's license.
Same; Dishonesty in denying under oath existence of criminal record.—Respondent stresses that there is
no cause of action against him for disbarment because the information sheet is not required by law but only
by the Civil Service Commission. Held: This argument is beside the point. The issue is whether or not he
acted honestly when he denied under oath the existence against him of any criminal or police record,
including cases that did not reach the court. In this, he did not tell the truth. He deliberately concealed it in
order to secure an appointment in his own favor. He, therefore, failed to maintain that high degree of morality
expected and required of a member of the bar. He has violated his oath as a lawyer to "do no falsehood". It
needs no reiteration that the ethical standards applicable to a member of the bar, who thereby automatically
becomes a court officer, must necessarily be one higher than that of the marketplace.
Concepcion, C.J., Dizon, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar, Sanchez and Castro, JJ., concur.
Respondent disbarred.
Note.—The accused, who in his civil service application for the patrolman's examination, answered "No" the
question of whether he had been accused of a crime, when in truth he had been accused in court of physical
injuries, was convicted of perjury (People vs. Cruz, L-15132, May 25, 1960).
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Calo vs. Degamo, 20 SCRA 447, Adm. Case No. 516 June 27, 1967
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