414 Phil. 667
MENDOZA, J.:
[C]omplainant's and respondent's version of the incident which gave rise to the present complaint are poles apart. Consequently, the Commission had to weigh very well the evidence adduced by both parties. When juxtaposed against each other, the Commission finds complainant's evidence inadequate to justify the imposition of disciplinary action against the respondent. Certainly, if the intention of the respondent was to wreck havoc on the complainant, he would not even have bothered to return the P10,000.00 acceptance fee, a fact which is not being disputed.
All persons are presumed innocent of the charge/s against [them] by reason of constitutional and statutory dicta. To overcome this presumption, strong and convincing evidence must be adduced.
In the case at bar, this Commission finds complainant's evidence inadequate or insufficient to overcome said presumption. Accordingly, there is no other option but to deny due course to complainant's complaint.[5]
[I]n the morning of February 25, 1998, at around 9:00 o'clock, my father, Virgilio S. Joaquin, and I were the unfortunate victims of physical assault, slander by deed and threats committed by our relatives, Rosario M. Joaquin, Faye Maybelle J. Lorenz and Godofreditas Lorenz. Resultantly, we filed with the Barangay a complaint for said crimes against the offenders, who, in turn, filed countercharges against us for maltreatment, physical injuries and threats. On March 3, 1998, while conciliation hearings on the charges and countercharges were being undertaken by the Barangay, I and my father hired the legal services of Atty. Arturo de los Reyes, a former Quezon City Prosecutor, who was referred to us by a family friend and neighbor, Lily Jodloman. After briefing him of our legal problem, Atty. Reyes agreed to be our lawyer in the cases for a fee of P10,000.00 plus P1,000.00 per court appearance. For the purpose of preparing our affidavit-complaint, I furnished Atty. Reyes a xerox copy each of the medical certificate of my father; our joint-statement concerning the incident, and a police blotter. Atty. Reyes assured us that our affidavit-complaint would be prepared by him at the soonest possible time.
On March 17, 1998, at 12:00 noon, I paid Atty. Reyes [the] acceptance fee of P10,000.00.
[I]n the evening of April 6, 1998, I handed to Atty. Reyes the Certification to File Action issued by the Barangay concerning our criminal complaint for slight physical injuries, slander by deed and threat against our aforementioned tormentors. I informed Atty. De los Reyes that a Certificate to File Action on the countercharges [filed by] our tormentors ha[d] likewise been issued by the Barangay. And [i]n the morning of April 10, 1998, Atty. Reyes informed me that he had already gone over the Certification to File Action. He forewarned and assured me: "Pagnauna silang magfile, kayo ng father mo ang maihahabla. Kayo ang makukulong. Pero huwag kang mag-alala itataya ko ang profesyon ko para sayo."
[I]n the morning of April 13, 1998, I telephoned Atty. Reyes and asked him if I and my father could already sign the affidavit-complaint against our tormentors so that it could be filed with the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office, but he told me that he has not yet prepared it. He assured me that he would work on it in the evening of said date. The following day at around 9:00 a.m. I followed up the matter thru his beeper, Atty. Reyes did not respond. At 8:30 p.m. of that date, I received a telephone call from Atty. Reyes. He told me that he had misplaced the Certification to File Action. Forthwith my father rushed to Atty. Reyes' residence and gave him a copy thereof.
From April 15 to 19, 1998, I repeatedly followed up the preparation of our affidavit complaint thru beeper messages to Atty. Reyes, but he had inexplicably failed to respond. Finally, [i]n the morning on April 20, 1998, Atty. Reyes called up and informed me that he has not yet finished the affidavit-complaint, because his secretary did not report for work. Extremely disappoint[ed] by the delay in the preparation of our affidavit-complaint and the filing thereof with the Prosecutor's Office of Quezon City, I offered to do the typing for him, but Atty. Reyes said: "Huwag na, nakakahiya naman sa iyo. Pag report ng secretary ko, ipapatype ko at tatawagan ko kayo ng father mo. Pasensiya ka na ha!"
On April 21, 1998, at 5:00 p.m., Atty. Reyes met me at the house of my friend, Lily Jodloman, whose house is only across the street from ours. My friend Lily expressed grave concern about the unreasonable delay in the filing of our criminal complaint, and this time, Atty. Reyes gave another reason. He claimed that he was tasked by the IBP to monitor the coming national and local elections. He promised to finish our affidavit-complaint in the evening of that date and to personally file it with the Office of the Prosecutor of Quezon City.
The following, (April 22, 1998), at 8:00 o'clock, I called up Atty. Reyes, but I was told by his wife that he had already left. I requested for a return call, which request I repeated several times thru his beeper, but to no avail. Finally at 11:00 p.m., Atty. Reyes called up and said, "Masama ang nangyari." And I retorted, "Ano bang masama ang nangyari? Nagawa na ho ba ninyo ang afftdavit namin?" He sounded evasive in his reply and merely said, "0 sige, Kit ha, magtawagan na lang tayo bukas kasi kadarating ko lang galing sa election meeting. O bukas tatawagan kita ha." But he did not call me the whole day of April 23, 1998. Neither did he call on April 24, 25, 26 and 27, 1998, despite repeated calls from me by telephone and by beeper messages.
On April 28, 1998, at 10:30 p.m., Atty. Reyes at last called up. He said that his secretary did not report for work the previous days and he could not give me a feedback. He further said: "Naku Kit, sigurado na bukas, sasamahan mo ako bukas sa pagfile ha. Maghintay ka ng call ko sa hapon natin ipa-file." Because of this assurance by Atty. Reyes, I cancelled all my appointments on April 29, 1998 and waited the whole day for his call, but he never did. In response to my beeper message, he called up in the evening and explained that there was an emergency meeting called by LAKAS - NUCD that kept him busy the whole day. He again promised to finish our affidavit-complaint and file it in few days.
On May 4, 1998, at around 9:30 a.m., I got the surprise of my life when I received a resolution from the Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City, finding probable cause concerning the supposed countercharges against us that were filed in the Barangay after we had filed ours, by our tormentors, Faye Maybelle J. Lorenz and Rosario M. Joaquin, for maltreatment, physical injuries and threats. I then realized that the countercharges of our tormentors against us were filed with the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office ahead of our complaint, which has yet to be filed with said office by our lawyer[6]....
It is axiomatic that no lawyer is obliged to act either as adviser or advocate for every person who may wish to become his client. ...[However ,] once he agrees to take up the cause of a client, the lawyer owes fidelity to such cause and must always be mindful of the trust and confidence reposed in him. He must serve the client with competence and diligence, and champion the latter's cause with wholehearted fidelity, care, and devotion. Elsewise stated, he owes entire devotion to the interest of the client, warm zeal in the maintenance and defense of his client's rights, and the exertion of his utmost learning and ability to the end that nothing be taken or withheld from his client, save by the rules of law, legally applied. ...If much is demanded from an attorney, it is because the entrusted privilege to practice law carries with it the correlative duties not only to the client but also to the court, to the bar, and to the public. A lawyer who performs his duty with diligence and candor not only protects the interest of his client; he also serves the ends of justice, does honor to the bar, and helps maintain the respect of the community to the legal profession.