No. Case SCRA No.

Ponente Person Involved

People v. Villanueva, Paredes, J Respondent: Simplicio Villanueva
G.R. No. L-19450, May Complainant : The People of the Philippines
27, 1965
Dia-Annonuevo v. Munoz
Palma, J
Respondent: MUN. JUDGE BONIFACIO B. BERCACIO
OF TABACO, ALBAY Complainant :
Bercacio, A.M. CONCEPCION DIA-AÑONUEVO
No. 177-MJ,
November 27,
1975 
De Guzman v. Respondent: NEGROS TRANSPORTATION Co., INC.,
and NICOLAS CONCEPCION Complainant :
Visayan Rapid ALEJANDRO DE GUZMAN
Transit, G.R. No.
46396,
September 30,
1939
When Where Details Issue
5/27/1965 Court of First On Sept. 4, 1959, the Chief of Police of Alaminos, Whether or not Atty.
Instance of Laguna, charged Simplicio Villanueva with crime Fule violate sec. 32 of
Laguna (San of Malicious Mischief, before the Justice of the Rule 127 now Sec. 35,
Pablo City Peace Court of said Municipality.  Said accused Rule 138, revised
Branch) was represented by counsel de officio, but later
on replaced by counsel de parte.  The Rules of Court, which
complainant in the same case was represent by bars certain attorneys
City Attorney Ariston Fule of San Pablo City, from practicing.
having entered his appearance as private-
prosecutor, having securing the permission of the
the Secretary of Justice. on January 4, 1961,
counsel for the accused presented a “Motion to
Inhibit Fiscal Fule from Acting as Private
Prosecutor in this Case,” this time invoking
Section 32, Rule 27, now Sec. 35, Rule 138,
Revised Rules of Court, which bars certain
attorneys from practicing. Counsel claims that
City Attorney Fule falls under this limitation.
11/27/1975 Incumbent Mrs. Concepcion Dia-Añonuevo, claims to be a Whether or not
Municipal co-owner of an undivided interest of a certain respondent is
Judge of parcel of irrigated riceland situated in Cabilogan, engaging in the
Tabaco Albay Sto. Niño, Sto. Domingo, Albay. This property was practice of law
the object of a deed of sale executed by Maximo violating Judiciary Act
Balibado, Justo Balibado and Petrona Balibado de of 1948
Barrios in favor of Alfredo Ong and
acknowledged before Municipal Judge Bonifacio
Bercacio, respondent herein, as ex-officio notary
public, on January 25, 1972. complainant
informed respondent judge that the vendors
owned only one-third undivided portion of the
property and that she and other cousins of hers
owned two-thirds thereof. Judge Bercacio
advised the complainant to redeem or
repurchase the property from the vendee,
Alfredo Ong. Complainant then requested the
judge to intercede in their behalf with the
vendee to allow them to redeem the property
and for that purpose she gave respondent the
amount of P3,500.00 to be used to pay Alfredo
Ong. Respondent agreed and received the
amount of P3,500.00. Respondent sent the
corresponding letter to Alfredo Ong but the latter
did not answer. Forthwith a complaint was filed
on March 8, 1972 with the Court of First Instance
of Albay. During the pendency of the civil case,
complainant asked respondent judge to allow her
to withdraw P3,500.00 she had deposited with
him as she was then in need of money, but no
action was taken by respondent.
9-30-1939 Laurel, J The legal services of Atty. De Guzman were Whether Atty. De
engaged by Nicolas Concepcion, the President of Guzman is entitled to
the automobile lines of Visayan Rapid Transit and compensation for his
Negros Transportation Co. His services were to services and how
obtain refund from the Secretary of Public Work much?
and Communications the amount being paid by
the transport lines as its toll. Thereafter, it
through petitioner that also lobbied for the fifty
percent reduction of the tolls with the Secretary.
Through the efforts of De Guzman, the transport
lines were refunded P50,000 and some tolls were
reduced as well benefiting them to a total
amount of P78,448. Petitioner now claims for the
reasonable compensation to which he is entitled.
The respondents contend that the services of De
Guzmanwere unsolicited and unauthorized.
 Ruling
No. Section 32 of Rule 127 now Sec.
35, Rule 138 provides that in the court
of a justice of the peace a party may
conduct his litigation in person, with
the aid of an agent or friend
appointed by him for that purpose, or
with the aid of an attorney.
Decision
Because the court holds that Asst. City Attorney
Ariston D. Fule may appear before the Justice of the
Peace Court of Alaminos, Laguna as a private
prosecutor in this criminal case as an agent or a
friend of the offended party. The decision appealed
from should be, as it is hereby affirmed, in all
respects, with costs against the appellant.
Yes. Section 77 of the Judiciary Act of
1948, as amended, which provides in
part : All provisions relative to the
observance of office hours and the
holding of sessions applicable to
courts of first instance shall likewise
apply to municipal judges, but the
latter may, after office hours, and with
the permission of the district judge
concerned, engage in teaching or
other vocation not involving the
practice of law and which was
implemented by Circular No. 37 of the
Secretary of Justice dated June 22,
1971 to the effect that no Municipal
Judge shall . . . engage in private
practice as a member of the bar or
give professional advice to client
Respondent submits that it was Atty. Berango and
not he who assisted the complainant, Mrs.
Añonuevo, and her co-plaintiffs as counsel in the civil
case. Respondent's claim is belied, however, by the
active interest he took in the case of Mrs. Añonuevo
manifested as follows: (a) He gave Mrs. Añonuevo
legal advice on the remedy available to her and her
co-owners with regards to the property sold to
Alfredo Ong. (b) He accepted from Mrs. Añonuevo
the sum of P3,500.00 for purposes of redeeming the
property from the vendee, plus P100.00 for
incidental expenses. (c) He wrote to Alfredo Ong for
and in behalf of Mrs. Añonuevo and her co-owners
offering to redeem the land in question. (d) When his
attempts at an out-of-court settlement failed, he
caused the filing of the complaint in Civil Case No.
4591 for which he was issued a receipt for docket
and legal research fees. (e) He was present together
with Atty. Berango at the pre-trial of July 5, 1972,
and although, as he claims, it was Atty. Berango who
made an appearance for that pre-trial, the trial Judge
nonetheless took note of respondent's presence so
that the Order dictated on that occasion reads:
"Attys. Berango and Bercacio are notified of the date
of the trial. The practice of law is not limited to the
conduct of cases in court or participation in court
proceedings but also includes preparation of
pleadings or papers in anticipation of a litigation,
giving of legal advice to clients or persons needing
the same, etc.
Yes,Although the professional services
rendered by the petitioner are purely
administrative and did not require a
high degree of professional skill and
experience, the fact remains that
these services were rendered and
were productive of substantial
beneficial results to his clients. It is
clear that for these services the
petitioner is entitled to compensation,
and the only question is the
reasonable amount to which he is
entitled. He claimed in the lower court
the sum of P20,000. The trial court
awarded him f 1-0,000. On appeal, the
Court of Appeals reduced this amount
to P3,500.
Because of the effort of Atty. De Guzman the
respondents petition acted favorably, which
adopted a resolution reducing the tolls for 2-ton
trucks or more, the only kind of motor vehicles
operated by the respondents, from P1.20 to P0.50 on
one bridge, and from P1.20 to 0.40 on the other. and
the provincial board refunded P50,000 as bridge tolls
illegally collected from the Visayan Rapid Transit
Company, Inc. this has made the respondents
benefited with an economy of 78,448 for every 18
months. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is
accordingly modified, without pronouncement
regarding costs. So ordered.
 LEGETH Discussion
it is not advisable for an attorney at
law employed in the government to
engage in private practice consists in
frequent or customary actions, a
succession of acts of the same kind.
Assistant City Attorney
handling case for relative with
permission of superior is not
prohibited on private practice.
a municipal judge must not engage in
the practice of law, to avoid evil of
possible use of the power and
influence of his office to affect the
outcome of a litigation where he is
retained as counsel.Compelling
reasons of public policy lie behind this
prohibition, and judges are expected
to conduct themselves in such a
manner as to preclude any suspicion
that they are representing the
interests of a party litigant.
The amount of the professional fees
to be paid to the petitioner had not
been fixed, but the intention and
promise to pay him is evidently shown
by the records in this case. And in any
case, whether there is an agreement
or not, the courts can fix a reasonable
compensation which lawyers should
receive for their professional services.