In Re: In the Matter of Petition for Acknowledge [sic] Lawyer [sic] to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines

June 21, 2022

EN BANC

B.M. NO. 3767

IN RE: IN THE MATTER OF PETITION FOR ACKNOWLEDGE [SIC] LAWYER [SIC] TO THE INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES

NOTICE

Sirs/Mesdames :

Please take notice that the Court en banc issued a Resolution datedJUNE 21, 2022, which reads as follows:

"B.M. No. 3767 (In re: In the Matter of Petition for Acknowledge [sic] Lawyer [sic] to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines)

RESOLUTION

Petitioner Lamberto Quiambao Payongayong seeks to be acknowledged as a member of the Philippine Bar 1 after the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) denied several times his request to be issued a certification of admission to the bar and related documents.

His petition bears as attachments 2 (1) his supposed Certificate of Title of the Philippine Bar3 dated March 22, 2002; (2) his supposed Lawyer's Oath4 dated April 17, 2002; (3) his supposed Certificate of Lifetime Membership5 dated December 2, 2004 with Roll No. 36000; (4) his supposed MCLE Certificate of Compliance6 dated December 1, 2018; (5) supposed Clearances from the OBC; 7 (6) the supposed receipts of his payments of Annual Dues and Professional Tax Receipt (PTR); 8 and (7) his photos and specimen signatures. 9

The case records also bear the following:

1. Petition for Acknowledge Lawyer(sic) filed by petitioner Lamberto Quiambao Payongayong dated May 20, 2020 where he prays that the petitioner be issued a acknowledge lawyer (sic) to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; 10

2. OBC's Letter dated January 21, 2020 11 responding to petitioner's letter-request, 12 noting that the roll number he claimed does not belong to him;

3. OBC's Letter13 dated February 6, 2020 addressed to Atty. Ellen Abesamis-Guinto (JPAS — Office of [former] Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta) informing her that petitioner had been sending requests for his Certificate of Membership in the Philippine Bar and Bar Clearance since 2013. The OBC, nonetheless, did not issue any document in his favor for no record under his name exists in their files; HEITAD

4. Subpoena dated October 8, 2020 requiring petitioner to appear before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City in connection with the charge of Usurpation of Authority (Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code) filed against him by the Investigation Division, Currency Integrity Staff of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP); 14

5. OBC's Letter15 dated December 3, 2020 addressed to Former Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, in relation to a letter-request from petitioner for the issuance of a Certificate of Good Standing, informing the Office of the Chief Justice that petitioner is not a member of the Philippine Bar. The OBC also noted that petitioner had made several other requests to be issued various certificates from their office, all of which have been denied; and

6. OBC's Report for Agenda16 dated May 20, 2021, recommending that:

1) Petitioner LAMBERTO QUIAMBAO PAYONGAYONG be DIRECTED to immediately CEASE AND DESIST from engaging in any and all acts which constitute practice of law;

2) The following offices be directed to COMMENT on the authenticity and truthfulness of the documents submitted by Mr. Payongayong:

a. Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) as regards the Certificate of Lifetime Membership dated 2 December 2004 signed by Atty. Feliciano M. Bautista, National President and other officers of IBP; and

b. Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Office as regards the MCLE Certificate of Compliance dated 1 December 2018 signed by Hon. Minerva P. Gonzales-Reyes, Chairperson, MCLE Governing Board; and

3) Appropriate CRIMINAL CASES for falsification, misrepresentation and illegal practice of law be filed against said Mr. Payongayong.

Through Resolution dated November 23, 2021, 17 the Court directed petitioner to immediately cease and desist from engaging in all acts constituting the practice of law and directed the IBP and MCLE Office to file their comments on his petition.

In its Comment dated March 29, 2022 the MCLE Office 18 confirmed that the documents submitted by petitioner are NOT authentic, viz.:

After careful evaluation and validation from the MCLE Office records, the MCLE Office categorically found that the MCLE Certificate of Compliance with MCLE Compliance No. VI-0000141, supposedly issued to one Atty. Lamberto Q. Payongayong with Roll of Attorneys No. 36000 on December 01, 2018 at the MCLE Office, 4th floor, IBP Building, 15 Dona Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines, signed by former Chairperson of the MCLE Governing Board, [Justice] Minerva P. Gonzaga[-]Reyes is NOT an authentic and true certificate issued by this office.

The name "Lamberto Q. Payongayong" is not in the MCLE Office database system. Only lawyers whose names exist in the MCLE Office database and have completed the 36-credit unit requirement within the compliance period may be issued a Certificate of Compliance which is system generated.

Additionally, the MCLE Compliance No. VI-0000141 appearing on the MCLE Certificate of Compliance presented by Lamberto Q. Payongayong was issued in June 2016 to another lawyer.

Further, under its Certification dated March 31, 2022, 19 the IBP certified that it never issued Official Receipt No. 12487 dated December 2, 2004 (in relation to petitioner's purported Certificate of Lifetime Membership). By Letter dated March 31, 2022, it also manifested that after comparing the alleged signatures of the IBP officers who supposedly signed the certificate submitted by petitioner, it concluded that the specimens are very dissimilar from the originals appearing in their records.

Our Ruling

There is no question that petitioner is not a member of the Philippine Bar though he desperately wishes to be recognized as one. He had many times before pestered the OBC to issue him documents that would show he is a member of the Philippine Bar. 20 He even had the temerity to file the present petition to compel the Court to acknowledge him as a lawyer, albeit he is not. His unwavering stubbornness has for a long time wasted the Court's precious time and resources.

Not only that. Petitioner had even illegally put up his "law firm" named "Payongayong and Associates"21 suggesting that he had or still is engaged in the illegal "practice of law."

The Court finds petitioner's acts and misrepresentations to be a mockery of the legal profession. Indeed, as the Court pronounced in Patrick A. Caronan v. Richard A. Caronan a.k.a. "Atty. Patrick A. Caronan,"22 petitioner is not just a fake lawyer but his acts as well do not have a place in the legal profession where one of the primary duties of its members is to uphold its integrity and dignity. Thus, petitioner should here and now, if he still has not, desist from further engaging in the illegal practice of law or making any misrepresentations as a lawyer. His penchant for repeating a lie hoping it becomes truth is an unacceptable practice not just in the legal profession but life in general. Now, his deceptions must come to an end.

WHEREFORE, the petition of Lamberto Quiambao Payongayong to be acknowledged as a lawyer is DENIED for utter lack of merit. The Court resolves to:

1. REITERATE the Resolution dated November 23, 2021 DIRECTING Lamberto Quiambao Payongayong to IMMEDIATELY CEASE and DESIST from engaging in any and all acts which constitute illegal practice of law, and making this Directive PERMANENT; ATICcS

2. PROHIBIT him and all persons acting on his behalf from filing any further petitions, motions, requests, letter, and the like, seeking the issuance of any documents such as certifications from any public offices, including the Office of the Bar Confidant and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines supposedly to establish his desired status as a member of the Philippine Bar;

3. ENJOIN these Offices to REJECT OUTRIGHT all such petitions, letters, motions, or requests from petitioner or any one acting on his behalf.

Petitioner is seriously warned that any violation of numbers 1 and 2 hereof will be dealt with more severely.

The Office of the Court Administrator is ordered to CIRCULATE notices and POST on the bulletin boards of all courts in the country the name and photograph of petitioner with the information that he is not a member of the Philippine Bar.

This Resolution shall take effect IMMEDIATELY. Let a copy of this Resolution be furnished the Office of the Bar Confidant, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Office of the Court Administrator, and the MCLE Office." (10)

By authority of the Court:

(SGD.) MARIFE M. LOMIBAO-CUEVASClerk of Court

Footnotes

1. Rollo, p. 3.

2. NB. None of the attachments are duly marked as annexes and the petition does not refer to any of them to establish or support any of his allegations.

3. Rollo, p. 6; Signed by Atty. Erlinda C. Versoza, Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant.

4. Id. at 7; Signed by Hon. Camilo D. Quiason, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

5. Id. at 8; Signed by Atty. Feliciano M. Bautista, National President and other officers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

6. Id. at 11; Signed by Hon. Minerva P. Gonzales-Reyes, Chairperson, MCLE Governing Board.

7. Id. at 79 and 85.

8. Id. at 26.

9. Id. at 25.

10. Id. at 1-3.

11. Id. at 49; Prepared by Assistant Bar Confidant Amor P. Entila.

12. Not attached in the rollo.

13. Rollo, p. 31; Prepared by Assistant Bar Confidant Amor P. Entila.

14. Id. at 118.

15. Id. at 134; Prepared by Deputy Clerk of Court and Bar Confidant Rosita M. Requillas-Nacional.

16. Id. at 135-136.

17. Id. at 138-139.

18. Id. at 147-148. Prepared by Executive Officer Jesusa Jean D. Reyes and noted by Officer-in-Charge of the MCLE Governing Board Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria.

19. Id. at 151-154; Prepared by Director for Bar Discipline Avelino V. Sales, Jr.

20. Id. at 9.

21. Id. at 20.

22. 789 Phil. 628, 638 (2016).