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In all these cases, respondents Tan, et al. are represented by their counsel Atty.
Estelito P.
Mendoza, who served as the Solicitor General from 1972 to 1986 during the
administration of former
President Marcos. The PCGG opined that Atty. Mendozas present appearance as
counsel for
respondents Tan, et al. in the case involving the sequestered shares of stock in
Allied Banking Corp. runs
afoul of Rule 6.03 of the Code of Professional Responsibility proscribing former
government lawyers
from accepting engagement or employment in connection with any matter in
which he had intervened
while in said service.
ISSUES:
Whether or not the present engagement of Atty. Mendoza as counsel for
respondents Tan, et al. in Civil
Cases Nos. 0096-0099 violates the interdiction embodied in Rule 6.03 of the Code of
Professional
Responsibility
HELD:
The petition is denied.
The key to unlock Rule 6.03 lies in comprehending first, the meaning of matter
referred to in
the rule and, second, the metes and bounds of the intervention made by the
former government
lawyer on the matter. The American Bar Association in its Formal Opinion 342,
defined matter as
any discrete, isolatable act as well as identifiable transaction or conduct involving a
particular situation
and specific party, and not merely an act of drafting, enforcing or interpreting
government or agency
General, Rule 6.03 was not yet adopted by the IBP and approved by this Court, and
(2) the bid to
disqualify respondent Mendoza was made after the lapse of time whose length
cannot, by any standard,
qualify as reasonable.