Disbarment cases - "In disbarment or disciplinary cases pending before this Court, the complainant must prove his or her allegations through substantial evidence."

TERESITA P. FAJARDO, Complainant, v. ATTY. NICANOR C. ALVAREZ, Respondent. A.C. No. 9018, April 20, 2016.

“x x x.

In disbarment or disciplinary cases pending before this Court, the complainant must prove his or her allegations through substantial evidence.⁷² In Advincula v. Macabata,⁷³ this Court dismissed a complaint for disbarment due to the lack of evidence in proving the complainant's allegations:

As a basic rule in evidence, the burden of proof lies on the party who makes the allegations—ei incumbit probation, qui decit, non qui negat; cum per rerum naturam factum negantis probation nulla sit. In the case at bar, complainant miserably failed to comply with the burden of proof required of her. A mere charge or allegation of wrongdoing does not suffice. Accusation is not synonymous with guilt.⁷⁴ (Emphasis in the original, citations omitted)

Moreover, lawyers should not be hastily disciplined or penalized unless it is shown that they committed a transgression of their oath or their duties, which reflects on their fitness to enjoy continued status as a member of the bar:

The power to disbar or suspend ought always to be exercised on the preservative and not on the vindictive principle, with great caution and only for the most weighty reasons and only on clear cases of misconduct which seriously affect the standing and character of the lawyer as an officer of the court and member of the Bar. Only those acts which cause loss of moral character should merit disbarment or suspension, while those acts which neither affect nor erode the moral character of the lawyer should only justify a lesser sanction unless they are of such nature and to such extent as to clearly show the lawyer's unfltness to continue in the practice of law. The dubious character of the act charged as well as the motivation which induced the lawyer to commit it must be clearly demonstrated before suspension or disbarment is meted out. The mitigating or aggravating circumstances that attended the commission of the offense should also be considered.⁷⁵

X x x.”