JOVITA SAPALO, COMPLAINANT, VS. RAYFRANDO DIAZ, RESPONDENT.

On September 28, 1970, an administrative complaint was filed by Jovita Sapalo against respondent Rayfrando Diaz, who passed the bar in 1970.  While the facts were not stated with
precision, it was therein alleged that complainant and respondent, while
students at the University of Negros Occi­dental, had
amorous relations as a result of which she became pregnant.  There was an assertion that respondent had
promised to marry her, an application for marriage license actually having been
filed with the Civil Registrar of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental on June 15, 1968, which application was
subsequently withdrawn without the knowledge of the complainant.  Nonethe­less, notwithstanding her reminder
that he should fulfill his promise of marriage, he failed to do so.  Then on December 19, 1968, complainant gave
birth to a child who was named Ma. Teresa Sapalo
Diaz.  Respondent did acknowledge the
child as his own, consenting likewise that in the record of birth as well as in
the baptismal certificate, he should be named as the father.  Mention is likewise made of complainant all
the while pressing her plea that respondent marry her, but he was adamant in
his refusal.  Thereafter, it came to her
knowledge that it was not legally possible for him to do so as he was already
married.  Hence this complaint.

This Court, in a resolution dated February 19, 1971, required an answer from
respondent.  It was filed on May 14, 1971.  There was no denial of the amorous
relationship that existed between complainant and respondent as a result of
which a child was born.  It was therein
made clear, however, that at such time respondent was still single, then 24
years of age and a third year law student at the University of Negros Occidental, while petitioner was likewise of the
same age, taking courses in commerce at West Negros
College, also in Bacolod City.  Then came this allegation:  “That sometime in March 1968, the
frequent association as office-mates between the herein petitioner and
respondent resulted in intimate relations brought about by mutual desire and
passion, which was voluntarily and mutually entered into by both parties and
without misrepresentation or any other consideration on the part of one or the
other.  Both were still single and 24
years of age.”^[1]
Respondent thereafter declared that he did, on April 15, 1968, resign from his
employment in Bacolod and went home to his hometown
in Binalbagan, Negros
Occidental, precisely “in order to put an end to the intimate relations
with the petitioner, * * *.”^[2]
It was not until May 10, 1968
that, according to him, he was advised about her pregnancy, and it was then
that she asked him to marry her.  He
pleaded for time as he wanted to get the consent of his mother, which was not
forthcoming.  After which, he proceeded
thus:  “That sometime in the first
week of June 1968, the herein petitioner [did press the matter of marriage] on
the herein respondent and, with the intercession of other persons, he was
prevailed upon to sign blank forms of the application for marriage license and
he likewise signed the marriage contract itself, which papers petitioner filed
with the local Civil Registrar of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental on June 15, 1968.  After days and nights of deliberation,
respondent realized that his efforts to force upon himself the marriage were of
no avail as it would end up in a lifetime of misery and bring about a family
where the shadows would never be lifted, for it would not be founded upon love
which is the basic foundation of a good marriage.  In the third week of June 1968, respondent
withdrew all the papers from the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, in
the presence of the petitioner.”^[3]

There was an admission of petitioner having given birth to Ma.
Teresa Sapalo Diaz on December 19, 1968. 
He borrowed the sum of P200.00 from his sister and gave it to petitioner
to help defray the hospital bills.  On
December 25 of that year, respondent married his childhood sweetheart.  He stressed that from April 15, 1968 he never had further “carnal
relations with the herein petitioner because he precisely wanted to put an end
to the [affair].”^[4]
He included, as part of his answer, a decision by Judge Nestor B. Alampay of the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental declaring that Ma. Teresa Sapalo Diaz is the acknowledged natural child of respondent
who was likewise ordered to support said child in the amount of P100.00 monthly
beginning the month of April, 1971.  Such
a decision was rendered on a stipulation of facts wherein complainant admitted
that the intimate relationship between her and respondent “was voluntary,
mutual and without any misrepresentation or other consideration on the part of
either of them.”^[5]

Subsequently on May 14,
1971, petitioner, in a pleading before this Court, sought that the
complaint be withdrawn, stating therein that the circumstances pertinent to the
intimate relationship between her and respondent were truthfully set forth in
the stipulation of facts submitted by them in the above action for recognition
and support of the child, Ma. Teresa Sapalo
Diaz.  Then came this portion of her
petition to withdraw complaint: 
“That from the foregoing, it is obvious that both parties are to be
blamed for any transgression that they may have committed, and that it would be
unfair to lay the blame exclusively on the respondent; and [that] petitioner is
making this verified admission of the circumstances that led to the intimate
relations between herself and respondent in order that she may be able to live
in peace with her conscience.”^[6]

There was a resolution by this Court on May 25, 1971 of the
following tenor:  “Considering (a)
the answer of the respondent to the complaint filed against him; and (b) the
motion of the complainant praying that her complaint against the herein
respondent be withdrawn and dismissed, [the Court resolved] to require the
Provincial Fiscal of Negros Occidental to verify the
authenticity and voluntariness of the withdrawal by
the complainant of her complaint in this case, within 15 days from notice
hereof.”^[7]
Thereafter, on July 3, 1971, the 1st Assistant Provincial Fiscal of Negros Occidental, Jose A. Encarnacion,
forwarded to this Court the original of the transcript of the stenographic
notes of the investigation conducted by him “wherein the complainant
testified to the authenticity and voluntariness of
the withdrawal of her complaint against Rayfrando
Diaz, respondent.”^[8]
In the stenographic notes submitted by such fiscal, it was made clear that
petitioner personally appeared before the Judge of the City Court of Bacolod, Alejandro Dinsay, to
verify her petition to withdraw complaint. 
She was asked as to whether the allegations were true and correct and
she answered in the affirmative.  She
expressly affirmed that she was neither threatened nor forced into signing such
petition.

In the light of the foregoing, this complaint against
respondent Rayfrando Diaz is dismissed.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Zaldivar, Castro, Teehankee, Barredo, Villamor, and Makasiar, JJ., concur.

^[1]
Answer, p. 2.

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid,
pp. 2-3.

^[4] Ibid,
p. 3.

^[5] Ibid,
Annex 2, p. 2.

^[6]
Petition to Withdraw the Letter Complaint, p. 2.

^[7]
Resolution, May 25, 1971.

^[8]
Communication of the 1st Assistant Provincial Fiscal Jose A. Encarnacion.