RUFA SUAN v ATTY. RICARDO GONZALES, A.C. No. 6377 | March 12, 2007 | 518 scra 82

FACTS: Suan filed this complaint alleging that respondent engaged in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct when he submitted the certification to the RTC despite knowing that the same is applicable only for transactions before the MTCC; and that the bond was defective because it was released by SICI despite respondent’s failure to put up the required P100,000.00 collateral.
Suan also claimed that in the complaint filed by respondent, together with Eduardo, Purisima, Ruben, and Manuel, all surnamed Tan, before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) against Ismael E. Andaya and the members of the Board of Directors of the Rural Green Bank of Caraga, Inc. for alleged gross violation of the principles of good corporate governance, they represented themselves as the bank’s minority stockholders with a total holdings amounting to more or less P5 million while the controlling stockholders own approximately 80% of the authorized capital stock.
Suan averred that respondent committed perjury because the above allegations were allegedly inconsistent with respondent’s averments in the complaint pending before the RTC where he claimed that the majority stockholders own 70% ( and not 80%) of the outstanding capital stock of the Rural Green Bank of Caraga, Inc. while the minority stockholders’ stake amounted to P6 million (and not P5 million).
Complainant finally claimed that respondent is guilty of forum shopping because the causes of action of the cases he filed before the RTC and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are the same.
Respondent denied the allegations against him. He alleged that it was the bonding company which inadvertently attached the certification pertaining to the MTCC; that when he discovered the inadvertence, he immediately filed with the RTC an ex-parte motion to replace the certification with the one pertaining to the RTC; that he had satisfactorily complied with the requirements of SICI as shown in the letter of Ms. Evelyn R. Ramirez, SICI’s Officer-in-Charge, dated March 19, 2004; that there is no inconsistency in the allegations contained in the complaints pending before the RTC and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas thus he could not be held liable for perjury; that there is no forum shopping because the causes of action and the reliefs prayed for in the cases pending before the trial court and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are different; and that it is complainant who is guilty of forum shopping since this is the second disbarment suit that she filed against him. In her Reply, complainant insisted that she is not guilty of forum shopping; that she only filed one disbarment suit against respondent while the other two suits were filed by Joseph Omar Andaya and Dr. Arturo Cruz based on different acts committed by the respondent.

ISSUE: WON 2nd disbarment suit will give rise to forum-shopping.

RULING: We agree with the findings of the IBP that there is no forum shopping. The essence of forum shopping is the filing of multiple suits involving the same parties for the same cause of action, either simultaneously or successively, for the purpose of obtaining a favorable judgment. There is forum shopping when, between an action pending before this Court and another one, there exist: a) identity of parties, or at least such parties as represent the same interests in both actions, b) identity of rights asserted and relief prayed for, the relief being founded on the same facts, and c) the identity of the two preceding particulars is such that any judgment rendered in the other action, will, regardless of which party is successful amount to res judicata in the action under consideration; and said requisites also constitutive of lis pendens.
The filing of the intra-corporate case before the RTC does not amount to forum-shopping. It is a formal demand of respondent’s legal rights in a court of justice in the manner prescribed by the court or by the law with respect to the controversy involved.7 The relief sought in the case is primarily to compel the bank to disclose its stockholdings, to allow them the inspection of corporate books and records, and the payment of damages.
On the other hand, the complaint filed with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was an invocation of the BSP’s supervisory powers over banking operations which does not amount to a judicial proceeding. It brought to the attention of the BSP the alleged questionable actions of the bank’s Board of Directors in violation of the principles of good corporate governance.
As such, the two proceedings are of different nature praying for different relief. Likewise, a ruling by the BSP concerning the soundness of the bank operations will not adversely or directly affect the resolution of the intra-corporate controversies pending before the trial court.
Furthermore, to merit disciplinary action, forum shopping must be willful and deliberate. Section 5, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court requires that, should there be any pending action or claim before any court, tribunal or quasi-judicial agency, a complete statement of its status should be given. The Certification of Non-Forum-shopping attached by respondent substantially complied with this requirement by providing therein that he has also filed a Complaint before the BSP. Likewise, such disclosure negates the allegation that he willfully and deliberately committed forum-shopping.

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