A celebrity doctor appeared to have ultimately lost his legal battle and would likely spend seven years in jail for non-payment of Social Security System (SSS) contributions of his employees.
The Supreme Court (SC) has junked a petition filed by Mendez seeking to overturn a Court of Appeals (CA) decision affirming the seven-year jail term imposed upon him by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City which found him guilty of violating the provisions of Republic Act 8282 otherwise known as Social Security Act of 1997.
In a six-page resolution released last July 31, the SC’s First Division found no merit to Mendez’s claim that the CA’s former Special Eight Division through Associate Justices Edwin Sorongon, Sesinando Villon, and Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob committed grave abuse of discretion when they dismissed his petition to set aside his conviction by the RTC.
In his appeal to the SC, Mendez invoked anew alleged “extrinsic fraud” on the part of his lawyer in seeking reconsideration of the CA’s ruling.
Mendez claimed that the failure of his former counsel to attend hearings on his behalf to present pieces of evidence, his counsel’s failure to inform him of the hearings, and that his presence was required during the proceedings were tantamount to “extrinsic fraud.”
Extrinsic fraud refers to “fraudulent act of the prevailing party in litigation committed outside of the trial of the case, whereby the defeated party is prevented from fully exhibiting his side of the case by fraud or deception practiced on him by his opponent, such as by keeping him away from court; by giving him a false promise of a compromise; or where the defendant never had the knowledge of the suit, being kept in ignorance by the acts of plaintiff; or where an attorney fraudulently or without authority connives at his defeat.”
However, the SC held that Mendez’ contention that the failure to present his side due to his former counsel’s negligence constitutes extrinsic fraud, was “untenable.”
“As a ground for the annulment of a judgment, extrinsic fraud must emanate from an act of the adverse party, and the fraud must be ofsuch nature as to have deprived petitioner of their day in court,” the High Tribunal ruled.
“The fraud is not extrinsic if the act was committed by petitioner’s own counsel. In this light, we have ruled in several cases that a lawyer’s mistake or gross negligence does not amount to the extrinsic fraud that would grant a petition for annulment of judgment,” it said.
Besides, the SC noted that Mendez failed to comply with the 60-day period under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court within which to file his petition questioning the CA decision.
The SC noted that lawyer Marc Anthony Antonio, one of Mendez’s former counsels, received a copy of the CA resolution dated April 16,2019 on May 2, 2019.
Mendez alleged that Antonio informed him about the resolution only on June 19, 2019.
Instead of filing the present petition for certiorari within 60 days from May 2, 2019, the Court said Mendez secured the services of a new lawyer and filed the petition only on August 8, 2019, or 98 days after Antonio received the CA Resolution dated April 16, 2019.
“As keenly observed by the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General, Mendez blames yet again one of his former lawyers who allegedly belatedly informed him of the receipt of the CA Resolution dated April 16, 2019,” the SC said.
“This is a self-serving allegation not supported by any evidence and, thus, deserves scant consideration. A party alleging a critical fact must support their allegation with substantial evidence, for any decision based on unsubstantiated allegation cannot stand without offending due process,” it added.
In its August 2018 decision, the CA denied the petition filed by Mendez seeking to set aside the July 18, 2016 decision of QC RTC Branch 88 Presiding Judge Rossana Fe Romero which found her guilty of violating Republic Act 8282.
The CA did not give weight to Mendez’ contentions, noting that the SC has previously ruled that a lawyer’s neglect in keeping track of the case and his failure to apprise his client of the development of the case do not constitute extrinsic fraud.
Mendez, who owns a chain of dermatology clinics in the country, was sentenced to a jail term ranging from six years and one day as minimum to seven years as maximum by the RTC.
It also directed Mendez to pay SSS a total of P1,865,657.50 representing unpaid contributions from October 2011 to January 2013 with an interest of three percent per month from July 2015 until full payment.
The SSS discovered the delinquency after it monitored and examined Mendez’s company records.