Lawyer can’t testify over Yanson dispute
The motion to disqualify filed by the petitioner is granted. Atty. Philip Sigfrid A. Fortun is hereby disqualified from testifying on behalf of the oppositors
The motion to disqualify filed by the petitioner is granted. Atty. Philip Sigfrid A. Fortun is hereby disqualified from testifying on behalf of the oppositors
A Bacolod City court disqualified Atty. Philip Sigfrid A. Fortun from testifying on behalf of his clients, the four Yanson siblings, in the intestate proceedings of the estate of the late Ricardo Yanson Sr.
In an order dated 2 October 2023, Bacolod City Regional Trial Court branch 45 presiding judge Pheobe Gargantiel-Balbin granted the motion filed by Ginnette Yanson Dumancas to disqualify Fortun as a witness.
"The motion to disqualify filed by the petitioner is granted. Atty. Philip Sigfrid A. Fortun is hereby disqualified from testifying on behalf of the oppositors," the court said.
The Supreme Court in an October 2004 decision explained the reason behind the rule on the disqualification of lawyers from testifying on behalf of their client.
"The reason behind such rule is the difficulty posed upon lawyers by the task of dissociating their relation to their clients as witnesses from that as advocates," the SC said.
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Hearing reset
The court also reset the next hearing on the case to 12 December 2023 to provide oppositors (the Yanson siblings) time to prepare the judicial affidavit and presentation of other witnesses.
Earlier in another case, Bacolod RTC Branch 44, in a resolution dated 31 August 2023, approved the petition of Yanson Group of Bus Companies matriarch Olivia Villaflores Yanson for probate of her last will and testament disinheriting the Yanson siblings and naming Leo Rey and Ginnette as her universal heirs.
