6/5/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly proceedings of this case, or for a period of six years - to deceive and mislead the Labor Arbiter, the NLRC, the CA, and this Court, into believing that a favorable March 27, 2009 "Medical Report" of petitioners' company-designated physician exists which supposedly shows that respondent's condition was not work-connected and not compensable, when in fact there is none. Indeed, the CA was duped, and it fell for Tria and Pampolina's scheme. This Court has taken pains to review in earnest - again and again - the record, in order to locate and determine what the March 27, 2009 medical report contained, but it could not be found. Yet in their pleadings filed before this Court, Atrys. Tria and Pampolina continued to refer to the document.[54] Instead, it appears that in truth and in fact, there is no such document: from the start, the Labor Arbiter already noted its absence; in fact, the Labor Arbiter even admonished respondents to "carefully go over the evidence they present or inadvertently fail to attach."[55] But just the same, the CA was deceived to the point of declaring that respondent "was diagnosed with hypertensive cardiovascular disease and the company-designated physician opined that his illness is not work-related and found to be generic in origin" [56] when no such medical opinion exists on record. It would appear, therefore, that such "medical report" was contrived in order to satisfy the legal requirement that the company-designated physician must make a definitive assessment of the employee's fitness to work in order to justify a denial of disability benefits. The Code of Professional Responsibility provides that "[a] lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct" (Rule 1.01); he "shall not, for any corrupt motive or interest, encourage any suit or proceeding or delay any man's cause" (Rule 1.03); he "shall not do any falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in Court, nor shall he mislead, or allow the Court to be misled by any artifice" (Rule 10.01); and he "shall not knowingly x x x assert as a fact that which has not been proved" (Rule 10.02). Let this serve as a warning to Attys. Tria and Pampolina. Another transgression shall warrant the initiation of proceedings for their disbarment. Suffice it to state that lawyers should not transcend the bounds of propriety and commit a travesty before this Court by willfully, intentionally and deliberately resorting to falsehood and deception in handling their client's case in order to misguide, obstruct and impede the proper administration of justice. WHEREFORE, the Petition is DENIED. The assailed October 28, 2011 Decision and March 28, 2012 Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 117748 are AFFIRMED, with the MODIFICATION that in addition to the adjudged amounts of P104,955.31 as reimbursement for medical expenses and attorney's fees equivalent to 10 per cent (10%) of the total monetary award, the awarded sums of US$60,000.00 representing permanent total disability compensation and US$1,820.00 representing sickness allowance shall be paid by the petitioners to the respondent in Philippine pesos, computed at the exchange rate prevailing at the time of payment. Attorneys Herbert A. Tria and Jerome T. Pampolina are STERNLY WARNED for their unethical conduct. A repetition of these acts shall be dealt with more severely. SO ORDERED. elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/61296 15/20