Ex-envoy’s lawyer pulls out of estate dispute

A law firm representing former Ambassador to Spain Juan Rocha in a probate of will proceeding filed by his younger stepbrother’s widow before a Makati City court recently withdrew from the case because of conflict of interest.

Lawyer Reynaldo Dizon, of the Martinez, Vergara, Gonzales & Serrano law firm, personally informed Judge Elmo Alameda of his withdrawal during a hearing held last February 2.

He told the court that he could no longer represent Rocha because he represented Ma. Luisa Olasola Rocha, the petitioner, in another case when he was with another law firm.

As a result, Dizon was unable to argue in behalf of his client who is being asked to show proof that the petitioner’s late husband Arturo Rocha, a former honorary consul to Costa Rica who died of blood poisoning in Ireland in 2005, had unpaid debts to the family–owned company CF Sharp & Co.

Mrs. Rocha filed a probate of will case against her late husband’s stepbrother after the latter failed to show her proof that her deceased spouse had debts which are now being paid through the sale of assets when he died.

Rocha was eventually named as the executor of the deceased’s estate while he remained head of the family corporation as president.

He allegedly went to sell several prime real estate properties, shares of stocks, luxury vehicles, and several art masterpieces, among others, that belonged to the deceased to supposedly pay-off unsettled obligations.

Mrs. Rocha opted to bring the issue to the court in an effort to save her children from losing their father’s investments for their future.

The petitioner said she only wanted her brother-in-law to prove that her husband had debts. – Michael Punongbayan