SC slaps P10K fine against retired judge

The Supreme Court's second division recently imposed a P10,000 fine on retired judge Rumoldo Fernandez, formerly of the Regional Trial Court-branch 54 in Lapu-Lapu City, for failure to resolve the cases assigned to him within the reglamentary period.

The SC ruled that the failure of a judge to decide a case within the reglamentary period is not excusable and constitutes gross inefficiency warranting the imposition of administrative sanctions.

"Delay in the disposition of cases undermines the people's faith and confidence in the judicial system. Indeed, to uphold the integrity of the office, a judge's work should at all times reflect the import of diligence and professional competence," said SC associate justice Romeo Callejo, in the decision.

During his stint as judge, Fernandez failed to comply with the rules that "all cases or matters filed must be decided or resolved within one year period from the date of submission for all lower collegiate courts, and three months for all lower courts."

When the Office of the Court Administrator conducted a judicial audit of RTC branch 54 shortly before Fernandez retired from service, it found out that there were 962 pending cases - 456 were criminal in nature and the same number of cases were civil.

There were 24 cases submitted for decision, but four of these were already past the reglamentary period. Then there were 112 cases considered "dormant", or not acted upon despite the lapse of considerable time.

Fernandez tried to convince the SC justices that the large number of cases pending in his sala coupled with the limited resources at his disposal have contributed to his failure to resolve the cases on time.

But the SC justices ruled that Fernandez "cannot hide under the much-abused excuse of heavy caseloads to justify his failure to decide and resolve cases promptly." - Rene U. Borromeo