The clerk of court of Liloan town was fined P5,000 by the Supreme Court for not issuing an official receipt for money she already received.
The SC’s third division presided by Justice Consuelo Santiago ruled that Marciana Apas-Pilapil of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Liloan is guilty of demanding more payment of transportation allowance from lawyer Jose Wayne Lawas.
Lawas complained before the Supreme Court after Pilapil failed to issue him an official receipt of the P1,050 that she had demanded for the transportation allowance of the subpoena server.
The Supreme Court requires the complainants of cases to deposit P1,000 upon filing of the complaint to defray the actual travel expenses of the sheriff or process server, but Pilapil demanded P1,050 from Lawas, when he filed a civil case on behalf of his client.
Aside from the P1,050 transportation allowance, Lawas also paid Pilapil another P1,006 for the Judicial Development Fund, P2,064 for the Special Allowance of Judges and Justices, and P307 as legal research fund — and these were properly covered with official receipts.
The SC reminded Pilapil that the judiciary, being the institution charged with the dispensation of justice through the courts, from the presiding judge to the lowest clerk, must be circumscribed with a heavy burden of responsibility.
“Any conduct which would violate the norms of public accountability and diminish, or even tend to diminish, the faith of the people in the justice system must be punished so as to deter a repetition of the like,” Justice Antonio Nachura said. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP