SC fines retired judge P40,000

CEBU - The Supreme Court has slapped retired Regional Trial Court Judge Ireneo Lee Gako Jr. with a P40,000 fine for acting on 518 petitions for voluntary confinement and rehabilitation of drug dependents without authority.

After investigation, the High Court found out that the petitions were not raffled off but were just brought directly to Gako’s sala by a court employee, in violation of an existing policy.

Aside from Gako, who presided over the RTC Branch 5 before he retired, several other court employees were also penalized by the High Court.

RTC-Cebu City clerk of courts Jeffrey Joaquino was reprimanded for negligence, while Gako’s former administrative officer Monica Dionaldo was fined with the amount equivalent to her two months salary.

Nida Suyko, Gako’s former legal researcher, was also fined by the Supreme Court with the amount equivalent to her one-month salary, while RTC Branch 5 clerk Manuel Nollora was reprimanded for neglect of duty.

Gako explained that he believed that his sala had jurisdiction over the petitions that were brought to him.

Before the creation of the drug courts, all petitions for voluntary confinement and rehabilitation of drug dependents were raffled off to all court branches. Today, such petitions will only be raffled off to the five drug courts.

Joaquino said he did not suspect that Dionaldo would forward directly to RTC Branch 5 the petitions without these being raffled off because he did not receive any complaint.

Suyko, for her part, was liable because she did not bother to inquire if the cases had indeed been raffled off to Gako’s court. She believed that the petitions brought to RTC Branch 5 were rightly belonged to them.

The High Court said Gako, being a judge, is presumed to know the law. “Judges should administer their office with due regard to the integrity of the system itself, remembering that they are not depositories of arbitrary power, but judges under the sanction of law.” — Rene U. Boromeo/LPM (THE FREEMAN)