SC clears CA justice of gross neglect

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has recently cleared a woman justice of the Court of Appeals (CA) in Cebu who was accused by a litigant of gross neglect of duty for overlooking a fraudulent document used in a case last year.

The High Court junked for lack of merit the administrative complaint filed against Associate Justice Socorro Inting.

“Given the lack of any evidence to prove that Justice Inting acted with any bad faith or ill-motive in acting on the petition, or even committed any error in issuing the assailed order, we dismiss the complaint against her,” read the nine-page decision penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion.

Chief Justice Renato Corona and all 13 other magistrates of the SC concurred in this ruling.

In the complaint against Inting filed by members of Chinese Grocers Association (CGA) last November, the magistrate was accused of gross neglect of duty for granting a petition of Romualdo de la Cruz for the issuance of a new owner’s duplicate copy of Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT).

De la Cruz filed the petition as the alleged vendee of the property.

CGA, however, pointed out that the Deed of Absolute Sale dated Aug. 15, 2008, the basis for De la Cruz’s interest and right to file the petition, should have aroused Justice Inting’s suspicion as it was allegedly signed on behalf of CGA by a certain Ang Bio, who died on Aug. 28, 2001.

Complainant then questioned before the High Court why Inting did not scrutinize De la Cruz on the particulars of the sale.

They further faulted her for not asking De la Cruz why he, and not CGA, filed the petition.

But the SC explained: “No one from CGA appeared during the proceedings to oppose De la Cruz’s petition or to bring to Justice Inting’s attention the fact that Ang Bio was already dead at the time of the deed of sale was allegedly executed.”

“Given the lack of any evidence to assume otherwise, Justice Inting correctly relied on the notarized Deed of Sale in the presumption of regularity,” it added.

Prior to Inting’s appointment to the appellate court in 2009, she served as presiding judge of branch 4, Regional Trial Court, Manila, for more than nine years and presiding judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court, branch 63, Makati, for almost three years.

She was a state prosecutor for six years and a public attorney for seven years and also engaged in private practice of law before she launched her career in government service.