Justice delayed

Judges should at all times manifest fidelity to the trust reposed in them by being prompt in the disposition of their cases. Under the Judiciary Act, they are given 90 days to decide cases submitted for resolution. If they fail to do so, without justifiable excuse, they may be held administratively liable as shown in this case of a Judge of the then Court of First Instance (Judge GR).

An administrative complaint was filed against Judge GR because of, among others, his failure to decide one of the cases assigned in his sala within the 90 day period prescribed by the Judiciary Act and his having continued to collect his salaries in the meantime upon his certification that he has no pending matters to resolve.

As his explanation and excuse, Judge GR claimed that he did not act in bad faith in making his report and certification. Actually, he said that he had already prepared a draft of the decision but his subordinates failed to properly take care of the records of the case so much so that the same was later misplaced and forgotten before being finalized. More unfortunate was that his subordinates failed to inform him or called his attention to such loss apparently because of fear to incur his ire. Was Judge GR’s explanation enough to absolve him from any liability?

No. It may be true that Judge GR did not act in bad faith in making his reports which did not reflect the pendency of said case. Indeed Judge GR did not act with malevolent design in making the inaccurate reports of his judicial actuations and withdrawing his salaries on the basis thereof. Nonetheless, there can be no doubt that he has shown lack of due diligence in the performance of his judicial functions resulting in the undue delay of the administration of justice. In the public interest such official dereliction, even if not malicious, deserves proper sanctions because at this stage, there could not be any possibility anymore of misconstruing the Judiciary Act that Judge GR violated. Hence, of the amount which would be payable to Judge GR upon approval of his retirement, a sum equivalent to his salary for three months should be forfeited in favor of the government (Cortes vs. Romero, A.M. No. 243-J, July 30, 1976).

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Starting today, September 16, 2010 to September 19, 2010, the Philippine Rotary Magazine (PRM), the official regional magazine of Rotary International will host the 2010 Asia Pacific Rotary Editors’ Seminar at the Sulo Riviera Hotel in Quezon City. The delegates are the editors of the official Rotary regional magazines from Australia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, India, Thailand and the Philippines. The Philippine delegation is composed of PRM Editor-in-Chief, Past District Governor (PDG) Mar Un Ocampo II (D3790), PRM Managing Editor PDG Sonny Ventura and PRM Associate Editor, Past President Ed Trinidad. PDG Felix Domigpe (D37700 is the chairman of the Organizing Committee.

Aside from the seminar proper where various topics on improving the content, viability and circulation of the regional magazine and developments in Rotary World Magazine Press, the three day itinerary includes a courtesy call on the Quezon City Mayor, tour of historic sites and fellowships capped by a Barrio Fiesta in Intramuros sponsored by the Department of Tourism. Other hosts of the activities are: RI Past District Director Paeng and spouse Mely Hechanova; PRM Advertising Manager PDG Lina Aurelio(D3780); Council of Governors and Rotary Club of Diliman QC/ PDG Bimbo Salazar. District Governor Ambo Gancayco of D3780, the host district, will join in welcoming the delegates.

There are 31 Rotary World Magazines independently produced in countries around the globe, published in more than 20 languages and distributed in about 130 countries with a combined circulation of 775,000. The Asia Pacific Editors’ seminar is held every other year with the last one held in Sydney, Australia.

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