Eroding faith in judicial system

Under Canon 4 Sections 13, 14 and 15 of the New Code of Judicial Conduct, Judges are prohibited to ask for or accept directly or through their staff under their influence or control any gift, loan or favor in relation to anything done or to be done or omitted to be done by them while in the performance of their duties. They may however receive a token gift, award or benefit appropriate for the occasion on which it is made provided such gift, benefit or award might not reasonably be perceived as intended to influence them in the performance of their duties or otherwise give rise to an appearance of impropriety. These are the rules applied in this case of Judge G.

One of the cases filed with Judge G was the special guardianship proceedings of a priest Rev. Fr. A after the latter suffered a stroke. In an order dated December 17, 2004, Judge G authorized the guardians of the property of Fr. A to withdraw from the latter’s bank account the sum of P50, 000 for him to purchase law books which the guardians deemed best to give him to aid in his work as judge and in the spirit of the yuletide season. For the money received by virtue of such order Judge G even issued an Acknowledgment Receipt dated December 22, 2004.

Previous to this, or on November 25 and 30, 2004, Judge G likewise issued orders directing the   manager of the bank to draw from the account of the late Fr. A checks in the amount of P40,000 each for the purchase of three cellular phones which the property guardians gave him for the necessary networking of information about the ward of the court. Then Judge G also issued at least four orders, one even before the purchase of the cell phones, directing the bank manager to draw checks from the account of the late Fr. A amounting to several thousands of pesos in the name of the Branch OIC Clerk for the purchase of cellular cell phone cards. Acknowledgment Receipts were also issued by Judge G and the clerk.

Because of these orders, an unsigned letter complaint was filed by the heirs of the late Fr. A for the alleged abuse of authority of Judge G in connection with the special proceeding involving the guardianship of the property of Fr. A.

Judge G insisted that there was nothing irregular about his actuations. In fact the warring heirs themselves prevailed upon him to stay longer after the death of Fr. A so that he could make orders to the bank for the eventual distribution of the moneys to the heirs thereby resulting in the extrajudicial settlement of the estate of Fr. A which wrote finis to the squabble among them. He said that the heirs even hailed him as hero, savior, Santa Claus and godfather. Was Judge G nevertheless guilty?

Yes. Judge G clearly falls short of the exacting standards set by the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary. His acts of receiving law books worth P50,000, cellular phones and prepaid phone cards from the property guardians of the late Fr. A who was then the ward of the court constitute impropriety. They subject the court to suspicion of irregularities in the conduct of the proceedings.

A judge should avoid impropriety and even the appearance of impropriety in all activities. He should perform his duties honestly and with impartiality and diligence. Judges should ensure that not only are their conducts above reproach but that they are to be so in the view of reasonable observers. It is of vital importance not only that independence, integrity and impartiality have been observed by judges and reflected in their decisions, but that these must also appear to have been so observed in the eyes of the people so as to avoid any erosion of faith in the justice system. So for violating Sections 13, 14 and 15 Canon 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, Judge G is fined P20,000 with a warning that a repetition of similar infractions will be dealt with more severely (Heirs of Fr. Aspiras vs. Ganay, A.M. RTJ-07-2055, December 17, 2009).

Note: Books containing compilation of my articles on Labor Law and Criminal Law (Vols. I and II) are now available. Call Tel. 7249445.

* * *

E-mail at: [email protected]