[ AC No. 198-J. May 31, 1971 ] 148-A Phil. 93
[ AC No. 198-J. May 31, 1971 ]
PAZ M. GARCIA, COMPLAINANT, VS. HON. CATALINO MACARAIG, JR., RESPONDENT. R E S O L U T I O N
BARREDO, J.:
Administrative complaint filed by one Paz M. Garcia against the Honorable Catalino Macaraig, Jr., formerly Judge of the Court of First Instance of Laguna, Branch VI, now Undersecretary of Justice, in his former capacity as judge, for alleged “dishonesty, violation of his oath of office as judge ….. gross incompetence, violation of Republic Act 296 or the Judiciary Act of 1948, as amended, (particularly) Sections 5, 55 and 58 thereof, committed (allegedly) as follows:
“2. That from July 1, 1970 up to February 28, 1971 inclusive, as such incumbent Judge, respondent herein, has not submitted his monthly reports containing the number of cases filed, disposed of, decided and/or resolved, the number of cases pending decisions for one month, two months to over three months, together with the title, number, number of hours of court session held a day, etc., as evidenced by the certificate issued by Hon. Eulalio D. Pichay, Judicial Superintendent, Dept. of Justice, copy of which is hereto attached as Annex ‘A’, Item No. 1, in violation of Circular No. 10 of the Dept. of Justice dated February 6, 1952, copy of which is hereto attached as Annex ‘B’;
“3. That he has not submitted his certificate of service (New Judicial Form No. 86, Revised 1966) from July to December, 1970 and from January to February, 1971 inclusive as evidenced by the certificate issued by Judge Pichay, Judicial Superintendent, Dept. of Justice Annex ‘A’, Item No. 2 thereof;
“4. That as incumbent Judge of Branch VI, Court of First Instance of Laguna and San Pablo and knowing fully well that he has never performed his official duties or discharged the duties appertaining to his office, he has collected and was paid his salaries from July to December, 1970 and from January to February 1971 as evidenced by the certificate issued by the cashier Mrs. Santos of the Department of Justice hereto attached as Annex ‘C’ and the certificate of Mr. Pichay Annex ‘A’, last paragraph thereof, aggravated by his repeated failure to submit the certificate of service in flagrant violation of section 5 of the Judiciary Act of 1948 as amended which provides as follows:
‘x x x District judges, judges of City Courts, and municipal Judges shall certify on their application for leave, and upon salary vouchers presented by them for payment, or upon the payrolls upon which their salaries are paid, that all special proceedings, applications, petitions, motions, and all civil and criminal cases which have been under submission for decision or determination for a period of ninety days or more have been determined and decided on or before the date of making the certificate and x x x no salary shall be paid without such certificate’ (Underscoring supplied).
“5. That his deliberate failure to submit the monthly reports from July to December, 1970 and from January, 1971 to February, 1971 stating therein the number of hours of session that the Court holds daily, the accomplishments of the Court constitutes a clear violation of Section 55 and 58 of the Judiciary Act of 1948, as amended.
“6. That by his deliberate violation of his Oath of Office as a District Judge of the Court of First Instance of Laguna and San Pablo, Branch VI he has manifested such moral bankruptcy as to deny his fitness to perform or discharge official duties in the administration of justice.
“7. That on June 29, 1970, respondent Judge wrote to the Honorable Secretary of Justice informing him that he was entering upon the performance of his duties, which letter of his reads in full:
‘I have the honor to inform you that I am entering upon the performance of the duties of the office of Judge of the Court of First Instance of Laguna and San Pablo City (Branch VI) today, June 29, 1970.’
“That such actuation of deliberately telling a deliberate falsehood aggravates his moral bankruptcy incompatible to the requirements of the highest degree of honesty, integrity and good moral character appertaining to holding the position of Judge in the administration of justice.”
Upon being so required, in due time, respondent filed an answer alleging pertinently that:
“THE FACTS
“Respondent took his oath as Judge of the Court of First Instance of Laguna and San Pablo City with station at Calamba on June 29, 1970. The court, being one of the 112 newly created CFI branches, had to be organized from scratch. After consultations with the officials of the province of Laguna, the municipality of Calamba and the Department of Justice, respondent decided to accept the offer of the Calamba Municipal Government to supply the space for the courtroom and offices of the court; to utilize the financial assistance promised by the Laguna provincial government for the purchase of the necessary supplies and materials; and to rely on the national government for the equipment needed by the court (Under Section 190 of the Revised Administrative Code, all these items must be furnished by the provincial government. The provincial officials of Laguna, however, informed the respondent that the province was not in a position to do so).
“As to the space requirements of the court, the Municipal Mayor of Calamba assured the respondent that the court could be accommodated in the west wing of the Calamba municipal building as soon as the office of the municipal treasurer and his personnel are transferred to another location. When the projected transfer of the municipal treasurer’s office was about to be effected, the treasurer and several municipal councilors objected. The municipal mayor then requested the respondent to look over some of the office spaces for rent in Calamba, with the commitment that the municipal government will shoulder the payment of the rentals. Respondent’s first choice was the second floor of the Republic Bank branch in Calamba, but the negotiations failed when the owner of the building refused to reduce the rent to P300 a month. The next suitable space selected by respondent was the second floor of the Laguna Development Bank. After a month’s negotiations, the municipality finally signed a lease agreement with the owner on October 26, 1970. Another month passed before the municipal government could release the amount necessary for the improvements to convert the space that was rented, which was a big hall without partitions, into a courtroom and offices for the personnel of the court and for the assistant provincial fiscal. Thereafter, upon respondent’s representations, the provincial government appropriated the amount of P5,000 for the purchase of the supplies and materials needed by the court. Early in December, 1970 respondent also placed his order for the necessary equipment with the Property Officer of the Department of Justice but, unfortunately, the appropriation for the equipment of courts of first instance was released only on December 23, 1970 and the procurement of the equipment chargeable against this allotment is still under way (please see enclosed certification of the Financial Officer of the Department of Justice marked Annex ‘A’).
“When respondent realized that it would be sometime before he could actually preside over his court, he applied for an extended leave (during the 16 years he had worked in the Department of Justice, respondent had, due to pressure of duties, never gone on extended leave, resulting in his forfeiting all the leave benefits he had earned beyond the maximum ten months allowed by the law). The Secretary of Justice, however, prevailed upon respondent to forego his leave and instead to assist him, without being extended a formal detail, whenever respondent was not busy attending to the needs of his court.
“Charges Have No Basis -
“Complainant has charged respondent with dishonesty, violation of his oath of office, grave incompetence and violation of Sections 5, 55 and 58 of the Judiciary Act.
“It is respectfully submitted that -
“A. Respondent’s inability to perform his judicial duties under the circumstances mentioned above does not constitute incompetence. Respondent was, like every lawyer who gets his first appointment to the bench, eager to assume his judicial duties and rid himself of the stigma of being ‘a judge without a sala’, but forces and circumstances beyond his control prevented him from discharging his judicial duties.
“B. Respondent’s collection of salaries as judge does not constitute dishonesty because aside from the time, effort and money he spent in organizing the CFI at Calamba, he worked in the Department of Justice (please see enclosed certification of Undersecretary of Justice Guillermo S. Santos marked Annex ‘B’). Indeed, even if respondent did no more than exert efforts to organize his court, he could, as other judges have done, have collected his salaries as judge without being guilty of dishonesty.
“Incidentally, when respondent took his oath as CFI judge which position then carried a salary of P19,000 per annum, he automatically ceased to be Chief of the Technical Staff of the Department of Justice and Member of the Board of Pardons and Parole, positions from which he was receiving P16,200 and P8,000 per annum, respectively. Also, in anticipation of the judicial duties which he was about to assume, respondent took a leave of absence from his professorial lecturer’s duties in the U.P. College of Law where he was receiving approximately P600 a month.
“C. Sections 5, 55 and 58 of the Judiciary Act and Circular No. 10 dated February 6, 1952 of the Department of Justice are not applicable to a Judge not actually discharging his judicial duties.
“The Department of Justice has never required judges who have not actually started to perform their judicial duties to comply with the abovementioned statutory provisions and circular (please see enclosed certification of Judge Eulalio D. Pichay, Judicial Superintendent, marked Annex ‘C’).
“Moreover, a reading of these sections and circular makes evident the folly of requiring a judge who has not entered into the performance of his judicial duties to comply with them. Taking Section 5, how could a judge who has not started to discharge his judicial duties certify that ‘all special proceedings, applications, petitions, motions, and all civil and criminal cases which have been under submission for decision or determination for a period of ninety days or more have been determined and decided on or before the date of making the certificate.’ And how could such a judge hold court in his place of permanent station as required by Section 55; observe the hours of daily sessions of the court as prescribed by Section 58; and render the reports required by Circular No. 10 when his court is not yet in physical existence. Clearly, therefore, Sections 5, 55 and 58 of the Judiciary Act and Circular No. 10 cannot apply to such a judge.”
In view of the nature of the allegations of complainant and respondent in their respective complaint and answer and considering, in the light thereof, that the material facts are more or less undisputed, the Court feels that this case can be disposed of without any further proceeding.
After mature study and deliberation, the Court is convinced that the complaint must be dismissed. To begin with, We cannot discern any tinge of dishonesty in the actuations of the respondent complained of. As We see it, the situation is not exactly as complainant has attempted to portray it. Complainant’s theory is that respondent collected or received salaries as judge when in fact he has never acted as such, since the date he took his oath up to the filing of the complaint. In the sense that respondent has not yet performed any judicial function, it may be admitted that respondent has not really performed the duties of judge. What is lost sight of, however, is that after taking his oath and formally assuming his position as judge, respondent had a perfect right to earn the salary of a judge even in the extreme supposition that he did not perform any judicial function for he could, while preparing himself for his new job or for any good reason, take a leave, as in fact, he had planned to do, were it not for the request of the Secretary of Justice for him to forego the idea and, instead, help the Department in whatever way possible which would not, it must be presumed, impair his position as a judge. This is more so, when, as in this case, the government offices or officers in duty bound to furnish him the necessary place and facilities for his court and the performance of his functions have failed to provide him therewith without any fault on his part. That respondent took it upon himself to personally work for early action on the part of the corresponding officials in this direction and, in his spare time, made himself available to the Department of Justice to assist the Secretary, what with his vast experience, having worked therein for sixteen years, is, far from being dishonesty, to his credit. In the circumstances, it was certainly not improper that he rendered some kind of service to the government, since he was receiving salaries, while being unable to perform his regular duties as judge without any fault on his part. As to whether or not in doing so he placed in jeopardy the independence of the judiciary and failed to act according to the correct norm of conduct which a judge should observe vis-a-vis service to the other departments of the government will be discussed anon. At this juncture, the only point We settle is that complainant’s theory of dishonesty cannot hold water.
Admittedly respondent has not prepared and submitted any of the reports of accomplishments and status of cases in his sala which are usually required of judges under existing laws as well as the corresponding circulars of the Department of Justice. The reason is simple. He has not yet started performing any judicial functions. None of those laws and circulars apply to him, for all of them contemplate judges who are actually holding trials and hearings and making decisions and orders. On the other hand, respondent could not be blamed for taking his oath as he did, for he had a valid confirmed appointment in his favor. In other words, he simply made himself available for the purposes for which he was appointed. That he could not actually hold office in the court to which he was appointed was not of his making. The other officials in charge of providing him therewith seem to have been caught unprepared and have not had enough time to have it ready. Conceivably, under the law, with the permission of this Court, respondent could have been assigned to another court pending all these preparations, but that is something within the initiative and control of the Secretary of Justice and not of the respondent.
Of course, none of these is to be taken as meaning that this Court looks with favor at the practice of long standing, to be sure, of judges being detailed in the Department of Justice to assist the Secretary even if it were only in connection with his work of exercising administrative authority over the courts. The line between what a judge may do and what he may not do in collaborating or working with other offices or officers under the other great departments of the government must always be kept clear and jealously observed, lest the principle of separation of powers on which our government rests by mandate of the people thru the Constitution be gradually eroded by practices purportedly motivated by good intentions in the interest of the public service. The fundamental advantages and the necessity of the independence of said three departments from each other, limited only by the specific constitutional precepts on check and balance between and among them, have long been acknowledged as more paramount than the serving of any temporary or passing governmental conveniences or exigencies. It is thus of grave importance to the judiciary under our present constitutional scheme of government that no judge of even the lowest court in this Republic should place himself in a position where his actuations on matters submitted to him for action or resolution would be subject to review and prior approval and, worst still, reversal, before they can have legal effect, by any authority other than the Court of Appeals or this Supreme Courts, as the case may be. Needless to say, this Court feels very strongly that it is best that this practice is discontinued.
WHEREFORE, the herein administrative complaint is hereby dismissed. Let a copy of this resolution be furnished the Secretary of Justice.
Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Zaldivar, and Villamor, JJ., concur. Fernando, J., concurs fully and in addition submits a brief separate opinion. Ruiz Castro and Teehankee, JJ., took no part. Makasiar, J., concurs with the opinion of J. Fernando.