A judge who hides from the Supreme Court the fact that he has pending cases by misrepresenting the matter when asked in his personal data sheet deserves dismissal from the judiciary and disbarment from the Philippine Bar, as discussed in a news item published on the Philippine Supreme Court website recently. A very stiff penalty, indeed.
SC Disbars RTC Judge and Dismisses Him from Service in the Government
Posted: August 28, 2009
By Caleen T. Chanyungco
Steadfast in the “implementation of the Court’s relentless drive to purge the judiciary of morally unfit members,” the Supreme Court recently dismissed a judge for dishonesty and falsification of an official document.
In a 16-page per curiam decision, the Court En Banc forfeited all benefits, except accrued leave credits, of Judge Virgilio G. Caballero, of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 30, and ordered her perpetual disqualification from holding office in any government branch or instrumentality, including government-owned or-controlled corporations. Likewise, Caballero was also disbarred and his name stricken from the Roll of Attorneys for violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility which mandates ever lawyer to uphold the Constitution; maintain the integrity of the legal profession; observe the respect due to the courts; and not do any falsehood nor mislead the court by any artifice.
Judge Caballero was faulted for committing “dishonesty when he checked the box indicating “no” to the question “Have you ever been formally charged?” in his Personal Data Sheet (PDS) filed in the Office of Administrative Services- Office of the Court Administrator (OAS-OCA) RTC Personnel Division” during his application for the position of RTC Judge.
The Court held that “a judge, knows (or should have known) fully well that the making of a false statement in his PDS could subject him to dismissal.” Caballero, “being a former public prosecutor and a judge now, has the duty to ensure that all laws and rules of the land are followed to the letter.” His being a judge makes it all the more unacceptable to do such falsehoods. Caballero’s action showed “an obvious lack of integrity, the most fundamental qualification of a member of the judiciary.”
“A judge should conduct himself in a manner which merits the respect and confidence of the people at all times, for he is the visible representation of the law,” emphasized the Court. If found Caballero however, to be unbridled in his “capacity to lie and evade the truth.”
Caballero was also disbarred by the Court finding that his “dishonest act was against the lawyer’s oath to ‘do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in court,’ Caballeros’s “dishonesty did not only affect the image of the judiciary, it also put his moral character in serious doubt and rendered him unfit to continue in the practice of law,” said the Court.
The Court concluded with the reminder that it is “extraordinarily strict with judges because, being the visible representation of the law, they should set a good example to the bench, bar and students of the law. The standard of integrity imposed on them is – and should be – higher than that of the average person for it is their integrity that gives them the right to judge.” (AM No. RTJ – 08-2138, Samson v. Judge Caballero August 5, 2009)
See:
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/news/courtnews%20flash/2009/08/08280902.php
