MANILA – Three more trial court judges were ordered dismissed as part of the determined campaign by the Supreme Court (SC) to cleanse the Philippine judiciary of “bad eggs” and the incompetent, an SC spokesman disclosed.
The spokesman disclosed the judges were fired for various violations of judicial rules, including gross ignorance of the law.
The spokesman identified them as Judges Ramon Caguioa of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Olongapo City in Zambales province, Central Luzon; Victoria Villalon-Pornillos of the Malolos City RTC in Bulacan province, also in Central Luzon; and Priscilla Hernandez of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Jimenez-Sinacaban, Misamis Oriental province in Mindanao.
Caguioa, the spokesman said, was fired for gross ignorance of the law and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service when he erroneously issued three preliminary injunctions in different civil cases pending before his sala.
On the other hand, the spokesman said that aside from the ouster of Hernandez, the SC also ordered the forfeiture of all her retirement benefits, excluding her accrued leave credits, as well as perpetual disqualification from holding any other position in government.
The High Court likewise fined Hernandez with the equivalent of $400 for her repeated violations of the Rules of Court, particularly the prohibition on the taking out of records in the custody of the clerk of court without an order from the court.
Despite several SC directives, the spokesman said Hermandez failed to explain the whereabouts of certain missing case records and took five years to return them.
Citing the High Court ruling, the spokesman added the SC imposed a separate fine of $100 on Hernandez for violating the Code of Professional Conduct for members of the judiciary.
He said the code mandates every lawyer to uphold the Constitution, observe and maintain the respect due to the courts, exert every effort and consider it one’s duty to assist in the speedy administration of justice, and not unduly delay a case, impede the execution of a judgment or misuse judicial processes.
For instance, the spokesman said that despite several SC directives, Hernandez failed to explain why she did not act and decide promptly on the cases pending before her sala following an audit investigation in February 2003 and October 2005.
In the case of Pornillos, the spokesman said she was dismissed for borrowing $100 from a lawyer who had at least two cases being heard by the judge.
Apart from the three judges, the SC has ordered the suspension of three court personnel for various offenses but who were not identified by the spokesman.
Two of those suspended, he said, were SC shuttle bus drivers who engaged in a fistfight in front of a crowd in a park in Manila in November 2008.
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