SECOND DIVISION
[A.M. No. P-13-3121. June 10, 2013.][Formerly OCA IPI No. 12-3787-P]
CONCERNED COURT EMPLOYEES, petitioner, vs. GERALDINE G. LIM, CLERK III, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT, AND FELIPE F. LICAYAN II, UTILITY WORKER, BRANCH 3, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BOTH OF TAGBILARAN CITY, respondents.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 10 June 2013 which reads as follows:
A.M. No. P-13-3121 [Formerly OCA IPI No. 12-3787-P] (Concerned Court Employees v. Geraldine G. Lim, Clerk III, Regional Trial Court, Office of the Clerk of Court, and Felipe F. Licayan II, Utility Worker, Branch 3, Regional Trial Court, both of Tagbilaran City)
The image of a court of justice is necessarily mirrored in the conduct, official or otherwise, of the men and women who work thereat, from the judge to the least and lowest of its personnel — hence, it becomes the imperative sacred duty of each and everyone in the court to maintain its good name and standing as a true temple of justice. 1
Before the Court is an anonymous letter dated 31 August 2009, 2 alleging, among others, that respondents Geraldine G. Lim (Lim), Clerk III, Office of the Clerk of Court, Regional Trial Court, Tagbilaran City and Felipe F. Licayan II (Licayan), Utility Worker, Regional Trial Court, Branch 3, Tagbilaran City are openly having an illicit affair. DacASC
Upon referral for discreet investigation and report, Executive Judge Fernando C. Fuentes III (Executive Judge Fuentes), in a Report dated 28 January 2011, 3 stated that it is of common knowledge among court personnel at the Tagbilaran City Hall of Justice that Lim and Licayan are cohabiting as "live-in-spouses" and that they have sired two children. Lim is married, but her husband allegedly left her soon after the marriage; Licayan, on the other hand, is single. Given these initial reports, the Court referred the matter to Executive Judge Suceso A. Arcamo (Executive Judge Arcamo) for exhaustive investigation, report, and recommendation.
In a Report dated 28 June 2012, 4 Executive Judge Arcamo confirmed the initial findings of Executive Judge Fuentes. Executive Judge Arcamo relied on the Joint Counter-Affidavit of Lim and Licayan, 5 to wit: EcHIDT
xxx xxx xxx
4. That we are accused of living in an immoral state of relationship, with me, GERALDINE G. LIM, being married, had delivered births to two (2) children — PHILIP GERARD GALLEGO on June 16, 2000, and PHILLIP ZANDRICK GALLEGO on January 28, 2002 — both in Tagbilaran City. Annexes "A" and "A-1" are the respective copies of their certificate of live birth/birth certificate;
5. That I, GERALDINE G. LIM, is married to a certain Ricardo Lim, Jr. who is a native of General Santos City, Philippines. We got married on December 27, 1996 in Tagbilaran City but shortly after our marriage, particularly in the month of March, 1997, we got separated from each other because not only that he did not live with me, but worse, he was found out to be living with another woman in General Santos City when I tried to fetch him on such date[;]
6. That I have long wanted that my marriage with Ricardo Lim be annulled but I cannot afford to shoulder the financial requirement in filing the annulment case. Being abandoned and left alone, I tried to find comfort from some friends, among whom is Felipe F. Licayan, who is also a employee of the Regional Trial Court of Bohol;
7. That at the outset, I thought that our relationship will only be just friends. But as time went by, probably mutually understanding of the need to find somebody whom you can turn to in cases when I need him, our relationship has turned from friends into lovers. However, our relationship is believed not to be immoral because it fall short of the legal requirement of immorality as defied by the Supreme Court in the case of Elape v. Elate (551 SCRA 403) which holds that:
"Immoral conduct which is willful, flagrant or shameless, and which shows a moral indifference to the opinion of the good and respectable members of the community. . . . ."
8. That I have not been related to any other man than Felipe F. Licayan;
xxx xxx xxx
On the basis of their admission, Executive Judge Arcamo recommended that Lim and Licayan be found guilty of disgraceful and immoral conduct, and that they be suspended for three (3) months, imposed alternately in order that at least one of the respondents would be working while the other is serving the suspension.
Upon review, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), in a Memorandum dated 10 October 2012, 6 upheld the findings and recommendation of Executive Judge Arcamo.
We adopt the findings and recommendation of the OCA.
The Civil Service Commission 7 defines disgraceful and immoral conduct as follows: cECaHA
Section 1.Definition of Disgraceful and Immoral Conduct. — Disgraceful and Immoral Conduct refers to an act which violates the basic norm of decency, morality and decorum abhorred and condemned by the society. It refers to conduct which is willful, flagrant or shameless, and which shows a moral indifference to the opinions of the good and respectable members of the community.
In Concerned Employee v. Mayor, 8 the Court characterized the act of having sexual relations with a married person, or of married persons having relations outside their marriage as "disgraceful and immoral" conduct because such manifests deliberate disregard by the actor of the marital vows protected by the Constitution and our laws. The Court went further and pronounced that such perversion is especially egregious if committed by judicial personnel, or those persons specifically tasked with the administration of justice and the laws of the land.
Indeed, even if not all forms of extra-marital relations are punishable under penal law, the sanctity of marriage is constitutionally recognized and likewise affirmed by our statutes as a special contract of permanent union. As such, the Court has had little qualms with penalizing judicial employees for their dalliances with married persons or for their own betrayals of the marital vow of fidelity. 9
Time and again, it has been stressed that while every office in the government is a public trust, no position exacts a greater demand for moral righteousness and uprightness from an individual that is part of the Judiciary. Indeed, the image of a court of justice is mirrored in the conduct of the personnel who work thereat, from the judge to the lowest of its personnel. Court employees are enjoined to adhere to the exacting standards of morality and decency in their professional and private conduct in order to preserve the good name and integrity of the courts of justice. The conduct of court personnel must be free from any whiff of impropriety, not only with respect to their duties in the judicial branch, but also to their behavior outside the court as private individuals. There is no dichotomy of morality; a court employee is also judged by his or her private morals. 10 DSCIEa
In the case at bar, there is no doubt that respondents are maintaining an illicit affair. Aside from their admission, it is of common knowledge among the court personnel in Bohol that respondents are living together under one roof, and they even report to work together on board their motorcycle. 11 These taken together, we deem the standard of substantial evidence to have been met.
Under the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, disgraceful and immoral conduct is punishable by suspension of six months and one day to one year for the first offense. 12
The present matter, however, has certain nuances that merit the imposition of a tempered penalty. Lim, although married, was abandoned by her husband for another woman shortly after their marriage. It can be said that these circumstances constrained her to seek comfort and solace in the arms of another man. It is to be noted that Lim has no other known affairs other than that with Licayan and, for his part, Licayan also has no other known affairs with married women other than that with Lim. These said, we find the penalty of suspension for three (3) months adequate.
Respondents having two children, one of whom has special needs, 13 the Court further tempers the penalty by imposing it alternately in order that at least one of the respondents would be working while the other is serving suspension.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Court hereby resolves to:
1) RE-DOCKET the instant administrative complaint as a regular administrative case;
2) find respondents Geraldine G. Lim and Felipe F. Licayan II GUILTY of disgraceful and immoral conduct, and accordingly penalize them with SUSPENSION for three (3) months;
3) IMPOSE the penalty alternately in order that at least one of the respondents would be working while the other is serving the suspension; and IHEAcC
4) STERNLY WARN respondents of a more severe penalty SHOULD THEY REMAIN LIVING TOGETHER AND PERSIST IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WHILE THE MARRIAGE OF RESPONDENT LIM REMAINS VALID AND SUBSISTING. (CARPIO, J. on Court's Wellness Program, BRION, J., designated Acting Chairperson, LEONEN, J. designated acting member.)
SO ORDERED. TcCEDS
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Recto v. Racelis, 162 Phil. 566, 574 (1976).
2.Rollo, p. 1.
3.Id. at 4.
4.Id. at 21-24.
5.Id. at 16-17.
6.Id. at 27-31.
7.Memorandum Circular No. 15, series of 2010.
8.486 Phil. 51 (2004).
9.Id. at 63.
10.Court Employees of the MCTC, Ramon Magsaysay, Zamboanga del Sur v. Sy, 512 Phil. 523, 535-536 (2005).
11.OCA Memorandum dated 10 October 2012. Rollo, p. 30.
12.Section 46 (B) (3).
13.Investigation Report dated 28 June 2012. Rollo, p. 23.