THIRD DIVISION
[A.M. OCA I.P.I. No. 09-3219-P. February 26, 2014.]
LORENZO BALAGAN MARAMAG, petitioner, vs. FATIMA B. ACCAD, CLERK OF COURT III, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT IN CITIES, BRANCH 1, TUGUEGARAO CITY, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Third Division, issued a Resolution dated February 26, 2014, which reads as follows:
"A.M. OCA I.P.I. No. 09-3219-P (Lorenzo Balagan Maramag v. Fatima B. Accad, Clerk of Court III, Municipal Trial Court in Cities, Branch 1, Tuguegarao City). — For resolution is the Report and Recommendation 1 of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), dated October 29, 2013, regarding the administrative complaint 2 against respondent Fatima B. Accad (Fatima), Clerk of Court III, Branch 1, Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, for 1] conduct unbecoming a court employee; and 2] immorality.
It appears that complainant Lorenzo Balagan Maramag (Maramag) and Alicia D. Accad (Alicia), the purported mother-in-law of Fatima, were protagonists in a land case 3 before the Regional Trial Court of Tuguegarao City. On July 29, 2009, while the case was pending, Maramag filed an administrative complaint against Fatima. IECcAT
Maramag imputed wrong doing on the part of Fatima. He allegedly saw and heard her talking to the judge in charge of their land dispute regarding a pending motion. He also submitted a photocopy of a marriage contract from the National Statistics Office (NSO), dated August 28, 1981, between a certain Aida Apostol and Pablo Accad, Jr. (Pablo Jr.), Fatima's husband. 4
On July 28, 2010, this Court, upon the recommendation of the OCA, dismissed the complaint for Conduct Unbecoming a Court Employee because it was unsubstantiated. With respect to the charge of Immorality, the complaint was referred to the Executive Judge of the MTCC in Tuguegarao City for investigation, report and recommendation within 60 days from receipt of the records. 5 Three judges of the MTCC in Tuguegarao City voluntarily inhibited themselves from investigating Fatima before it was finally referred to Judge Blaise G. Sambolledo-Barcena (Judge Sambolledo-Barcena), 8th Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC). 6
During the hearing on July 18, 2013, Maramag failed to appear while Fatima and her counsel were present. Fatima presented three (3) witnesses. 7
Her defense essentially rested on her claim of lack of knowledge of Pablo Jr.'s earlier marriage. She explained that she only found out about the said marriage on September 8, 2009, when she was served a copy of the complaint. 8 She believed Pablo's representation that he was single and had no reason to doubt it. 9 This was corroborated by her friend and Alicia, Pablo Jr.'s mother, who both denied any knowledge of his prior marriage. 10
In her report, 11 dated July 25, 2013, Judge Sambolledo-Barcena gave her recommendation to the Court, to wit:
Respondent should be held administratively liable for continuously and willfully living with her husband under an illegal marriage knowing, since September 8, 2009, that her husband has previous existing marriage with one Aida Apostol and for her inaction and complacency about the situation she is in up to this time.
Considering respondent's 30 years of dedicated service to the Judiciary and that this is her first administrative case, the penalty to be imposed on her should be tempered with compassion and kindness.
It is humbly recommended that the penalty of NINETY (90) DAYS SUSPENSION be imposed on the respondent, and that she will be directed to take the necessary action to remedy her predicament with her marriage or to extricate herself from the situation, within a reasonable period of time. 12
Based on the foregoing, the OCA rendered its own recommendation in its Memorandum, dated October 29, 2013.
IN VIEW THEREOF, this Office hereby recommends that the instant administrative case against Fatima B. Accad, Clerk of Court III, Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), Branch 1, Tuguegarao City, be DISMISSED. However, respondent Accad is hereby DIRECTED to take the necessary steps to rectify her predicament and to report to the Court the steps she undertook and the results thereof within six (6) months from notice. 13
According to the OCA, "there was no conduct on the part of respondent prior to 08 September 2009 which would qualify as gross immoral conduct" 14 because she had no knowledge then of Pablo Jr.'s prior existing marriage. OCA further explained,
In respondent's case, consideration must be given to the fact that prior to 08 September 2009 she and Pablo were living a happy family life; a family that involves not only them but also two children; a family, that up to the present is still living as a family, as the so-called 'light' thereof refuses to dim albeit the obvious illegality, an illegality that she has had no participation at the inception but is prepared to suffer its consequences. 15
This Court agrees with the recommendation of the OCA except as to the length of time to rectify her predicament.
The Court cannot penalize Fatima for the predicament in which she finds herself now. There is no evidence at all that she had knowledge of the marital status of Pablo, Jr. when she married him. Even the mother of Pablo, Jr. testified that she herself did not know of his son's previous existing marriage, because he stayed in Manila from 1975-1986 and in La Union from 1986 to 1990 where he lived on his own. He only went back to Cagayan in 1990 and married Fatima in 1994. If Pablo, Jr. chose to keep his past to himself and conceal it from the people he loved for whatever reason, it was already beyond the control of Fatima. The Court, thus, is of the considered view that Fatima is also a victim and is now suffering the consequences of Pablo's misrepresentation. To penalize her with suspension will do more injustice to her present situation.
Being now aware of his previous marriage, Fatima should now realize that their marriage is a sham and she is currently having a relationship with a married man. Indeed, she needs to take the proper steps to remedy the situation to avoid the scrutinizing eyes of the public. cATDIH
WHEREFORE, the complaint is DISMISSED. Fatima B. Accad, Clerk of Court III, Branch I, Municipal Trial Court in Cities, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, is hereby directed to take steps to rectify her predicament and to report to the Court the result of the steps she would undertake within one (1) year from notice.
The Memorandum dated October 29, 2013 of the Office of the Court Administrator is NOTED. (Abad, J., on leave;Bersamin, J., designated Acting Member per Special Order No. 1640 dated February 19, 2014.)
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
LUCITA ABJELINA SORIANODivision Clerk of Court
By:
(SGD.) WILFREDO V. LAPITANDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Rollo, pp. 26-27.
2. Id. at 1-3.
3. Id. at 159.
4. Id. at 3 and 9.
5. Id. at 28.
6. Id. at 66 and 157.
7. Id. at 110.
8. Id. at 79 and 116.
9. Id. at 115.
10. Id. at 121-128.
11. Id. at 140-150.
12. Id. at 150.
13. Id. at 162-163.
14. Id. at 160.
15. Id. at 161.