SECOND DIVISION
[A.M. No. P-16-3420. February 10, 2016.]
OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR, petitioner,vs. MS. LORNA C. DOMINGO, CLERK OF COURT II, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT, TALUGTOG, NUEVA ECIJA [FORMERLY A.M. NO. 15-10-116-MTC (RE: TRAVEL ABROAD WITHOUT AUTHORITY OF MS. LORNA C. DOMINGO, CLERK OF COURT II, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT, TALUGTOG, NUEVA ECIJA]), respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 10 February 2016 which reads as follows:
"A.M. No. P-16-3420 — (Office of the Court Administrator v. Ms. Lorna C. Domingo, Clerk of Court II, Municipal Trial Court, Talugtog, Nueva Ecija) [Formerly A.M. No. 15-10-116-MTC (Re: Travel Abroad without Authority of Ms. Lorna C. Domingo, Clerk of Court II, Municipal Trial Court, Talugtog, Nueva Ecija])
In an anonymous complaint 1 filed on October 18, 2013, before the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), respondent Lorna C. Domingo (Domingo), Clerk of Court II, Municipal Trial Court, Talugtog, Nueva Ecija (MTC), was charged with falsification of her time records.
According to the anonymous complaint, Domingo traveled to Hong Kong and Macau from January 2 to 6, 2012 (Monday to Friday) without a proper leave of absence, and she falsely declared her attendance at the MTC. Attached in the complaint was (1) a photo of Domingo in China, 2 dated January 4, 2012, which was downloaded from her daughter's Facebook account; and (2) a photocopy of the MTC's Attendance Log Book, 3 which showed that she had signed it from January 2 to 4, 2012, and that she was on sick leave from January 5 to 6, 2012.
In its 1st Indorsement, 4 dated November 7, 2013, the OCA required Domingo to comment on her alleged travel abroad without authority and falsification of her attendance. Also, in a Letter, 5 dated November 14, 2013, the OCA requested the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to inform it whether Domingo indeed traveled to Hong Kong from January 2 to 6, 2012. CAIHTE
In her Comment, 6 dated December 12, 2013, Domingo denied the allegations against her. She asserted that, on January 2, 2012, her sister-in-law invited her to Macau, which she excitedly accepted; that she still reported for work on January 2 to 4, 2012; that it was only in the late afternoon of January 4, 2012 when she left the country and then she filed her sick leaves for January 5 and 6, 2012; that the Facebook photo attached to the complaint was improperly dated; and that she intended to secure a travel authority, but due to time constraint, she was not able to file it.
In a Certification, 7 dated January 8, 2014, the BI certified that Domingo traveled out of the country from January 1 to 7, 2012. Thus, in its Letter, 8 dated April 23, 2014, the OCA required Domingo to submit another comment because her defense that she left for Hong Kong only on January 4, 2012, was contrary to the BI's certification and it appeared that she falsified her Daily Time Record (DTR). In another Letter, 9 bearing the same date, the OCA also required Judge Cecilio Bautista (Judge Bautista) of the MTC to comment on the charges against Domingo.
In her second Comment, 10 dated April 23, 2014, Domingo apologized and explained that she merely submitted her first comment after she had consulted a lawyer who assured her that it would save her from administrative liability. She admitted that she was indeed out of the country from January 1 to 7, 2012, as reported in the BI's certification, and that she failed to secure a travel authority due to time constraint. She also admitted that she falsified her DTR to make it appear that she reported for work on January 2 to 4, 2012. Domingo sought the indulgence and compassion of the Court, with the undertaking that her actions would never happen again. Domingo appealed that she had a family to support and that, for two (2) decades, she was a dedicated government employee and had never been involved in any anomalous transaction.
In a Letter 11 filed on July 7, 2014, Judge Bautista reported that Domingo informed him of her intention to travel abroad but she did not mention the exact dates. He reminded Domingo to secure an authority to travel. Judge Bautista claimed that Domingo admitted to him that she falsified her DTR to reflect that she had reported for work, when she was actually out of the country.
Report and Recommendation
In its Report and Recommendation, 12 dated September 22, 2015, the OCA found that Domingo falsified her DTR to hide her unauthorized travel. The OCA also found that Domingo failed to comply with OCA Circular No. 49-2003 on Guidelines on Requests for Travel Abroad and Extensions for Travel/Stay Abroad, dated May 20, 2003. Considering, however, that Domingo admitted her infractions and had been an employee of the court for twenty (20) years, the OCA recommended a mitigated penalty of suspension of (1) year from office without pay. The OCA also recommended that Judge Bautista must be reminded to ensure that circulars and office rules were strictly enforced.
The Court's Ruling
The Court adopts the recommendation of the OCA.
Domingo traveled abroad from January 1 to 7, 2012, without a travel authority from the Court. To conceal her unauthorized travel, she falsified the MTC's Attendance Logbook and her DTR to make it appear that she reported for work from January 2 to 4, 2012, and was on sick leave from January 5 to 6, 2012. Domingo clearly falsified DTR because she was out of the country on the said dates.
Falsification of time records constitutes dishonesty. 13 This Court has defined dishonesty as the disposition to lie, cheat, deceive, or defraud; untrustworthiness; lack of integrity; lack of honesty, probity or integrity in principle; lack of fairness and straightforwardness; disposition to defraud, deceive or betray. 14 Domingo's conduct of making it appear that she reported for work, although she was in fact absent, is deplorable and falls way below the standard set for employees of the Judiciary.
Worse, in her comment, 15 dated December 12, 2013, Domingo committed another dishonesty when she denied her unauthorized travel and she even forwarded an untruthful explanation. Were it not for the BI's certification, which showed that she was indeed out of the country from January 1 to 7, 2012, Domingo would not have admitted her infractions. Instead of readily confessing her transgression, she consciously and deliberately chose the path of dishonesty to escape any administrative sanction.
As Clerk of Court, Domingo must be reminded of the constitutional provision that a public office is a public trust and all public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency. She must be the role model for all court employees under her supervision, and her position requires competence and efficiency to insure the public's confidence in the administration of justice. 16
Although dishonesty through falsification of DTRs is a grave offense which is punishable by dismissal, the Court may not impose the extreme penalty where there exist mitigating circumstances which could alleviate her culpability. 17 In Concerned Employees of MTC-Meycauayan, Bulacan v. Paguio-Bacani, 18 the Court imposed a mitigated penalty of one (1) year suspension without pay to an erring branch clerk of court who falsified her DTR to hide her unauthorized travel by taking into account her long years of service.
In the case at bench, there are mitigating circumstances that could be considered in favor of Domingo such as her twenty (20) years of service for the judiciary and that this is her first administrative offense. Accordingly, the Court agrees with the recommendation of the OCA that Domingo be suspended from the service for one (1) year without pay. Likewise, the Court adopts the recommendation of the OCA that Judge Bautista be reminded to ensure that circulars and office rules are faithfully enforced. DETACa
The conduct of court personnel should be geared towards maintaining the prestige and integrity of the court, for the image of the 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 and sacred duty of each and everyone in the court to maintain its good name and standing as a temple of justice. 19
WHEREFORE, respondent Lorna C. Domingo, Clerk of Court II, Municipal Trial Court, Talugtog, Nueva Ecija, is found GUILTY of Dishonesty through Falsification of her Daily Time Record and is SUSPENDED from the service for one (1) year without pay, with a warning that a repetition of the same or similar act shall be dealt with more severely.
Further, Acting Presiding Judge Leo Cecilio D. Bautista, Municipal Trial Court, Talugtog, Nueva Ecija, is hereby REMINDED to be more assiduous in the performance of his administrative duties to ensure that circulars and reasonable office rules and regulations are strictly enforced and complied with by his court employees.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Rollo, p. 4.
2. Id. at 5.
3. Id. at 6-7.
4. Id. at 13.
5. Id. at 9.
6. Id. at 15-16.
7. Id. at 19.
8. Id. at 21.
9. Id. at 23.
10. Id. at 28-29.
11. Id. at 26.
12. Id. at 1-4.
13. Office of the Court Administrator v. Hernandez, A.M. No. P-13-3130 (Formerly OCA I.P.I. No. 11-3668-P), September 22, 2014, 735 SCRA 640, 644.
14. Falsification of Daily Time Records of Ma. Emcisa A. Benedictos, 675 Phil. 459, 463-464 (2011).
15. Rollo, pp. 15-16.
16. Concerned Employees of MTC-Meycauayan, Bulacan v. Paguio-Bacani, 611 Phil. 630, 641 (2009).
17. Office of the Court Administrator v. Sirios, 457 Phil. 42, 48 (2003). A.M. No. P-02-1659, August 28, 2003.
18. Supra note 13, ____.
19. Malayo v. Cruzat, 438 Phil. 1, 12 (2002).