[A.M.
No. 98-3-91-RTC. February 22, 2000]
REPORT
ON THE JUDICIAL AUDIT CONDUCTED IN RTC BRANCH 31, et al.
EN BANC
Gentlemen:
Quoted
hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated FEB 22 2000.
A.M. No. 98-3-91-RTC
(Report on the Judicial Audit Conducted in the Regional Trial Court,
Branch 31, Dumaguete City and the Municipal Trial Court, Minglanilla, Cebu.)
This concerns the report of the audit team from the
Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) on the judicial audit and physical
inventory of cases conducted by it on December 14 - 18, 1997 in the Regional
Trial Court, Branch 31, Dumaguete City and the Municipal Trial Court,
Minglanilla, Cebu. The team, composed
of retired Justice Romulo S. Quimbo (consultant), Any. Marian J. Santos-Carpina
(Team Leader), Ma. Rowena R. Dimson, and Rosemarie D. Labro, found, among
others, cases of inefficiency in the manner in which the records of cases in
the MTC, Minglanilla, Cebu, are kept. The findings are set forth in the
following portion of the memorandum of the OCA:
The team . . . noted the inefficiency
of the court’s staff headed by Ms. [Josefina R.] Hermosa, the Branch Clerk of
Court. Apart from having records of
cases which lack updating and inaccurate list of cases for November 1997, there
were also some discrepancies with respect to the reported case number and the
actual case number of criminal cases, to wit:
TITLE REPORTED ACTUAL
CASE
NO. CASE
NO.
1.
PP v. Romulo Larambre 2817 2791
2.
PP vs. Luis Abella &
Renato
Abella 2747 2817
3.
PP vs. Jose Marie Gimenez 2713 2752
4. PP
vs. Estrella Reston 2538 2558
5.
PP vs. Navaez 2538
(OCA
Memorandum, dated February 16, 1998)
Ms. Josefina Hermosa, Clerk of Court of the MTC,
Minglanilla, Cebu was required to explain the inaccuracies in her listing of
cases for November 1997. In reply, she explained in her letter dated June 9,
1998:
[O]mission o[f] some cases in list of pending cases
for November 1997 was because there were disposed cases taken out from file for
reference and [were] mixed [with] the active cases and were included in the
audit, as can be seen in the last order hereto attached.
Criminal Cases No. 2841 and 2842 [were] inadvertently excluded from the list of pending cases because the two cases were archived on August 17, 1997 and the Staff/Clerk failed to enter [them] in the list after it was revived, the same was true in Crim. Case No. 2501, attached also are copies of order for archived [sic] while Crim. Case No. 2999 was not found in the list due to honest mistake but it was docketed and reported in the month of December 1997.
In its memorandum, dated November 5, 1998, the OCA
claims that the explanation given by Clerk of Court Hermosa –
all the more highlighted the incompetence of the staff of [the] MTC, Minglanilla, Cebu. Although we understand that the court is undernamed, with two stenographer positions being vacant up to this moment[,] it was the observation of the team that only Ms. Hermosa assisted the court’s lone stenographer apart from attending to her duties as the branch clerk of court of the MTC, Minglanilla, Cebu.
As for the other members of the court’s staff, to wit:
Juanito M. Suico, Interpreter; Stephen R. Cabrera, Court
Stenographer; Genevie[r]e F. Kyamko, [Clerk II]; and Azarias C.
Cañoneo, Junior Process Server; and Jose M. Agosto, Utility Worker,
their lack of cooperation and initiative should not be countenanced. They ought to know their respective duties
and responsibilities to the court and to the public.
The OCA recommends that the following personnel of the
MTC, Minglanilla, Cebu be reprimanded:
Clerk of Court Josefina R. Hermosa, Interpreter Juanito M. Suico, Court
Stenographer Stephen R. Cabrera, Clerk II Geneviere F. Kyamko, Process Server
Azarias C. Cañoneo, and Utility Worker Jose M. Agosto.
On February 16, 1999, the Court required the aforesaid
personnel to comment on the observation of the OCA that the staff of the MTC,
Minglanilla, Cebu failed to extend cooperation and assistance to each other
were inefficient in the performance of their duties.
In their consolidated comment, dated March 6, 1999,
said court employees claim that they have been regularly performing their
duties and that any shortcoming cited by the OCA was due to causes beyond their
control. They also state that while
they regret the negative findings of the OCA audit team, they nevertheless
resolve to strive harder in improving their service to the public.
In its memorandum, dated January 12, 2000, the OCA
reiterates its recommendation that the said personnel be reprimanded, viz.:
A negative report is rarely welcome, particularly, when it has bearing on an employee’s performance of his/her duties and functions. However, the “negative” findings of the audit team just recorded what and how they found each and every case file and court books/records. Considering the nature of the cases filed at this level, rarely are case files voluminous. So, it was not exactly difficult for the team to find out the state of the case records (expediente) as well as the court books/records. After all, the court had only more than 200 cases. The possibility is very remote that said findings could have been brought about by biases, prejudices and pre-judgment against the staff of [the] MTC, Minglanilla, Cebu, whom they barely knew....However, the state of the expediente and the court books could not be ignored. We can tell the lack of attention given them.
The Comments of the Clerk of Court (Ms. Hermosa) were
as telling. She admitted the omissions
and inadvertence committed by her and/or her staff. If the personnel tasked to perform were doing their job, the
records would have been updated, there should have been minutes and
stenographic notes of the hearing[s] conducted. There should not have been inconsistencies in their reports or
omitted cases in their reports if the court books and records were in order.
The foregoing observations and recommendations are
well taken. An efficient and effective
judiciary is possible only if every member thereof is dedicated to the highest
standards of public service. As well
observed by the OCA audit team, the inaccurate inventory and the poor state of
the court books and records are proof that the members of the staff of the MTC,
Minglanilla, Cebu have been remiss in the performance of their duties. The fact that they are undermanned is not an
excuse for their shortcomings. If at
all, was an opportunity for them to show their initiative and to extend greater
cooperation towards each other. They
need to be reminded that the image of a court of justice is reflected in its
personnel, from the judge to the lowest of its employees. (Dicdican v. Fernan, Jr., 268 SCRA 69
(1997))
WHEREFORE,
the Court RESOLVED to REPRIMAND Clerk of Court Josefina R. Hermosa, Interpreter
Juanito M. Suico, Court Stenographer Stephen R. Cabrera, Clerk II Geneviere F.
Kyamko, Process Server Azarias C. Cañoneo, and Utility Worker Jose M. Agosto,
all of the Municipal Trial Court, Minglanilla, Cebu, for inefficiency and
carelessness in the performance of their duties. They are warned that repetition of the same or similar offense
will be dealt with more severely.
There being no other pending incident in this case,
let the same be closed and terminated.
Buena, J., is on leave.
Very
truly yours,
Clerk
of Court
(Sgd.) MA. LUISA D. VILLARAMA
Asst.
Clerk of Court