Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
*
A.M. No. RTJ062004. October 19, 2007.
[Formerly OCA I.P.I. No. 042145RTJ]
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* EN BANC.
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CARPIOMORALES, J.:
1
By Complaint dated November 10, 2004, Doroteo M.
Salazar (complainant) charged Judge Antonio D.
Marigomen (respondent), Presiding Judge of Branch 61,
Regional Trial Court, Bogo, Cebu, with gross ignorance of
the law, bias, conduct prejudicial to the interest of the
service and rendering a decision violative of the
Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Rules of Procedure
and the Constitution in connection with Election SPC Case
No. BOGO00789.
Zenaida F. Salazar, wife of complainant, and a
mayoralty candidate in the Municipality of Madridejos,
Cebu in the May 2001 elections, filed on July 4, 2001 an2
election protest against the proclaimed winner Lety
Mancio (Mancio) before the Regional Trial Court, Bogo,
Cebu where it was docketed as Election SPC Case No.
BOGO00789.
The election case was first heard by then Acting
Presiding Judge Jesus S. dela Peña who, on April 1, 2002,
issued an order directing the revision of the contested
ballots in the premises of the House of Representatives
Electoral Tribunal (HRET) where the ballot boxes were
being kept. Respondent took over and started presiding
over the election3
case on June 3, 2002.
By Decision of August 8, 2003, respondent dismissed
the election protest and declared Mancio as the duly
elected municipal
4
mayor of Madridejos, Cebu with total
votes of 5,214. 5
On appeal, the COMELEC First Division, by Resolution
of March 25, 2004, reversed and set aside the August 8,
2003
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6 Id., at p. 77.
7 Id., at p. 2.
8 Id., at pp. 12.
9 Id., at p. 7.
10 Id., at pp. 78.
11 Id., at pp. 5558.
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12Id., at p. 9.
13Id., at p. 22.
14Id., at pp. 5961.
15Id., at p. 24.
16Id., at pp. 2931.
17Id., at pp. 170181.
18Id., at p. 173.
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As to the charge19
of gross ignorance of the law, respondent
cites Section 5, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court as his legal
basis for the admission of the uncertified photocopies.
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24
The OCA, by Report of April 4, 2006, found the complaint
meritorious in light of the following evaluation:
for the public welfare, that is, to maintain the faith and
confidence of the people in the government. Thus, unlike in
ordinary cases, there is no private offended party in
administrative proceedings who may be entitled to judicial relief.
The complainant need not be a real party in interest, as anyone
may file an administrative complaint against a judge, the only
requirement being that the complaint be verified and it “be in
writing and shall state clearly and concisely the acts and
omissions constituting violations of standards of conduct
prescribed for Judges by law, the Rules of Court, or the Code of
Judicial Conduct.”
The admission of the uncertified or plain photocopies of the
contested ballots by respondent Judge in favor of Mancio betrays
his ignorance of Section 7, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court. The
Rule, otherwise known as the Best Evidence Rule, simply
provides that as long as the original evidence can be had, the
court should not receive in evidence that which is substitutionary
in nature, such as photocopies, in the absence of any clear
showing that the original writing has been lost or destroyed or
cannot be produced in court. In this case, the original copies of the
contested ballots have neither been lost nor destroyed. They are
in the custody of the HRET, and had respondent judge wanted to
examine them, he could have easily ordered the transfer of their
custody to the court.
His invocation of Section 5, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court to
justify his admission of the plain copies of the contested ballots is
misplaced. The Rule allows the admission of secondary evidence
when the original document has been lost or destroyed, or cannot
be found. However, the offeror is burdened to prove the predicates
thereof: (a) the loss or destruction of the original was without bad
faith on the part of the proponent/offeror which can be shown by
circumstantial evidence of routine practices of destruction of
documents; (b) the proponent must prove by a fair preponderance
of evidence as to raise a reasonable inference of the loss or
destruction of the original copy; and (c) it must be shown that a
diligent and
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bona fide but unsuccessful search has been made for the
document in the proper place or places.
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validated stray votes in her favor as she has not formally offered the
claimed stray votes or ballots. The court shall only consider ballots which
are presented and formally offered.
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CANON 3
IMPARTIALITY
CANON 5
EQUALITY
xxxx
SEC. 2. Judges shall not, in the performance of judicial duties,
by words or conduct, manifest bias or prejudice towards
any person or group on irrelevant grounds.
x x x x (Emphasis supplied)
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Court observed:
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Section 14. No decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein
clearly and distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based.
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