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RULE
6
CONTEMPT
Section 1.
Direct contempt punished summarily. A person guilty of
misbehavior
in the presence of or so near the Director or Hearing Officer as to
obstruct
or interrupt the proceedings before him, including disrespect toward
the
Director or Hearing Officer, offensive personalities toward others, or
refusal to be sworn to or answer as a witness, or to subscribe an
affidavit
or deposition when lawfully required to do so, may be summarily
adjudged
in contempt by the Director or Hearing Officer and punished by fine not
exceeding Two Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (P2,500.00) or imprisonment
not
exceeding ten (10) days, or both.
Section
2.
Indirect contempt to be punished after charge and hearing.
After
a charge in writing has been filed, and an opportunity given to the
respondent
to be heard by himself or counsel, a person guilty of any of the
following
acts may be punished for contempt:
(a)
Disobedience
of or resistance to a lawful writ, process, order, judgment, or command
of the Hearing Officer, or injunction granted by him;
(b) Any
abuse of
or unlawful interference with the process or proceedings of the Bureau,
not constituting direct contempt under Section 1 of this Rule;
(c) Any
improper
conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct, or
degrade
the administration of justice or the performance of the Bureau’s proper
function;
(d)
Failure to obey
a subpoena duly served.
But nothing in
this section shall be so construed as to prevent the Hearing Officer
from
issuing process to bring the respondent party into or before the
Office,
or from holding him in custody pending such proceedings.
Section
3.
Hearing; release on bail. If the hearing is not ordered to be
had forthwith, the respondent may be released from custody upon filing
a bond, in an amount fixed by the Director or Hearing Officer, for his
appearance to answer the charge. Upon the day set for the
hearing,
the Director or Hearing Officer shall proceed to investigate the charge
and consider such answer or testimony as the respondent may make or
offer.
Section
4. Punishment if found guilty. If the respondent is
thereupon
adjudged guilty of contempt committed against the Director or Hearing
Officer,
he may be punished by a fine not exceeding Ten Thousand Pesos
(P10,000.00)
or imprisonment of not more than five (5) years, or both, and if the
contempt
consists in the violation of an injunction, he may also be ordered to
make
a complete restitution to the party injured by such violation.
Section
5. Imprisonment until order obeyed. When the
contempt
consists
in the omission to do an act which is yet in the power of the
respondent
to perform, he may be imprisoned by order of the Hearing Officer until
he performs it.
Section
6. Proceedings when party released on bail fails to
answer.
When
a respondent released on bail fails to appear on the date fixed for the
hearing, the Hearing Officer may issue another order of arrest or may
order
the bond for his appearance to be prosecuted, or both; and, if the bond
be prosecuted, the measure of damages shall be the extent of the loss
or
injury sustained by the aggrieved party by reason of the misconduct for
which the contempt was prosecuted, and the costs of the proceedings,
and
such recovery shall be for the benefit of the party injured. But
if there is no aggrieved party, the bond shall be liable as in criminal
cases.
Section
7.
Hearing Officer may release respondent. The Director or the
Hearing
Officer may discharge from imprisonment a person imprisoned for
contempt
when it appears that public interest will not suffer thereby.
Section 8. Review
of judgment or order by the Director. The judgment or order
of
the Hearing Officer made in a case of contempt punished after written
charge
and hearing may be reviewed by the Director, but execution of the
judgment
or order shall not be suspended until a bond is filed by the person in
contempt, in an amount fixed by the Hearing Officer conditioned that if
the appeal be decided against him he will abide by and perform the
judgment
or order.
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