PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT JURISPRUDENCE

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Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila

EN BANC

ATTY. DAVID G. OMPOC, Complainant, vs. JUDGE NORITO E. TORRES, Respondent.

R E S O L U T I O N

In his First Indorsement dated 9 September 1986 ¹Mr. Ramon J. Liwag, Service Chief, Technical Staff, Ministry of Justice (now Department of Justice) referred to the Court Administrator a sworn letter complaint dated 18 June 1986 of Atty. David G. Ompoc against Judge Norito E. Torres.chanrobles virtual law library

The letter-complaint charged respondent Judge with gross misconduct in office, stating, among other things, that "Judge Norito Torres is wanting of [sic] that degree of moral fiber required of a member of a judiciary. He is unfit to hold such an exalted position and his removal from such will pave the way to cleanse the judiciary of the corrupt and graft-prone judges ² Details of the complaint read as follows:

A civil case no. R-26374 for ejectment entitled, Marcos A. Escobar, plaintiff versus Deco Sales, defendant, was filed sometime in 1984 with the City Court of Cebu. After the usual raffle it was assigned to Judge Norito Torres, Branch VII. While the case was being tried on the merits, at one time he invited me to see him at his residence at Banawa, Cebu City and he instructed me to bring my client, Mr. Charlie Taguiam, proprietor of Deco Sales along with me.That meeting at the residence of Judge Torres was actually held with me and Mr. Taguiam present, and in the course of our intimate conversation he gave us a guide what evidence and argument we have to present. Also in that meeting Judge Torres requested Mr. Charlie Taguiam, who is engage (sic) in the business of Car Decor to install a brand new airconditioner on his Toyota Hi-Ace and said airconditioner was installed without Judge Norito Torres paying for it.chanrobles virtual law library

As the ejectment case progressed Judge Norito Torres had been pestering my client Mr. Charlie Taguiam with request for loans which he never acknowledged by means of a receipt and he was given by my client sums of money totalling Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00) in various amounts and on different dates. These loans have never been paid up to now and this certainly will not be paid, to the end of time because Judge Norito Torres is smart enough not to sign anything. Before he penned (sic) his decision on May 2, 1986, xerox copy is hereto attached Annex A, Judge Torres called my client and pressured him to enter into an amicable settlement with the plaintiff by paying the back rentals amounting to Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (P200,000.00) because he may have entered into an agreement with the plaintiff in the division of the spoils just in case my client would accede to it. My client refused to enter into any kind of settlement because he believed in the justness of his cause ³

In a Resolution dated 2 October 1986, the Court required the respondent Judge to file his comments on the complaint. Upon consideration of the comment dated 4 November 1986 of respondent, the Court, by a Resolution dated 3 March 1987, resolved to refer the complaint to then Executive Judge Juanito Bernad (now Deputy Court Administrator of the Supreme Court), Regional Trial Court, Cebu, for investigation, report and recommendation.chanrobles virtual law library

Immediately after he received the order, the Investigating Judge conducted hearings on the complaint on March 25, 27 and 31,1987; April 8, 13, 15, 20, 22 and 30,1987; and May 4 and 14, and 31, 1987.chanrobles virtual law library

In a Report and Recommendation dated 23 June 1987, Investigating Judge found that respondent Judge Norito Torres then Presiding Judge of MTCC, Branch 7, Cebu City, had before him an ejectment case entitled Marcos A. Escobar v. Deco Sales (or Charlie Taguiam) docketed as Civil Case No. R-26374; that while the case was ongoing, Judge Torres invited counsel for defendant Deco Sales and the owner of Deco Sales, Mr. Charlie Taguiam, to see him at his (the Judge's) residence for a conference; that the conference turned out to be an out-of-chambers discussion of Civil Case No. R-26374 where Judge Torres advised them on the steps to be undertaken in order to win the case and at the same time, requested Mr. Taguiam to have a new air-conditioner on his Toyota Hi-Ace installed; that subsequently, Judge Torres borrowed from Mr. Taguiam a total amount of P8,000.00 on different dates; that in the end, Mr. Taguiam lost in Civil Case No. R-26374 because he refused to listen to Judge Torres' advice to settle the case amicably by paying plaintiff Marcos Escobar the amount of P200,000.00 allegedly representing back rentals.chanrobles virtual law library

The Report of the Investigating Judge reads in part as follows:

(1) that the respondent Judge Norito E. Torres MTCC Cebu, City Branch VII was, like all other judges and fiscals in Central Visayas the object of background investigation conducted by the NBI, Regional Office, Cebu City in connection with the judiciary reorganization of 1986, after the assumption to office of President Aquino (Exh. 'E', p. 90 record);

(2) that the agent assigned to conduct said investigation on respondent was Senior Agent Ramon Barot, Jr. (Exhs. 'D' and 'D-l', p. 89 Ibid);

(3) that in connection with said investigation Agent Barot elicited documentary and testimonial evidence incriminatory to the respondent from the respondent's janitor Mr. Paterno H. Rafols who executed on 24 June 1986 a sworn statement (Exh. 'A', pp. 84-86, record) who stated that in addition to his duties as janitor to Branch VII, he also did errands for the respondent and one of those errands was being sent by the respondent to Mr. Charlie Taguiam on 24 December 1985 to receive P5,000.00 which was in the form (to the mind of this investigator was not anticipated by the respondent) of City Trust Bank Check No. 181384 dated 24 December 1985 (Exh. 'B', p. 86, Ibid);

(4) that janitor Rafols, without realizing the implications of receiving a check from a party to a case for the judge, cashed it with drawee bank by indorsing the check at the back thereof, received the cash P5,000.00 and delivered it to the judge without telling the latter that he received a check, no evidence that janitor Rafols told the judge having been offered;

(5) that at the time Exhibit 'B' was received by the respondent's janitor, Mr. Charlie Taguiam and/or Deco Sales was a party defendant in Civil Case No. R-26374 for Ejectment with a Prayer for A Writ of Preliminary Attachment then pending at the sala of the respondent, decision thereof dated May 2, 1986 (p. 5, Ibid);

(6) that on 27 December l985 respondent's janitor again received from Charlie Taguiam for the judge Consolidated Bank and Trust Corporation (Tabo -an Branch, Cebu City) Check No. A 32 - 186586 dated December 27, 1985 for the amount of P3,000.00 (Exh. 'B-l', p. 87, Ibid) which he encashed and the proceeds thereof delivered to the respondent;

xxx xxx xxx

The facts noted in the aforestated observations have been admitted by the respondent except our own conclusions on the facts that the respondent was unaware of the existence of those checks received and indorsed by his janitor and the unanticipated background checks because being a former agent of the NBI, he would have known better than to leave tell-tale evidence.

			FEATURED DECISIONScralaw

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