[ A.M. No. 99-10-398-RTC. January 18, 2000]

RE: AWOL BY DIONISIO PASCUAL JR.

EN BANC

Gentlemen:

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated JAN 18 2000.

A.M. No. 99-10-398-RTC (Re: Absence Without Official Leave by Dionisio Pascual, Jr., Deputy Sheriff IV of Branch 84, Regional Trial Court of Quezon City.)

Dionisio S. Pascual, Jr., Deputy Sheriff IV of Branch 84 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, began incurring unauthorized absences on 1 June 1999 and has, to the present, failed to report to work.

On 16 August 1999, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) directed the Pairing/Acting Judge of Branch 84 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Hon. Pedro M. Areola, to serve on Pascual the corresponding warning letter. It required Pascual to explain in writing within five (5) days from receipt thereof why he should not be dealt with administratively to his unexplained and continuous absences. As Pascual did not submit his daily time records for June and July 1999, the OCA also ordered the withholding of his salaries.

Meantime, Hon. Miraflor Punzalan-Castillo was appointed Presiding Judge of Branch 84 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City on 9 July 1999. In a letter to the OCA, dated 6 September 1999, the said Judge confirmed that Pascual received the warning letter but ignored the same. Thus, Judge Punzalan-Castillo lamented that -

x x x Up to now and despite reminders for him to take the appropriate action under the circumstances, he has failed to do so.

In the meantime the efficiency of the Court has been affected. Several xxx outstanding writs of execution have remained unimplemented due to Mr. Pascual's continuous unexplained absences xxx.

To the present, this Court has not heard from Pascual despite its order for him to explain his continued absence without leave (AWOL). Certainly, the Court cannot wait indefinitely. The full weight of the law must now take its toll on Pascual.

There is no doubt that Pascual has been remiss in his duties, as deputy sheriff, to the detriment of the service. The severance of his employment is mandated by Sec. 63, Rule XVI of the Omnibus Rules on Leave of the Civil Service Commission, as amended by Resolution No. 983142, which provides:

Section 63. Effect of Absence without Approved Leave. -- An official or an employee who is continuously absent without approved leave for at least 30 calendar days shall be considered on absence without official leave (AWOL) and shall be separated from the service or dropped from the rolls without prior notice.

The Court cannot over-emphasized that the conduct and behavior of everyone connected with an office charged with the dispensation of Justice is circumscribed with a heavy burden of responsibility (Quiroz v. Orfila, 272 SCRA 324 [1997]). This Court cannot countenance any act or omission on the part of those involved in the administration of justice which would violate the norm of public accountability and diminish or even tend to diminish the faith of the people in the Judiciary. (Re: Miss Teresita Sabido, 242 SCRA 432 [1995]).

WHEREFORE, DIONISIO S. PASCUAL, JR., Deputy Sheriff IV of Branch 84 of the Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, is hereby dropped from the rolls effective as of 1 June 1999.

Very truly yours,

LUZVIMINDA PUNO

Clerk of Court

(Sgd.) MA. LUISA D. VILLARAMA

Asst. Clerk of Court


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