Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2007 > August 2007 Resolutions > [A.M. No. RTJ-05-1936 : August 01, 2007] OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR V. JUDGE HENRY J. TROCINO, ET AL. :

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated 1 August 2007:

A.M. No. RTJ-05-1936 (Office of the Court Administrator v. Judge Henry J. Trocino, et al.)

In the Decision dated 29 May 2007, the Court found Judge Henry J. Trocino (Judge Trocino) guilty of undue delay in rendering decision and making untruthful statements in his Certificates of Service. Accordingly, the Court ordered that Judge Trocino be suspended from office for three months, the maximum penalty for the offense, and be directed to decide all cases subject of the audit within 120 days from receipt of the Court's decision. However, in a Memorandum dated 15 June 2007, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) informed the Court that Judge Trocino compulsorily retired from the service on 15 July 2006. The OCA also informed the Court that Judge Edgardo L. Catilo was appointed as Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court, Branch 23, Iloilo City on 23 August 2005. In view of these developments, the dispositive portion of the aforementioned decision is amended to read as follows:

"WHEREFORE, the Court finds Judge Henry J. Trocino, former Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court, Branch 62, Bago City, Negros Occidental, guilty of undue delay in rendering decision and accordingly FINES him P20,000, the maximum fine for the offense, to be deducted from his retirement benefits. The Court also finds Judge Trocino guilty of making untruthful statements in his Certificates of Service but this constitutes an aggravating circumstance to the offense of undue delay in rendering decision.^[1]

The Court finds Judge Edgardo L. Catilo, former Acting Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court, Branch 62, Bago City, Negros Occidental, guilty of undue delay in rendering decision and FINES him P20,000.

The Court DIRECTS Judge Frances V. Guanzon, Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court, Branch 62, Bago City, Negros Occidental and Judge Catilo to decide all the cases subject of the audit within 120 days from receipt of the Court's resolution and to submit to the Court a monthly accomplishment report. The Court also DIRECTS the Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 62, Bago City, Negros Occidental to transmit the records of the cases submitted for decision before Judge Catilo to the Regional Trial Court, Branch 23, Iloilo City.

The Court finds Atty. Josephine Mutia-Hagad, Clerk of Court, guilty of simple neglect of duty and FINES her P5,000.^[2]

The Court finds Mr. Emezer Arellano and Ms. Evelyn Montoyo, Court Stenographers, guilty of simple neglect of duty and SUSPENDS them from office for ONE MONTH without salary and other benefits. The Court also DIRECTS Arellano and Montoyo to transcribe all their notes subject of the audit within 60 days from receipt of the Court's resolution and to submit to the Court a monthly accomplishment report.

The Court DISMISSES the administrative case against Ms. Ofelia Gorantes and Ms. Clarita Lamera, Court Stenographers, for lack of merit.

The Court STERNLY WARNS all those involved in this administrative case that repetition of the same or similar act will merit a more severe sanction.

SO ORDERED."

Endnotes:

---

^[1] Section 17, Rule XIV of the CSC Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of Executive Order No. 292 provides that when the respondent is guilty of two or more charges, the penalty for the most serious charge should be imposed and the other charges may be considered as aggravating circumstances. See Betguen v. Masangcay, Adm. Case No. P-93-822, 1 December 1994, 238 SCRA 475.

^[2] Re: Report on the Judicial Audit at the MTCC (Branch 1), Surigao City, A.M. No. P-04-1835, 11 January 2005, 448 SCRA 13.