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SECOND DIVISION

Sirs/Mesdames:

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this C ourt dated OCT 10 2005 .

AM OCA-IPI No. 05-2163-P ( Mayor Javier E. Zacate vs. Rosa A. Acampado, Clerk of Court, MTC, Taft, Eastern Samar .)

For consideration is the Report dated 6 September 2005 on the administrative matter submitted by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

In a verified complaint dated 22 March 2005, Mayor Javier E. Zacate charges Rosa A. Acampado, Clerk of Court, Municipal Trial Court (MTC) of Taft, Eastern Samar, with Gross Dishonesty.

The complainant alleges that Mayor Cesar Tagun of Hernani, Eastern Samar, requested him to look into some alleged anomalous acts of respondent clerk. Complainant's investigation disclosed that on 18 April 2001, respondent clerk had convinced Norma Dacuyan to file a case for damages against Christine Bus Line, owned by Mayor Tagun, before the MTC of Taft, Eastern Samar even if the former knew that the MTC had no jurisdiction over the case. Acampado had asked Dacuyan to pay the amount of P11,743.70 as docket fees for which the former issued two receipts in the name of the Supreme Court. The complaint for damages was thereafter docketed as Civil Case No. 02-2001. Acampado then promised that she would transfer the case to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) which had jurisdiction.

In an inquiry with the RTC of Borongan, Eastern Samar, Dacuyan discovered that the case had in fact not been transferred and the docket fees had not been remitted. Hence, Dacuyan had to pay again the amount of P11,699.06 as docket fees. From the foregoing, complainant concluded that Acampado pocketed the amount of P11,743.70. In addition, complainant claims that in 1984, Acampado misrepresented herself as a degree holder, when in truth she is not, to obtain the favorable recommendation of a close relative and to qualify for appointment to her present position.

In her Comment dated 12 May 2005, Acampado denies the allegations against her. She counters that Dacuyan went to MTC Taft, Eastern Samar to file a civil case. She informed Dacuyan that the MTC did not have jurisdiction over the case but Dacuyan allegedly insisted on filing the same with the MTC per her counsel's instruction. Acampado conditionally accepted the complaint and the amount of P11,743.70 as filing fees for which she issued Supreme Court Official Receipts Nos. 6911994 and 6911483. Acampado then deposited the amount under the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) and General Fund Accounts and reported the same in the Monthly Report of Collection and Remittances for April 2001 to the Supreme Court.

When the presiding judge of the MTC ordered the withdrawal of the case, Acampado returned the amount to Dacuyan. who acknowledged receipt of the same through an Affidavit dated 11 May 2005. The official receipts for the amount were cancelled and reported to the Supreme Court. These details duly appeared in the report of the Judicial Audit Team from the Supreme Court which found no anomaly nor accountability by Acampado in this respect.

Acampado adds that the instant administrative complaint is politically motivated as her daughter, Roselle Acampado-Sacendillo, previously filed a case against complainant for Graft and Corruption before the Ombudsman. With respect to her appointment to the judiciary, Acampado claims that she was recommended to her position in 1984 by one Judge Gorgonio T. Alvarez and not by her relative, Judge Mayorico Acampado-Reyes, who had died in 1981.

In its Report dated 6 September 2005, the OCA recommended the dismissal of the complaint. The OCA held that for gross dishonesty to exist, respondent should have committed wanton and deliberate falsehood for the purpose of deceiving, cheating, defrauding or misleading anyone especially the court. The Court, in Racho v. Dulatre , ¹ held that the failure of a clerk of court to account for money deposited with him, and adequately explain and present evidence thereon, constitutes gross dishonesty.

In the instant case, Acampado fully accounted for the amount paid to her by Dacuyan as filing fees. The amount was deposited under the JDF and General Fund Accounts as shown in the Monthly Report of Collection and Remittances for April 2001 submitted to the Supreme Court. In fact, Dacuyan herself acknowledged that she received in full the amount she had paid Acampado after the judge ordered its return.

Anent the claim that Acampado misrepresented herself as a degree holder, her file at the Records Division of the OCA rebuts this assertion. Her file on record reveals that she is a fourth year nursing student and not a degree holder; she passed the Civil Service Commission's (CSC) Sub-Professional Level Examination on 20 November 1977; she was employed by the judiciary as Court Interpreter I, MTC, Taft, Eastern Samar on 9 July 1979; she passed the CSC Career Service Professional Level on 6 December 1980; and she was promoted to the position of Clerk of Court I on 1 August 1983 upon recommendation of Judge Gorgonio T. Alvarez, then presiding judge thereat.

Further, the OCA confirmed Acampado's belief that the filing of the instant administrative complaint is politically motivated. Complainant has no personal interest in the acts complained of; if there is any party in interest, it should be the party aggrieved, Norma Dacuyan. For filing a baseless complaint with improper motives, the OCA recommended that complainant be admonished for trifling with the judicial and administrative processes of the Court.

Finding the recommendation to be in accord with the law and the facts of the case on record, the Court resolves to ADOPT and APPROVE the same. The administrative complaint of Mayor Javier E. Zacate against Rosa A. Acampado is DISMISSED for lack of merit. Complainant Mayor Javier E. Zacate is hereby ADMONISHED for filing this baseless complaint with a STERN WARNING that a repetition of the same or similar acts would be dealt with more severely. The instant administrative matter is CLOSED and TERMINATED.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) LUDICHI YASAY-NUNAG

Clerk of Court