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A.M. OCA I.P.I. No. 05-2311-P. September 6, 2006]

REYNOLD S. TABLATE v. PEPITO F. LUCERO, INTERPRETER, RTC, VIRAC, CATANDUANES

Sirs/Mesdames:

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated SEPT. 6, 2006

A.M. OCA I.P.I. No. 05-2311-P (Reynold S. Tablate v. Pepito F. Lucero, Interpreter, RTC, Virac, Catanduanes.)

Considering the Report of the Office of the Court Administrator, to wit:

1st Indorsement (with enclosures) dated 16 September 2005 from the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon referring to this Office the Complaint-Affidavit dated 31 May 2005 of Reynold S. Tablate, charging Court Interpreter Pepito F. Lucero with Violation of Sec. 4(c) in relation to Sec. 11 of RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, by engaging in political activities and private business, occupation and/or profession without permit.

Complainant filed the instant complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman against respondent Pepito F. Lucero and Fernan Gianan, Municipal Engineer of Virac, Catanduanes, which was docketed as OMB-L-C-05-0547-F for Violation of Sections 213 and 301 of PD 1096 and OMB-L-A-05-0423-F for Violation of Sections 9 and 11 of RA 6713.

Complainant avers that when the father of Fernan Gianan died, the latter took over as Editor and Publisher of Catanduanes Tribune, a weekly publication in Catanduanes. On the other hand, respondent Lucero is a column writer of Catanduanes Tribune. Complainant alleges, among others, that respondent Lucero helps Gianan pursue his publication business, land publication contracts of court orders, legal notices, municipal and provincial ordinances in Catanduanes and that respondent Lucero uses his column "Tingnan Natin" in Catanduanes Tribune to engage in partisan politics. Complainant cites respondent's article "Abuso, di solusyon sa NPA" published on 18 February 2004 and alleges that it insinuates that a renovation project undertaken by the DPWH, through reelectionist Congressman Santiago was tainted with graft and sends the clear message that the implementation of similar government projects in the future without respondent's blessing will see print.

Parenthetically, respondent filed his Counter-Affidavit with the Ombudsman-Luzon on 20 July 2005. On 22 August 2005, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon rendered a Joint Resolution in OMB-L-C-05-0547-F and OMB-L-A-05-0423-F dismissing the charges against Gianan and referred to this Office the charges against respondent Lucero.

In his COMMENT (with enclosures) in the form of a Letter dated 30 November 2005, respondent Court Interpreter Pepito F. Lucero submits his Counter-Affidavit denying the allegations of complainant. He attests that complainant also filed the same complaint with the Civil Service Commission (CSC), which was docketed as AC No. CSC ROS D-05-110 for Grave Misconduct. He maintains that a close reading of his aforecited column would readily show that there is nothing wrong in it, as it merely expresses his opinions, which he contends he is entitled to like any other citizen, and he has not violated any rules, regulations or laws.

He denies helping Gianan with the latter's publication business and points out that his name only appears in his column and not in the editorial staff. Besides, he claims that his column writing is only a hobby which he pursues in his free time and is not paid for it, as he is only a contributor of Catanduanes Tribune. Moreover, this hobby does not interfere with his work as can be shown by his performance ratings.

EVALUATION: The articles written by respondent that appeared in the Catanduanes Tribune under the heading, "Tingnan Natin" are but an expression of opinions on matters of public interest. The people have the right to scrutinize, criticize, commend or even condemn official acts of public officials. Expression of opinions, whether private or public on public affairs are unrestricted by law so long as the government employee does not direct his activities towards the success of a candidate. When the law says partisan political activity, it means active participation in political campaigns by delivering speeches for or against a particular candidate.

The allegation that respondent helped Gianan land court related contracts for publication is utterly unsubstantiated. Publications of legal or judicial notices in accredited newspapers by the court are raffled and distributed personally by the Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court and respondent who is only Court Interpreter has nothing to do with it. If the raffle of cases for publication to qualified newspapers or periodicals are manipulated or rigged, certainly editors or publishers of accredited newspapers or periodicals who may be prejudiced would complain. Herein complainant who gave his occupation as master plumber, is not an editor or publisher of any newspaper or publication accredited to publish judicial and legal notices in the province of Catanduanes has nothing to complain about. The insinuation that respondent helped Gianan got court related contracts for publication is an attack on the integrity of the Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court.

As regards conflict of interest, it appears that respondent is only a column-writer contributor of Cantanduanes Tribune which he pursues outside his official work-hours, i.e. during his free time, and not being paid for it. Apparently, there is no [a] conflict of interest on the part of respondent.

A.M. No. 03-06-13-SC, Code of Conduct for Court Personnel, which took effect on 1 June 2004, provides thus -

CANON III

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

SEC. 5. The full-time position in the Judiciary of every court personnel shall be the personnel's primary employment. For purposes of this Code, "primary employment" means the position that consumes the entire normal working hours of the court personnel and requires the personnel's exclusive attention in performing official duties.

Outside employment may be allowed by the head of office, provided that it complies with all of the following requirements:

(a)������� The outside employment is not with a person or entity that practices law before the courts or conducts business with the Judiciary.

RECOMMENDATION: Respectfully submitted for the consideration of the Honorable Court is our recommendation that the instant administrative complaint against respondent Pepito F. Lucero be DISMISSED for lack of merit. Respondent, however, should be ADVISED to be more circumspect in the pursuit of his hobby to avoid anything that might adversely affect the integrity of the Judiciary.

and finding the evaluation and recommendation therein to be in accord with law and the facts of the case, the Court approves and adopts the same.

ACCORDINGLY, the administrative complaint against Court Interpreter Pepito F. Lucero is DISMISSED for lack of merit. However, he is advised to be more circumspect in the pursuit of his hobby to avoid anything that might adversely affect the integrity of the Judiciary.

SO ORDERED.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) ENRIQUETA ESGUERRA-VIDAL
Clerk of Court

First Division

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