583 Phil. 14
PER CURIAM:
In sum, the accountabilities/cash shortages of respondent Malanay found by the audit team were as follows:
- The Fiduciary Trust Fund Savings Account which was opened for MeTC-Pateros was under the personal name of respondent Malanay with her as the sole signatory.[5]
- A confirmation with the depository bank, Land Bank of the Philippines-Pasig Branch, disclosed that the cash-in-bank balance as of January 29, 2004, for said account was only P20,066.05, inclusive of P10,066.05 interest earned from the date it was opened.[6]
- In five cases, respondent Malanay forged the signature of then Presiding Judge Lorifel Lacap-Pahimna in court orders attached to the case folders.[7]
- In Criminal Cases Nos. 5172-96, 5264-97 and 5327-97 which were supposedly archived with their respective cash bonds ordered confiscated by Judge Pahimna, respondent Malanay attached and certified duplicate copies of court orders dismissing the said cases and released the posted cash bonds without Judge Pahimna's signature.[8] No original court orders dismissing these cases were found on file.
- In 19 cases, the respective cash bonds totaling to P55,500.00 were withdrawn without court orders specifically signed by the presiding judge. Instead, a copy of an order stamped "original signed" was attached. However, no original court orders were found in the case folders. Likewise, said court orders lacked the initials of the staff who typed the same, contrary to the usual practice of typing the staff's initials in the court order.[9]
- In 35 cases where their cash bonds totaling P108,100.00 were ordered confiscated, no deposits were found in the accruing account of the government and yet the same were reported as withdrawn.[10]
- In 5 cases, cash bonds were withdrawn without direct court orders to release the same. Furthermore, there were no acknowledgment receipts to prove that said cash bonds were received by the bondsmen or their authorized representative. Likewise, no motions were filed by the accused to withdraw the cash bond posted.[11]
- The collections pertaining to the Fiduciary Trust Fund amounting to P1,044,421.75 were not reported to the Accounting Division, Office of the Court Administrator and were not reflected in the Clerk of Court Cash Book for Fiduciary Trust Fund.[12]
- Thirty-six case folders[13] were not submitted to the audit team upon respondent Malanay's claim that the records can no longer be found in the court's custody.[14]
- The cash bond in Criminal Case No. 5710 with Official Receipt (O.R.) No. 8033806 dated June 18, 1999 amounting to P3,000.00 was withdrawn without a court order and acknowledgment receipt to support its withdrawal.[15]
- In Criminal Case No. 5696, a cash bond amounting to P1,000.00 was ordered by Judge Pahimna to be withdrawn and to be remitted to the Judiciary Development Fund as payment of court fine imposed on the accused. No remittance was made but the amount was reported as withdrawn.[16]
- In Criminal Case No. 4850-94, there were no acknowledgment receipts found in the records to prove that the cash bonds amounting to P6,000.00 were received by the bondsman.[17]
- The collections pertaining to the JDF, for the periods 1985 to 2004, revealed a shortage of P5,095.00. However, the team failed to verify the transactions reported from 1985 to 1993 due to missing triplicate copies of official receipts.[18]
There were also instances where the amounts reflected in the official receipts were greater than the amounts actually reported/recorded. Some official receipts were issued not according to its sequence. Furthermore, the collections were deposited on a monthly basis.[19]- As to the collections pertaining to the General Fund for the periods 1995 to 2003, the collections revealed a shortage of P50,137.00.[20]
- Respondent Malanay did not report in the cash book the transactions involving O.R. No. 15395438 pertaining to Criminal Case No. 5251-97 amounting to P50,000.00 as fine imposed by Judge Tamang on the accused.[21]
- The team also noted respondent Malanay's late submission of monthly reports, late remittances of collections, incorrect cash book footings of collections resulting to under remittances, and missing booklet of official receipts with series 5058101 to 5058150.[22]
- As per collections pertaining to the Victims Compensation Fund, the audit revealed a shortage of P150.00. Moreover, most of the collections were remitted beyond the required schedule.[23]
- As to the Legal Research Fund, the audit team found a shortage of P235.00. The official receipts supporting the collections from July 31, 2002 to December 31, 2003 were unavailable. Likewise, collections amounting to P270.00 were not reflected in the cash book and were not remitted to UP Law Center.[24]
- Fees amounting to P2,100.00 for seven marriage solemnizations were unsupported by official receipts.[25]
- From 2001 to 2003, filing fees in eight estafa cases were not collected.[26]
The audit team failed to compute the actual interest which should have accrued to the Court since the audit was substantially affected by numerous missing documents.
PARTICULARS AMOUNTI. Fiduciary Trust Fund P 640, 751.75II. Judiciary Development Fund P 5, 095.00III. General Fund P 50, 137.00IV. Special Allowance of Justices & Judges 0.00V. Victims Compensation Fund P 150.00VI. Legal Research Fund P 295.00[27]VII. Others (Marriage Solemnization) P 2,100.00TOTAL P 698,528.75[28]
(a) DOCKET the subject report as A.M. No. P-04-1820 (Office of the Court Administrator vs. Clerk of Court Clarita Quintana-Malanay);For her part, respondent Malanay submitted several comments and motions for extension. She explained that since she was relieved as accountable officer of the court, it was impossible for her to make the necessary withdrawals in order to restitute the shortages.[30] She claimed having exerted effort to comply with the Court's directives but due to her suspension, she was not able to comply fully because she could not even secure a loan from private persons as she had no income to pay them.[31] She claimed that her suspension was very harsh considering that it was her first offense after rendering 37 years of satisfactory service to the Court.[32] Respondent Malanay also insisted that her suspension should be lifted and her salaries be released or she should be allowed to apply for early retirement. If allowed to retire, the cash shortages would be deducted from her retirement benefits.[33]
(b) DIRECT Clerk of Court Clarita Quintana-Malanay to(1) DEPOSIT to the Fiduciary Fund the total amount of P345,930.00, representing cash in bank shortages, falsified withdrawals, and confiscated cash bonds which were not remitted to the JDF, and SUBMIT to the Fiscal Monitoring Division, OCA, the validated deposit slips, both within thirty (30) days from notice hereof;(c) DIRECT Presiding Judge Marilou Runes-Tamang to (1) OPEN a new and interest-bearing savings account in the Land Bank of the Philippines under the name of MeTC Pateros, with her and designated OIC, Roselyn L. Villano, as authorized signatories; (2) REQUIRE the concerned parties to file a separate motion to withdraw cash bond posted by the accused if the same was not provided in the order; and (3) INVESTIGATE the circumstances regarding the eight (8) cases where the decisions were falsified, and SUBMIT her report and recommendation thereon within thirty (30) days from notice hereof, to wit: Cases Nos. 4996-5001, 5132, 5133, 5134, 5137, 5172, 5264 and 5327;
(2) WITHDRAW from the Fiduciary Fund the amounts of P10,066.05 and P108,000.00, representing interest earned and confiscated cash bond, respectively; DEPOSIT the same to the JDF account; and SUBMIT to the Fiscal Monitoring Division, OCA, the validated deposit slips, all within thirty (30) days from notice hereof;
(3) SUBMIT, within ten (10) days from notice hereof, the original Court Orders in the following cases where bonds were refunded with unsigned court orders;
CASE NUMBER LITIGANTS BOND POSTED 5336 to 5338; 5342 Gilson Roque P4,000.00 5469 Salvador Arento, et al. 5,000.00 5469 Leandro Santiago 5,000.00 5650 to 5651 Benjamin Reymundo 1,500.00 5874-00 Dominador S. Yumal 4,000.00 5820-99 Vicente Sumapit, Jr. 6,000.00 6152 Arnold Paros 2,000.00 6173 Daniel Torres 2,000.00 6303 Ernesto Roces 3,000.00 6333-03 Jorge Copia 5,000.00 6334-03 Jayson Manzano 5,000.00 6334-03 Jorge Copia 5,000.00 6325-03 Elias Millis 2,000.00 6350 Danilo Sandoval 3,000.00 6351 George Villanueva 3,000.00 TOTAL P55,500.00
(4) SUBMIT to the Court, within (10) days from notice hereof, the Court Order authorizing the refund of the cash bond posted in Criminal Case No. 5710;
(5) DEPOSIT the amounts of P55,095.00, P137.00, P150.00 and P295.00, representing the balance of her accountability in the Judiciary Development Fund, General Fund, Victims Compensation Fund and Legal Research Fund, respectively, and SUBMIT to the Fiscal Monitoring Division, OCA, the validated deposit slips, both within ten (10) days from notice hereof;
(6) REMIT, within ten (10) days from notice hereof, the amount of P2,100.00 representing solemnization fees which were not receipted;
(7) ACCOUNT, within ten (10) days from notice hereof, for the missing Official Receipts which pertains to the Judiciary Development Fund covering the period of 1985 to 1993, and part of the series issued for the General Fund covering the period of 1 February 1997 to 31 August 1997; and
(8) PRODUCE, within ten (10) days from notice hereof, the case folders of the following thirty six (36) criminal cases:
DATE O.R. NUMBER CASE NUMBER AMOUNT 3/__/96 4127030 4985 to 4993 9,000.00 3/30/95 4127031 5019 to 5022 8,000.00 9/24/96 5058154 96-126 to 96-128 6,000.00 2/11/97 5058192 529 to 5249 28,000.00 4/18/97 5058303 257-97 2,000.00 7/9/97 5058309 5321 30,000.00 9/4/97 5058319 5353 2,000.00 3/27/98 5058344 1002-96 1,812.50 3/27/98 5058345 1003-96 2,718.75 3/27/98 5058346 1004-96 2,718.50 3/27/98 5058347 1005-96 2,900.00 3/27/98 5058348 1006-96 2,185.00 3/27/98 5058349 1007-96 2,625.00 3/27/98 5058350 1005-96 1,087.00 6/6/98 8033207 38-042195-96 8,000.00 6/10/98 8033209 5522 10,000.00 6/11/98 8033210 94818 2,000.00 9/11/98 8033221 5406 to5407 2,000.00 1/2/99 8033229 5647 5,000.00 1/12/99 8033232 5648 5,000.00 3/15/99 8033245 5682 10,000.00 7/9/99 8033808 5764 3,000.00 8/10/99 8033813 5764 3,000.00 10/4/99 8033828 10406 1,125.00 10/5/99 8033829 1073 1,300.00 11/26/99 8033834 5838 3,000.00 11/26/99 8033835 5838 3,000.00 11/26/99 8033836 5838 3,000.00 4/27/00 11498652 1151-99 3,250.00 4/27/00 11498653 1152-99 2,600.00 4/27/00 11498654 1153-99 1,950.00 4/27/00 11498655 1154-99 4,550.00 7/24/00 11498669 5916 2,000.00 8/2/00 11498671 5918 4,000.00 8/2/00 11498672 5918 4,000.00 4/30/02 11498776 5149 3,000.00 TOTAL 185,821.75
(d) DIRECT the Legal Office, OCA, to FILE the appropriate criminal charges against Clerk of Court Clarita Quintana-Malanay;
(e) PLACE Clerk of Court Quintana-Malanay under SUSPENSION pending resolution of this administrative matter; and
(f) ISSUE a hold departure order against Clerk of Court Clarita Quintana-Malanay to prevent her from leaving the country.
As to Directive No. 1 - Respondent Malanay begged for the Court's leniency since she is a first time offender and has not been charged for dishonesty during her almost 37 years of service in the Judiciary. She pleaded that she be allowed to settle the alleged shortages through her leave credits with a cash equivalent of P799,400.00,[34] which is sufficient to cover the shortages.On January 22, 2008, the Court referred respondent Malanay's compliance to the OCA for evaluation, report and recommendation.
As to Directive No. 2 - Respondent Malanay explained that she was advised that she could only deposit but not withdraw amounts from the Fiduciary Funds. She prayed that the present cash clerk of MeTC- Pateros, be directed to withdraw P10,066.65 representing interest earned and P108,000.00 representing the alleged confiscated bond from the Fiduciary Fund and deposit the same to the JDF Account, as required by the Court.
As to Directive No. 3 - Respondent Malanay coordinated with the OIC for the retrieval of the alleged original unsigned orders in Criminal Cases Nos. 5335-38-45 (Gilson Roque), 5469 (Salvador Arento), 5469 (Leonardo Santiago), 5650-51 (Benjamin Raymundo), 5874 (Dominador Yumul), 6173 (Daniel Torres), 6303 (Ernesto Roces), 633-6334-03 (Jorge Copia and Nayson Manzano), 6350 (Danilo Sandoval) and 6351 (George Villanueva). However, despite diligent efforts, only those pertaining to 5874 and 633-6334-03 were located.
As to Directive No. 4 - Respondent Malanay explained that the accused in Criminal Case No. 5710 pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine of P1,000.00 to be deducted from the cash bond he posted; thereafter, the bond was released to the said accused. Respondent Malanay claimed that it was an honest mistake that she did not notice that the court order failed to allow the release of the bond since it was the usual practice that after the accused pleaded guilty, the fine will be deducted from the bond and thereafter released to the accused.
As to Directive No. 5 - Respondent Malanay suggested that the alleged shortages in the cashbook of JDF amounting to P55,095.00 be settled from her leave credits.
As to Directive No. 6 - Respondent Malanay alleged that the missing used OR's could no longer be retrieved despite diligent efforts. Respondent Malanay reiterated that she started as accountable officer for the JDF Fund only in 1987 and for the General Fund in 1995. She further explained that the COA conducted an audit sometime in 2000 to 2002 on the cashbooks of the JDF Fund and General Fund but no adverse findings were reported.
As to Directive No. 7 - As to the alleged falsified orders, Respondent Malanay claimed that she already made a personal dialogue with then Presiding Judge Pahimna. She claimed that Judge Pahimna noted her explanation with compassion since she was suffering from hypertension, migraine with vertigo and was even confined at the Makati Medical Center during those times. She pleaded that those instances were her unguarded moments for which she committed some lapses and human mistakes. She added that since the cash bonds were already released to the corresponding accused, the same should be deducted from her accountabilities.
PARTICULARS | PREVIOUS ACCOUNTABILITIES & BEFORE COMPLIANCE | FINAL ACCOUNTABILITIES |
I. Fiduciary Trust Fund | P 640, 751.75 | P 591,851.75 |
II. Judiciary Development Fund | 5, 095.00 | 5,095.00 |
III. General Fund | 50, 137.00 | 50,000.00 |
IV. Special Allowance for Justices & Judges | 0.00 | 0.00 |
V. Victims Compensation Fund | 150.00 | 0.00 |
VI. Legal Research Fund | 295.00[35] | 0.00 |
VII. OTHERS (Marriage Solemnization) | 2,100.00 | 0.00 |
TOTAL | P 698,528.75 | P 646,946.75 |
(a) DIRECT the incumbent Clerk of Court or Officer-in-Charge to DEPOSIT the checks representing restitution of the shortages incurred in the following funds: Fiduciary Fund, General Fund and Judiciary Development Fund, within twenty-four (24) hours after receipt thereof of checks [for the money value of respondent Malanay's leave credits] from the Checks Disbursement Division, FMO-OCA, and SUBMIT to the Fiscal Monitoring Division, Court Management Office (CMO), within two (2) days copy(ies) of machine validated deposit slips as proof of compliance thereof;In her Compliance,[37] Judge Tamang averred that she was not yet the presiding judge of MeTC-Pateros when the subject cases, except Criminal Case No. 6325-03, were decided.
(b) DIRECT respondent Clarita Quintana-Malanay, within ten (10) days from notice without extension, to ACCOUNT and SUBMIT to the Fiscal Monitoring Division, CMO, OCA, the following missing Official Receipts:(c) DIRECT Hon. Lorifel Lacap Pahimna, RTC, Branch 69, Pasig City, Metro Manila, to COMMENT within ten (10) days from receipt hereof, on the five (5) incidents of forgery during her term as Presiding Judge of Metropolitan Trial Court of Pateros, Metro Manila, where her signatures on top of her name appeared on Court Orders in the following criminal cases, dismissing the cases and authorized the release of cash bond to its respective bondsmen, to wit:
NUMBER OF OFFICIAL RECEIPTS NOs.: BOOKLETS 2558501-2559000 10 2299001-2299500 10 5058101-5058150 1 15395851-15395900 1 15396151-15396200 1 TOTAL 23
Criminal Case No.: 5132 5133 5134 5137 4996-5001
(d) DIRECT ANEW Presiding Judge Marilou Runes-Tamang to
(i) CONDUCT an investigation concerning the following criminal cases, where decisions dismissing the case were falsified and signatures of the deciding judge were forged; and submit the report and recommendation within thirty (30) days from receipt hereof:(ii) EXPLAIN why she issued a new order dated August 17, 2004 authorizing the release of cash bond posted by Elias Milis, accused in Criminal Case No. 6325-03, when in fact there was a previous order on May 5, 2003. Although the earlier order was just stamped "ORIGINAL SIGNED," the same cash bond was withdrawn on May 5, 2003 and August 23, 2004 as evidenced by Annexes B, B-1, C and C-1 resulting to double withdrawal.
Criminal Case No.: 5132 5133 5134 5137 4996-5001 5172 5264 5327
(e) DIRECT the Legal Office to file the appropriate criminal charges against Mrs. Clarita Quintana-Malanay.[36]
x x x [this Court] tries to devise the appropriate action to strengthen the moral fiber and strength of character of the employees and officers that constitute the judiciary, this [C]ourt shall never be less strict in applying only the highest standards of propriety, decorum, integrity, uprightness and honesty from the highest judicial officer of the land to the humblest court employee, for the ultimate power of this court lies in its incorruptibility.[50]WHEREFORE, respondent CLARITA QUINTANA-MALANAY, Clerk of Court, MeTC, Pateros, Manila, is hereby found GUILTY of gross neglect of duty, dishonesty and grave misconduct. She is ordered DISMISSED from the service with forfeiture of all retirement benefits and with prejudice to re-employment in the government, including government-owned or controlled corporations. The Employees Leave Division, Office of Administrative Services, OCA, is DIRECTED to compute the balance of respondent Malanay's earned leave credits and forward the same to the Finance Division, Fiscal Management Office, OCA, which shall compute its monetary value. The amount, as well as other benefits she may be entitled to, shall be applied as restitution of the shortage.