350 Phil. 227
MELO, J.:
Respondent
Sonita T. Bagadiong holds the position of Court Stenographer III of the
Regional Trial Court of the Nation
Capital Judicial Region, Branch 43, stationed in Manila are presided over by
Judge Manuela F. Lorenzo. She is the subject of a letter-complaint in Criminal
Cases No. 94-133937 and 94-140408, entitled “People of the Philippines vs.
Memalie Mangallardo , et al.”, of respondent’s court.
On July 17,
1996, complaint wrote a letter alleging that she obtained a copy of the
transcript of stenographic notes of the hearing in said criminal cases held on
May 20, 1996, and that to her surprise, she was charged by respondents P21.00
per page. She inquired whether the amount charged by respondent is proper. She
likewise alleged that she was paying P800.00, supposedly for transcripts, for
every hearing.
Required to
comment, respondent alleged that the charge of P21.00 per page was due to the
fact that the transcripts were in single spaced pages, the typing of which was
to be done at home because of the immediate need therefor by complainant, and
that respodent ordinarily charged P10.00 per double-spaced page and with enough
time to given by the parties. Respondent likewise averred that the
transcription of the stenographic notes demanded by complaint was to be done in
addition to respondent’s other court duties such as attending court sessions,
transcribing stenographic notes of other pending cases and those which had been
appealed and submitted for decision; that there were only three stenographers
in their sala; that the payment was supposed to be on “pakyaw” basis but since
complainant could not afford to pay, the charge was only P400.00; that the
amount she was charging is based on the principle of “equal pay for equal
work;” and that she transcribed two
sets of notes which complainant no longer paid for .
In the other
supplemental comments, respondent presented other arguments stated in a
noticeably arrogant fashion, to wit: that complainant should have taken the
matter first with the presiding judge of court under the principle of
exhaustion of administrative remedies; that whether or not the fees complainant
agreed to pay are excessive is a matter not proper for administrative action
since the preparation of transcripts of stenographic notes is only incidental
to the functions of a stenographer and the payment therefor has no bearing on
the proper disposition of a stenographer’s duties and functions; that
complainant has an obligation to pay the amount since she agreed to it; that complainant has no right to direct the
stenographer to do the transcription and that the stenographer may refuse to do the
transcription if and when she did not feel like doing it for the moment; that
the transcription is her intellectual creation; that she has not violated any
law; and that the amount charged was customary in all courts all over the
Philippines.
The first
recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) which was issued
last August 26, 1996 suggested that respondent be fined in the amount of
P1,000.00 with a stern warning that a repetition of the same or similar act
shall be dealt with more severely. After respondent filed her additional
comments, manifestation, and evidence, the OCA submitted a memorandum dated
April 18, 1997, recommending:
... that respondent Sonita T. Bagadiong, Court Stenographer III, RTC, Branch 43, Manila, be SUSPENDED for three (3) months without pay for illegal and exorbinant charging of stenographic noptes, with a stern warning that a repetition of the same or similar act in the futere will be dealt with more severely.
(pp. 4-5, Memorandum.)
Of great
relevance to the case at hand is Section 10, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, as
amended by Administrative Circular No. 31-90, which sets forth the fees to be
uniformly collected by stenographers for the transcription of stenographic
notes, as follows:
Section 10. Stenographers. -- Stenographers shall give transcript of notes taken by them to every personm requesting for the same upon payment of (a) five (P5.00) pesos for each page of not less than two hundred and fifty words before the appeal is taken and (b) three (P3.00) pesos for the same page, after the filing of the total charges shall be paid to the court and the other half to the stenographer concerned.
Plainly,
respondent cannot be allowed to seek shelter in what she alleges as actual
practice of stenographers charging P10.00 per double-spaced page of transcript.
Any violation of the above-cited provision holds the offender administratively
liable.
In Alivia vs.
Nieto (215 SCRA 62 [1995]), the Court e3mphasized that:
The administration of justice is sacred task; by the very nature of their duties and responsibilities, all those involved in it must faithfully adhere to, hold inviolate, and invigorate the principle solemnly enshrined in the 1987 Constitution that a public office is a public trust and all public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people and serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency. It condemns and would never countenance any conduct, act or omission on the part of the all those involved in the administration of justice which would violate the norm of public accountability and would diminish or even just tend to diminish the faith of the people in the judiciary.
Respondent is in
grave error when she argues that the transcription of stenographic notes is a
mere “addition” to a stenographer’s other court duties, thus intimating that such transcription is a minor and incidental task. Paragraph 1
of administrative Circular no. 24-90, mandates that:
1. Clerks of Court and stenographers are enjoined to faithfully comply with Rule 136, Section 17, par. 1, Rules of Court, which is quoted hereunder:
Section 17. Stenographers- It shall be the duty of the stenographer who has attended a session of Court either in the morning or in the afternoon, to deliver to the Clerk of Court, immediately at the close of such morning or in the afternoon session, all the notes he has taken, to be attached to the record of the case, and it shall likewise be duty of the Clerk to demand that the stenographer comply with said duty. The Clerk of Court shall stamp the date on which notes are received by him. When such notes are transcribed, the transcript shall be delivered to the Clerk, duly initialed on each page thereof, to be attached to the records of the case.
Paragraph 2 of said
circular continues:
2. (a) All stenographer are required to transcribe all stenographic notes and to attach the transcripts to the record of the case not later than twenty (20) days from the time the notes are taken. The attaching may be done by putting all said transcripts in a separate folder or envelope, which will then be joined to the record of the case.
(b) The stenographer concerned shall accomplish a verified monthly certification as to compliance with this duty. In the absence of such certification or for failure and/or refusal to submit it, his salary shall withheld.
(c) With respect to untranscribed stenographic notes as of the date of the effectivity of this Circular all stenographers are directed to submit the transcript thereof not later than three (3) months from date of effectivity of this Circular.
In fact,
stenographic notes are deemed official documents which form part of the record
of the case and thus cannot be removed from the record without an order of the
court (Alivia vs. Nieto, supra, citing Section 14 of Rule 136, Rules of Court).
In the case at bench, respondent admitted having brought her stenographic notes
home without any showing that such act was authorized by a court order.
In Rodas vs.
Aquilizan (61 SCRA 325 [1994]), we has occasion to rule:
To court
stenographer’s duty of making an accurate and faithful record of the court
proceedings as well as its honest and authentic reproduction in the transcript,
must be added the primary obligation to serve the public at the sacrifice of
his personal interest id needed, without creating the impression in the minds
of the litigants requesting for transcripts that he is doing them favor as
matter of personal charity when he provides free certified transcripts, instead
of considering it as his bounden duty to do so.
Notwithstanding
respondent’s 18 years of government service, and her status of being a
candidate for the legal profession, she regrettably exhibits signs that she is
apparently ignorant of the very basic concept of public service which
definitely includes the transcription of stenographic notes. Instead of
perceiving the same as a duty with the correlative obligation of charging only
P5.00 per page for not less than 250 words, 50% of which must go to the court,
she stresses that her transcription constitutes a private transaction between
her and the complainant, thus clearly undermining the judiciary’s thrust of
serving the public. Clearly, respondent over-charged complaint for the former’s
preparation of the stenographic notes.
WHEREFORE, and
in line with the pronouncement in Rodas, that an example must be set for all
court stenographers so that hey may learn the true meaning of public service
which they are mandated by law to render, respondent is hereby suspended from
office without pay for a period of two
(2) months from notice hereof, with a stern warning that a repetition of the
same or similar offense in the future
will be dealt with more severely.
SO ORDERED.