Administrative Order No. 139




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 139, November 29, 1940 ] TRANSFERRING JUSTICE OF THE PEACE VALERIO V. ROVIRA OF SAGUIARAN, SUNGOD, DITSAAN AND BUBONG, PROVINCE OF LANAO, TO A SIMILAR POSITION IN BUNGAO, BALIMBING, AND SUMUMUL, PROVINCE OF SULU, AND REPRIMANDING HIM FOR CONDUCT UNBECOMING A PUBLIC OFFICIAL This in an administrative case filed by the Provincial Governor of Lanao and the Commissioner for Mindanao and Sulu against Valerio V. Rovira, Justice of the Peace of Saguiaran, Sungod, Ditsaan and Bubong, Province of Lanao, for conduct unbecoming a public official. It appears that the Provincial Board of Lanao, sitting as council for the Municipal District of Saguiaran, abolished the position of clerk in the office of the respondent. On June 6, 1940, the respondent addressed a letter to the Provincial Board in which he stressed the importance of the position abolished and made unwarranted and improper remarks, to wit: that the position of clerk in his office is more important than the position of Lieutenant Governor, Deputy Governor, or Assistant to the Governor “whose services can be very well dispensed with without hampering the administration of the provincial government”; that the salary of the clerk is very insignificant compared with the salary of the Lieutenant Governor which is P250.00 a month, but the clerk renders better service to the public than the Lieutenant Governor; and that the position of clerk is more important “because the work of the Lieutenant Governor is a mere unnecessary duplication.” When the respondent was requested by the Secretary of Justice to comment on the charges against him, he made additional unpleasant and uncalled for remarks against the Governor of Lanao and the Commissioner for Mindanao and Sulu, calling them, with apparent sarcasm, “two conceded experts and authorities on Moro affairs,” and stating that the “chorus of the two high officials amused” him very much.ᇈWᑭHIL The attitude of the respondent towards the officials concerned is, to say the least, reprehensible. He showed poor judgment when he resorted to the use of offensive remarks, instead of appealing the matter to the proper authorities, agree with the Secretary of Justice that the strained relations of the respondent with other officials of Lanao do not warrant the retention of the respondent in his present station, if the efficiency of the service is to be protected from impairment. In view of the foregoing, and concurring in the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice, the respondent, Valerio V. Rovira, is hereby transfered to the position of Justice of the Peace in Bungao, Balimbing, and Sumumul, Province of Sulu, with the same compensation at P2,400.00 per annum. He is also hereby reprimanded and warned that a repetition of a similar offense in the future will be considered sufficient cause for his removal. Done at the City of Manila this 29th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty, and of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the sixth. (Sgd.) MANUEL L. QUEZON President of the Philippines By the President: (Sgd.) JORGE B. VARGAS Secretary to the President The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation