Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
SECOND DIVISION
A.M. No. 1072-CFI February 20, 1981
LEONARDO CORDOVA,
complainant,
vs.
CFI JUDGE FELIX L. MOYA of Tagum, Davao del Norte, respondent.
R E S O L U T I O N
AQUINO, J.:
In a verified letter-complaint dated October 7, 1975 addressed to the President of the Philippines and later referred to this Court for appropriate action, Leonardo Cordova of Pioneer Avenue, Matina Aplaya, Davao City, on behalf of the heirs of Felipe Cordova, Sr., asked for the dismissal of Judge Felix L. Moya of the Court of First Instance of Davao del Norte, Tagum Branch IX, for (a) grave abuse of discretion and ignorance of the law, (b) patent bias and partiality for a valuable consideration and (c) connivance, tolerance and participation in the commission and violation of forestry laws in connection with Civil Case No. 529, Heirs of Felipe Cordova et al. vs. Estrella Ochida, et al., then pending in his sala.
That case was initiated by the Cordova heirs to recover from Estrella Ochida, the administratrix, the possession and ownership of a rich timber area in Pantukan, Davao del Norte covered by Provisional Timber License No. 36 issued in their names.
Complainant heirs alleged in their complaint that Judge Moya lifted the restraining order, prohibiting Estrella Ochida and her husband from performing logging operations in the disputed area, despite the fact that the Cordovas had already posted a bond of P100,000; that Judge Moya allowed the Ochidas to resume logging operations because he received P50,000 from them and that respondent Judge openly condoned and tolerated the violation of forestry laws by allowing illegally cut logs to be released to the Ochidas.
In his comment, Judge Moya branded the charges as "mere conclusions without factual basis" designed for the sole purpose of disqualifying him from trying the civil case (Rollo, p. 46).
This Court, in a resolution dated March 28, 1980, referred the matter to Justice Guillermo Villasor of the Court of Appeals for investigation, report and recommendation (Rollo, p. 159).
Justice Villasor, in his report which was submitted to this Court on September 30, 1980, stated that both parties were properly notified of the hearings set for September 16 and 17, 1980. Only Judge Moya appeared. He submitted the affidavit of complainant Leonardo Cordova dated September 4, 1980 wherein he manifested his disinterest in prosecuting the case against Judge Moya. He admitted that since the administrative complaint was filed five years ago "events and circumstances have intervened which now show that the allegations of (his) witnesses implicating Judge Felix L. Moya were all hearsay, suspicions and conjectures"; that those witnesses were personally motivated because they stood to benefit financially if respondent Judge were to rule in their favor; that on his part the adverse orders of Judge Moya drove him "blindly mad" to file the administrative case "without verifying whether it had reasonable cause"; that after viewing the administrative case as well as the civil case in their proper perspective, he must be "sport" enough not to prolong the case against Judge Moya by asking for its withdrawal (Rollo, p. 168).
In view of the affidavit of desistance, the investigator recommended the dismissal of this case.
Considering that the charges against the respondent cannot be proven without the evidence of the complainant and his witnesses, the Court resolved to dismiss the case. A copy of this decision should be attached to respondent's personal record.
SO ORDERED.
Barredo (Chairman), Concepcion, Jr., Abad Santos and De Castro, JJ., concur.
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