Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
A.M. No. P-90-414 August 9, 1993
BELEN P. FERRIOLS, complainant,
vs.
NORMA HIAM, Clerk of Court, MTCC, Branch I, Batangas City, respondent.
A.M. No. P-90-531 August 9, 1993
NORMA P. HIAM, complainant,
vs.
BELEN P. FERRIOLS, Court Interpreter, MTCC, Branch I, Batangas City, respondent.
R E S O L U T I O N
PER CURIAM:
Pursuant the resolution dated October 7, 1992 of this Court, the dispositive portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, as recommended, the Court hereby orders the auditor of the Office of the Court Administrator to conduct a financial audit of the Branch Clerk of Court, Norma P. Hiam of the MTCC, Branch I at Batangas City, within ninety (90) days from receipt of this resolution, and to submit a report of his findings and recommendations to this Court. Let a copy of Executive Judge Ernesto D. Mercado's Investigation Report be furnished the said auditor for his reference and guidance. (p. 141, Rollo of A.M. No. P-90-414.)
Deputy Court Administrator Juanito S. Bernad ordered the auditor of the Office of the Court Administrator to conduct a financial audit of Branch Clerk of Court Norma Hiam of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), Branch I at Batangas City, who is charged with dishonesty, grave misconduct and neglect of duty by the court interpreter, Belen Ferriols. The report of Dimas Guevarra and Leandro L. Villanueva, staff of the Fiscal Audit Division, which was approved by Director III, Clara Lontoc-Guzman, contained the following findings:
Mrs. Norma P. Hiam is the respondent in Administrative Matter No. 90-414 filed by Mrs. Belen Ferriols which charged that collections of cash bail bonds and fines, posted and paid by several accused were not deposited or, remitted to the City Treasurer of Batangas City.
Audit Proper:
The audit examination was confined to the seven Criminal Cases mentioned in the above-mentioned Administrative case and was the subject of an investigation by then Executive Judge, Honorable Ernesto D. Mercado of the Regional Trial Court of Batangas City stated as follows:
A. Cash Bond
Amount of
Case No. Title Cash Bond Date Posted
18056 People of the Philippines P20,000.00 9-5-88
vs. Arnel Samonte et al. (4 accused at
P5,000.00 ea
18075 People of the Philippines P500.00 9-5-88
vs. Rebecca Canovas
18213 People of the Philippines 2 accused at
vs. Gracino Sibulo et al. P600.00 ea. 9-5-88
B. Fines
Amount of
Case No. Title Fines Date Paid
18104 People of the Philippines
vs. Cynthia Abila P200.00 1-26-88
18107 People of the Philippines
vs. Lilibeth S. Torres P200.00 1-25-88
18108 People of the Philippines
vs. Marietta Guevarra P200.00 1-25-88
18109 People of the Philippines
vs. Margie Ijan P200.00 1-25-88
Criminal Case No. 18056
(Reported as Criminal
Case No. 18058 in the
Investigation Report of
Judge Ernesto Mercado)
This case was filed on September 5, 1988 and was dismissed on February 17, 1989. The total cash bail bonds in the amount of Twenty Thousand (P20.000 00) pesos posted by the four accused for their provisional liberty were ordered cancelled and released by Judge Ernesto Encarnacion upon dismissal of the said case. No record of deposits/withdrawals for the said amount was shown on the books of the City Treasurer. (Annexes A, B & C)
Criminal Case No. 18075
The case was filed on November 6, 1987 against Rebecca Canovas for Grave Oral Defamation. Some documents of the case are missing and the records appear to be reconstituted. The accused posted cash bail bond of Five Hundred (P500.00) pesos for her provisional liberty which was approved by that Court on February 10, 1988. An affidavit was executed by Rebecca Canovas that her case was permanently dismissed on November 15, 1990 (the Court Order for its dismissal could not be found) and her demand for the refund of the cash bond was denied by the then Presiding Judge, Pedro A. Marasigan for her failure to present the corresponding official receipt. (Annexes D, E & F)
Criminal Case No. 18213
Arnel Samonte and Graciano Sibulo (Not Gregorio Sibulo as per Investigation Report of Judge Ernesto Mercado) are the accused in Criminal Case No. 18213. The cash bail bond for Arnel Samonte of Six Hundred (P600.00) pesos was posted on September 5, 1988 but deposited only to the City Treasurer of Batangas City on February 17, 1989 per Official Receipt No. 5127617 (5 months). The cash bond for the other accused, Mr. Graciano Sibulo of Six Hundred (P600.00) pesos was posted not at Batangas City but at MTCC, Lucena City under Official Receipt No. 1850291 on July 31, 1992. (Annexes G, H, I & J)
Criminal Cases Nos. 18104,
18107, 18108, and 1809
The records of the foregoing criminal cases on which the accused are sentenced by the Court to pay a fine of Two Hundred (P200.00) pesos each are missing and can no longer be found in the safekeeping vault of Branch I, MTCC, Batangas City as certified by Miss Cora Dalangin, incumbent Officer-in-Charge, Branch I of that Court. (Annexes K, L, M, N & O)
Others
In a verification letter we sent to the City Treasurer['s] Office on whether collections of cash bail bonds and fines were remitted to that Office, Mr. Juan Sugay, the Acting City Treasurer, within 3 days of receipt, issued a certification to the effect that no amount of money was received pertinent to the seven cases mentioned earlier, except for the cash bail bond of Arnel Samonte in Criminal Case No. 18213 for P600.00. (Annexes P & Q) (pp. 144-146, Rollo of A. M. No. P-90-414.)
The clerk of court may not keep funds in her custody. Monies received by the clerk of court "shall be deposited immediately . . . upon receipt thereof with the City, Municipal or Provincial Treasurer where his court is located." Supreme Court Circulars Nos. 5 dated November 25, 1962 and 5-A dated December 3, 1982 provide:
Circular No. 5
. . . All collections of funds of a fiduciary character including rental deposits shall be deposited immediately by the Clerk of Court concerned upon receipt thereof with the City, Municipal or Provincial Treasurer where his Court is located. . . .
Circular No. 5-A
. . . By way of implementing Circular No. 5 dated November 25, 1982 directing the deposit of all collections of judiciary funds including rental deposits by the Clerk of Court concerned with the City, Municipal or Provincial Treasurer where his Court is located, all Clerks of Court are hereby directed to use a Deposit Acceptance Order form for said purpose, a facsimile of which is hereto attached for their guidance and ready reference. . . . (p. 146, Rollo of A. M. No P-90-414.)
Section 93 of the Judiciary Act of 1948 likewise provides:
Judiciary Act of 1948
. . . Section 93. Moneys Paid into Municipal of City Courts — By whom to be received. All moneys accruing to the Government in municipal or city courts, including fees, fines, forfeitures, costs, or other miscellaneous receipts, and all trust or depository funds paid into such courts shall be received by the Municipal or city treasurer, or in the City of Manila by the city treasurer, for disposition according to law: PROVIDED, however, That all moneys paid in the nature of fines and costs by persons convicted for violations of municipal or city ordinances shall accrue exclusively to the city, Municipality or municipal district in meeting its obligations as defined under sections seventy-four and seventy-five of this Act, as amended. (RA No. 5468) . . . (pp. 146-147, Rollo of A.M. No. P-90-414; Italics ours.)
Clearly, Clerk of Court Norma Hiam had no authority to collect, much less keep in her custody, cash bail bonds and fines in criminal cases. Her failure to remit the funds to the City Treasurer of Batangas City constitutes serious misconduct prejudicial to the service. Worse, her misappropriation of the funds for her personal benefit constitutes dishonesty which is punishable both administratively and criminally as an offense under the Penal Code.
WHEREFORE, in A. M. No. P-90-414, "Belen P. Ferriols vs. Norma Hiam, Clerk of Court," the Court finds respondent Norma Hiam GUILTY of dishonesty and serious misconduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and hereby orders her immediate DISMISSAL from the service with forfeiture of all retirement benefits due her except the money value of her accrued leaves. She is hereafter disqualified for reemployment in the government service, including government-owned or controlled corporations. She is further ordered to deposit in the Office of the City Treasurer of Batangas City, within ten (10) days from notice, the sum of P20,800.00 which represents the cash bail bonds of the four (4) accused in Criminal Case No. 18056 and the fines totalling P800.00 paid by four (4) other accused in Criminal Cases Nos. 18104, 18107, 18108 and 18109, which she collected but failed to remit to the City Treasurer of Batangas City as required by law.
With respect to Hiam's countercharge against Ferriols (A.M. No. P-90-531) alleging that the latter collected costs in 304 criminal cases and fines in 3 criminal cases which she did not remit to the City Treasurer of Batangas the same is DISMISSED for lack of evidence, as recommended by Executive Judge Ernesto D. Mercado.
SO ORDERED.
Narvasa, C.J., Cruz, Feliciano, Padilla, Bidin, Griño-Aquino, Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero, Nocon, Bellosillo, Melo, Quiason, Puno and Vitug, JJ., concur.
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