THIRD DIVISION

A.M. P-06-2124             September 20, 2006
[Formerly AM No. 05-12-747-RTC]

REPORT ON THE STATUS OF THE FINANCIAL AUDIT CONDUCTED IN THE RTC-TARLAC CITY.

R E S O L U T I O N

TINGA, J.:

This involves a financial audit by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) conducted in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tarlac City.

The audit of the books of accounts of Atty. Roberto Q. Tuquero, Clerk of Court of RTC, Tarlac City, disclosed that-

Several violations were likewise committed with regard to the implementation of court circulars on the timely deposit of court collections (18 to 23 November 2003 JDF collections amounting to P167,835.91 were deposited on 1 December 2003) as well as on the use of the court collections to encash personal checks.²

Clerk of Court, Atty. Tuquero disputed the findings and instead ascribed liability to Mr. Honorato Q. Manguera, the cash clerk. However, due to the principle of command responsibility, and being the one primarily accountable, Atty. Tuquero was required to submit the necessary documents to justify the unaccounted amount of P6,953,714.77. Atty. Tuquero’s clearance was held in abeyance meantime, resulting in the delay in the release of his retirement benefits.³

A final submission of compliance was made on 18 October 2005 and both Atty. Tuquero and Mr. Manguera requested that the remaining unaccounted amount be divided equally between them and the same to be deducted from their respective money value of leave credits.⁴ Moreover, Mr. Manguera intimated that while he may have incurred delay in the deposit of court collections, he has not taken a single centavo from the court’s money. He likewise claimed that the filing and keeping of the records were also not properly maintained because of the lack of available storage space. This deficiency, he asserted, has contributed to the loss of some documents.⁵

After considering the documents presented, the established accountability was reduced to P573, 047.04, the composition of which is as follows:⁶

Yet, Atty. Tuquero and Mr. Manguera could no longer account for the missing official receipts.

On 22 November 2005, the OCA submitted to the Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr., a Report on the status of the Financial Audit conducted in the RTC of Tarlac City. The OCA found that Atty. Tuquero failed to perform his duties and functions as accountable officer specially his duty to monitor the financial transactions in the court. It also found that Mr. Manguera failed to deposit court collections on time and used court collections to encash personal checks.⁷

In our Resolution dated 30 January 2006, we adopted the OCA’s recommendation, quoted as follows:

The evidence shows that Atty. Tuquero and Mr. Manguera incurred a total shortage of Five Hundred Seventy Two Thousand Five Hundred Seventy Nine Pesos and Sixty-One Centavos (P572,579.61).

Even if said amount was restituted, nonetheless, its non-remittance on time deprived the Court of the interest that may be earned if the amounts were deposited in a bank as prudently required. Pertinently, Administrative Circular No. 3-2000 provides:

Correlatively, Circular No. 50-95⁹ mandates that "all collections from bailbonds, rental deposits and other fiduciary collections shall be deposited within twenty four (24) hours by the Clerk of Court concerned, upon receipt thereof.

As clerk of court and cash clerk respectively, Atty. Tuquero and Mr. Manguera are accountable officers entrusted with great responsibility of collecting money belonging to the funds of the court. Both have been remiss in their duty to remit the collections within a prescribed period and are liable for keeping funds in their custody—Tuquero as the one responsible for monitoring the court’s financial transactions and Manguera as the one in whom the such functions are reposed. Atty. Tuquero and Mr. Manguera violated the trust reposed in them as disbursement officers of the judiciary. Thus, they should be held liable for the shortages mentioned above. Moreover, as held in Re: Financial Audit of Accounts of Clerk of Court Pacita T. Sendin,¹⁰ shortages in the amount to be remitted as well as the delay in the actual remittance constitute neglect of duty for which the responsible officers shall be administratively liable.¹¹.

Clerks of courts should be reminded that they are the chief administrative officers of their respective courts. They are judicial officers entrusted to perform delicate functions with regard to the collection of fees and are expected to correctly and effectively implement regulations such that even undue delay in the remittances of amounts collected by them at the very least constitutes misfeasance. Being the custodian of the court’s funds, revenues, records, the Clerk of Court is likewise liable for any loss, shortage, destruction or impairment of said funds and property. ¹²

In Re: Report on the Judicial and Financial Audit of RTC-Br. 4, Panabo, Davao Del Norte,¹³ we held that failure of the Clerk of Court to remit the court funds collected to the Municipal Treasurer constitutes gross neglect of duty, dishonesty and grave misconduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. Under Rule IV, Section 52-A of the Civil Service Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, these are grave offenses punishable by dismissal even committed for the first time.

However, considering that Atty. Tuquero had retired from the service, we find the Court Administrator’s recommended penalty of P5,000.00 fine on both Atty. Tuquero and Mr. Manguera in order.

WHEREFORE, retired Clerk of Court Roberto Q. Tuquero and Honorato Q. Manguera are FINED in the amount of five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) and are ordered to jointly and equally restitute the shortage in the collections in the total amount of P572,579.61.

The Financial Management Office is directed to deduct equally from Roberto Q. Tuquero and Honorato Q. Manguera’s money value of their leave credits the sum of Five Hundred Seventy Two Thousand Five Hundred Seventy Nine Pesos and Sixty-One Centavos (P572,579.61).

SO ORDERED.

Quisumbing, Chairperson, Carpio, Carpio-Morales, Velasco, Jr., J.J., concur.

Footnotes