THE SUPREME Court has ordered the removal from the service of a court interpreter in Basilan for soliciting and receiving various sums of money from litigants.
In a ruling, the SC en banc led by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes P.A. Sereno found Padma L. Sahi, Court Interpreter I of the 2nd Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Sumisip, Maluso, and Lantawan, Basilan, guilty of grave misconduct.
She was meted with a penalty of dismissal from service and the “forfeiture of retirement benefits, except leave credits, with prejudice of re-employment in any branch, instrumentality, or agency of the government, including government-owned or controlled corporations.”
Records showed that the case against Sahi stemmed from the complaint filed by Judge Juan Gabriel H. Alano of the same court.
Alano administratively charged Sahi, among others, of brokering for litigants and solicited money and gifts in exchange for favorable decisions in the election protest cases pending before his court, despite constant reminders to his staff that they should never demand, solicit, or receive money or gifts from any litigants.
He also complained that Sahi had not been reporting for work and did not even file an official leave application for more than 30 calendar days since the afternoon of June 18, 2008.
In the decision, the High Court held that it “cannot countenance any act or omission on the part of all those involved in the administration of justice which would violate the norm of public accountability and diminish or even just tend to diminish the faith of the people in the Judiciary.”
“The court has repeatedly held that the conduct and behavior of everyone connected with an office charged with the dispensation of justice is circumscribed with the heavy burden of responsibility.” (Leonard D. Postrado)
Link:http://www.tempo.com.ph/2015/01/sc-fires-interpreter-for-soliciting-money/
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