SC Fines Former JEA Winner, Another Judge

Posted: March 9, 2009
By Jay B. Rempillo

A Judicial Excellence Award is no shield against administrative liabilities.
Thus the Supreme Court fined 2004 Judicial Excellence Award (JEA) winner Judge Ralph S. Lee of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, Branch 83 PhP20,000 for failing to decide within the period fixed by law the cases he had left behind when he was a first-level court judge.
Judge Lee, chosen in 2004 as Outstanding First Level Court Judge when he was then Presiding Judge of the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Quezon City, Branch 38, was also sternly warned that a repetition of the same or similar offense shall dealt with more severely. The Court found Judge Lee liable for undue delay in deciding the cases he had left behind in the MeTC.
Under sec. 9(1), Rule 140 of the Rules of Court, as amended, and sec. 11(b) of the same Rule, undue delay in rendering a decision or order constitutes a less serious charge punishable by suspension from office without salary and other benefits for not less than one month, but not more than three months, or a fine of more than PhP10,000, but not exceeding PhP20,000. The Court imposed the maximum fine “in order not to adversely affect” the work of Lee’s sala.
“We deem it appropriate to impose the maximum fine of PhP20,000 on Judge Lee considering that his transgression touched on parties’ right to the speedy disposition of their cases and that fact that he is already a repeat offender. We note that, as reported by the [Office of Court Administrator] OCA, he had been fined PhP5,000 for indirect contempt by the Court in an earlier administrative matter,” said the Court in a nine-page decision penned by Justice Arturo D. Brion.
The Court said that the records clearly showed that Lee, following his promotion to the RTC in August 2005, submitted a monthly report containing grossly inaccurate entries, and a certification that he had left no pending cases in the MeTC when he had assumed the RTC post. However, it turned out that he had still three undecided cases.
In another decision, also penned by Justice Brion, the Court imposed a PhP10,000 fine on Judge Eric F. Menchavez of the Cebu City RTC, Branch 21, for vulgar and unbecoming conduct as a judge. He was also warned that a repetition of the same infraction will be dealt with more severely.
Investigation by the OCA showed that Judge Menchavez had a heated altercation with Atty. Antonio G. Cañeda and that the judge brought a handgun into the courtroom and placed it on his table during a court hearing. Cañeda, however, was given by the Court an admonition that in representing his clients, he should ever be mindful of the respect due to the court and avoid actions bordering on disrespect.
“[T]he judge himself must observe decorum by acting with dignity and courtesy to all those present in the courtroom. This, the respondent judge failed to do. The severity of his violation is not tampered by his allegation that the complainant himself contributed to the events that led to [his] show of temper,” the Court said. (AM No. 06-3-112 MeTC, Re: Cases Left Undecided by Former Judge Ralph S. Lee, MeTC, Branch 38, Quezon City; AM No. RTJ-06-2026, Cañeda v. Judge Menchavez, March 4, 2009)