Case Digest (A.M. No. RTJ-16-2424)
Facts:
Office of the Court Administrator v. Hon. Globert J. Justalero, A.M. No. RTJ-16-2424 (Formerly A.M. No. 15-12-390-RTC), January 18, 2023, Supreme Court Second Division, Lopez, J., writing for the Court.The Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) filed an administrative complaint against Judge Globert J. Justalero arising from his service as Presiding Judge of Branch 32, Regional Trial Court (RTC), Iloilo City, and as the designated Assisting Judge of Branch 66, RTC of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. By A.O. No. 12-2010, Judge Justalero was designated to take cognizance of cases previously heard by another judge and to share newly-filed cases in Branch 66 on a 2:1 raffle ratio with the presiding judge there.
A regular judicial audit (April 20–May 3, 2015) of active nullity-of-marriage cases in Branch 66 disclosed numerous procedural anomalies in matters heard and decided by Judge Justalero in 2014–2015: failure to furnish the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) with copies of pleadings; proceedings continued despite OSG non-appearance; missing collusion reports where no answer had been filed; collusion orders and collusion reports issued virtually simultaneously or before returns of service; orders granting service by publication dated after publication; transcripts of stenographic notes transcribed by a stenographer from Branch 32; returns of service lacking actual signatures though purportedly received; formal offers admitted before the lapse of opposing parties’ time to comment; and decisions rendered despite missing pretrial orders, answers, collusion reports or formal offers. Many petitions involved parties nonresidential to Iloilo and marriages solemnized outside Iloilo.
A discreet follow-up audit (Branch 32, August 10–14, 2015) corroborated the swiftness and procedural irregularities: decisions issued one to three days after memoranda filings; orders and returns of service issued out of sequence; motions to take depositions granted the day after filing; and an anomalously high number of nullity decisions from Judge Justalero while he sat in Branch 66 one day a week.
The audits also flagged irregularities in Judge Justalero’s solemnization of marriages: he solemnized numerous marriages in Barotac Viejo despite not being vested with administrative authority to do so under A.O. No. 12-2010; many marriages were registered the same day as solemnization or license issuance; 26 of 50 marriages in a seven-month span invoked Article 34 (affidavit of cohabitation) and, in most such instances, the affidavits of cohabitation were notarized by Judge Justalero himself without proper presentation of competent evidence of identity; and a court stenographer executed affidavits for delayed registration.
On November 23, 2015, the OCA recommended preventive suspension, revocation of Judge Justalero’s designation as assisting judge, designation of an acting presiding judge, and a formal administrative complaint for disciplinary action, ultimately recommending dismissal for gross ignorance of the law and procedure, gross misconduct, and incompetence. The Supreme Court adopted the OCA recommendations in a January 20, 2016 Resolution, imposed preventive suspension and revoked the designation, and treated the OCA memorandum as the formal administrative complaint.
Judge Justalero filed an Explanation (March 15, 2016) asserting that his expedited dispositions were motivated by zeal to reduce docket backlog, claiming heavy caseloads (allegedly resolving many cases monthly at both courts), that procedural lapses could be attributed to court personnel and public prosecutors (e.g., service and collusion reports), that the judicial affidavit regimen allowed objections in open court obviating formal comment timing, and that he acted in good faith in solemnizing marriages and notarizing affidavits ex officio. He submitted some retrieved records but otherwise did not sufficiently rebut the audit findings.
The OCA reiterated its recommendation for dismissal, relying on pa...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Should Judge Globert J. Justalero be held administratively liable for gross ignorance of the law and procedure, gross misconduct, and incompetence for his handling of nullity cases and his solemnization/notarizatio...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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