Case Digest (A.M. No. MTJ-01-1370)
Facts:
Office of the Court Administrator v. Judge Agustin T. Sardido, A.M. No. MTJ-01-1370 (Formerly A.M. No. 00-11-238-MTC), April 25, 2003, the Supreme Court First Division, Carpio, J., writing for the Court. The complainant was the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) and the respondent was Judge Agustin T. Sardido, then presiding judge of the Municipal Trial Court of Koronadal (MTC-Koronadal).Private complainant Teresita Aguirre Magbanua filed a criminal complaint for falsification by private individual and use of falsified document against Oscar Pagunsan and Danilo Ong; an Amended Information also included Judge Braulio L. Hurtado, Jr. (then Clerk of Court and ex-officio notary public, later an RTC judge) as an accused. The transaction involved a Deed of Absolute Sale dated 8 August 1993 (which Magbanua denied signing and which reflected an allegedly undervalued consideration), and a later deed dated 6 August 1996 claiming a much higher consideration; the Bureau of Internal Revenue assessed a deficiency capital gains tax against the vendors.
Judge Hurtado moved that the complaint against him be forwarded to the Supreme Court, invoking Supreme Court Circular No. 3-89 (dated 6 February 1989) as requiring referral to the Court of all cases "involving justices and judges of lower courts." The Provincial Prosecutor opposed, noting the case was criminal in nature and related to acts committed in 1993 when Hurtado was a clerk of court and not yet an RTC judge.
On 20 October 1998, Judge Sardido issued an order excluding Judge Hurtado from the Amended Information and directing that the case against him be forwarded to the Supreme Court pursuant to Circular No. 3-89. Acting Clerk of Court Maxima S. Borja forwarded the case to the Court Administrator on 21 July 1999. The Court Administrator then issued a memorandum (25 October 2000) advising that Circular No. 3-89 pertains to administrative complaints filed with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and does not apply to criminal cases; the Court, by Resolution of 6 December 2000, returned the records to MTC-Koronadal and directed Judge Sardido to explain why he should not be held liable for gross ignorance of the law for excluding Judge Hurtado and transmitting the records to the Court.
Judge Sardido submitted an explanation (26 January 2001) maintaining his good-faith application of Circular No. 3-89. The matter was referred to the OCA (28 March 2001) which recommended re-doc...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does Circular No. 3-89 require that criminal cases filed against judges or justices of lower courts be forwarded to the Supreme Court?
- Did Judge Agustin T. Sardido commit gross ignorance of the law by excluding Judge Braulio L. Hurtado, Jr. from the Amended Information and forwarding the criminal...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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