Case Digest (G.R. No. 219062)
Facts:
Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao v. Antonieta A. Llauder, G.R. No. 219062, January 29, 2020, Supreme Court Third Division, Leonen, J., writing for the Court.The petitioner is the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao; the respondent is Antonieta A. Llauder, an assistant registration officer at the Iligan City Office of the Civil Registrar, who worked alongside Georgette Dacup (City Civil Registrar) and Norma Aranton (officer-in-charge, Marriage License Registration Division). In 2006, complainant Benjamin K. Edmilao II alleged that a spurious marriage certificate between him and Mylain S. Chu was registered in Iligan City through the assistance and conspiracy of respondent, Aranton, and Dacup.
Edmilao alleged that in 2002 his aunt had him sign an application for “game play” and promised it would not be registered, yet a marriage certificate purporting a July 30, 1997 marriage (with an apparently inconsistent notarization date) was later registered. Aranton reportedly transmitted the delayed-registration application to the City Prosecutor on August 8, 2002; Llauder signed an application on behalf of Chu on August 15, 2002 requesting indorsement to the Civil Registrar General for security papers. The Iligan RTC later declared the marriage spurious and void in Civil Case No. 6541.
Edmilao filed an administrative complaint before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman in February 2006 accusing the three respondents of dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. All three denied culpability. Dacup claimed she had no role in processing delayed-registration applications; Aranton described her function as ministerial (accepting documents without judging intrinsic validity); Llauder admitted to receiving and assigning a registry number and to signing an application for issuance/authentication of security papers but denied participation in falsification and claimed usual office practice permitted signing on behalf of applicants.
On March 19, 2007, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman found Aranton and Llauder guilty of gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the public service and meted six (6) months suspension; Dacup was dismissed for lack of evidence. Llauder and Aranton moved for reconsideration. The Iligan City Mayor issued a Notice of Suspension (July 29, 2008–January 31, 2009). Complainant later filed an Affidavit of Desistance (August 18, 2008), but the Ombudsman denied the motions for reconsideration and Llauder’s motion to dismiss (October 16, 2008).
Llauder alone appealed to the Court of Appeals via a petition for review. She argued that her acts were ministerial, that she merely processed the application after the City Prosecutor’s favorable recommendation, and that Edmilao’s Affidavit of Desistance should have led to dismissal. On December 8, 2014, the Court of Appeals affirmed with modification: it held Llauder liable only for simple neglect of duty (not gross neglect or conduct prejudicial to the service) and reduced the penalty to suspension for three (3) months without pay. The Ombudsman’s motion for partial reconsideration in the CA was denied (June 8, 2015).
The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman filed this Petition for Review on Certiorari (Rule 45) with the Supreme Court on August 20, 2015. The Supreme Court required respondent’s comment; she d...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals err in reducing respondent Antonieta A. Llauder’s administrative liability from gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service (six months suspension) to simple neglect of duty (three months suspension)?
- Given respondent’s retirement and Rule III, Section 7 of the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman (as amended), is respondent entitled to reimbursement of salaries and emoluments for the period covered by the six-month suspension if the Office of the ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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