Case Digest (G.R. No. L-59679)
Facts:
Teodulo M. Palma, Sr. v. Hon. Carlos O. Fortich, as Governor of Bukidnon, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bukidnon, G.R. No. L-59679, January 29, 1987, Supreme Court Second Division, Paras, J., writing for the Court.
Petitioner Teodulo M. Palma, Sr. was the duly elected Mayor of Don Carlos, Bukidnon. On March 30, 1981 the Assistant Provincial Fiscal Vivencio P. Estrada, acting on complaints by Nelia Arandel (Clerk-typist) and Susan Palamine (Clerical Aide), filed three criminal informations (Criminal Cases Nos. 2795–2797) in the Court of First Instance of Bukidnon for Acts of Lasciviousness against Mayor Palma. The offended parties also sent a sworn joint letter to respondent Governor Carlos O. Fortich requesting an administrative investigation and immediate suspension of the Mayor; copies of the informations and statements accompanied that letter.
Treating the communication as a formal complaint, the Governor informed Mayor Palma of an administrative charge for "Misconduct in Office" and forwarded the administrative record to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bukidnon, which set the matter for hearing on April 13, 1981. After testimony and cross-examination, the complainants petitioned the provincial board for preventive suspension; the Sangguniang Panlalawigan granted preventive suspension in Resolution No. 82-87. Mayor Palma accepted the preventive suspension in an Office Order dated February 15, 1982, but filed a petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with prayer for Preliminary Injunction in the Supreme Court to enjoin further investigation and to nullify the suspension.
Procedurally, the Supreme Court (First Division in initial interlocutory resolutions) required respondents to comment (resolution of April 24, 1982); respondents filed their comment May 3, 1982. Petitioner sought a TRO (June 14, 1982); on June 16, 1982 the Court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining respondents from continuing the administrative hearing and from enforcing the suspension. Briefs and an intervenor brief by the offended parties were filed thereafter. On September 1, 1983 petitioner manifested that the three criminal cases had been dismissed by the Regional Trial Court, Branch X, Malaybalay (Order dated February 24, 1983) for insufficiency of evidence, the court finding circumstances pointing to consent.
Subsequent political developments intervened: Proclamation No. 3 (the Freedom Constitution) of March 25, 1986 (Article III, Sec. 2) permitted replacement of elective officials by Officers‑in‑Charge; Ministry of Local Government records showed petitioner had been replaced by OIC Fabian Gardones. The case thus reached the Second Division of the Supreme Court on the petition for certiorari an...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is the petition rendered moot and academic by the replacement of petitioner Mayor Palma by an Officer‑in‑Charge under Proclamation No. 3 (the Freedom Constitution)?
- Does the filing and pendency of three criminal informations for Acts of Lasciviousness against an elective local official, without a final conviction, constitute "misconduct in office" under Section 5 of R.A. No. 5185 that may validly support an administrative...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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