Case Digest (A.M. No. 18-07-131-RTC)
Facts:
Re: Dropping From the Rolls of Noel C. Lindo, Sheriff IV, Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, Branch 83, A.M. No. 18‑07‑131‑RTC, September 03, 2018, the Supreme Court Second Division, Reyes, Jr., J., writing for the Court (Chairperson Carpio, with Justices Perlas‑Bernabe, Caguioa and Reyes, Jr., JJ., concurring).The subject of the administrative matter is Noel C. Lindo, Sheriff IV of RTC Quezon City, Branch 83. Records from the Employees’ Leave Division (ELD), Office of Administrative Services (OAS), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) showed that Lindo failed to submit his Daily Time Records (DTRs) beginning November 2017 and did not file applications for leave for those absences. On that account, he was considered absent without official leave (AWOL) starting November 2, 2017.
Earlier, on August 2, 2017, the OCA had issued a memorandum directing the withholding of Lindo’s salaries and benefits for failure to submit DTRs for May to June 2017. By letters dated November 9, 2017, December 13, 2017, and January 9, 2018, Atty. Pearl Angeli G. Formilleza‑Ronquillo informed the OCA (and, in transmittal letters, Judge Ralph S. Lee subscribed and swore to the transmittals) that Lindo remained remiss in submitting DTRs for several months, including November and December 2017.
On February 8, 2018, Presiding Judge Ralph S. Lee recommended that Lindo be declared AWOL and that the deputy sheriff position in Branch 83 be declared vacant. The OCA’s internal inquiries further showed that Lindo had not applied for retirement, remained in the plantilla (thus considered in active service), was not an accountable officer, and had a pending case docketed as OCA IPI No. 13‑4112‑P.
In its Report dated June 13, 2018, the OCA recommended that Lindo be dropped from the rolls effective November 2, 2017 for continuous AWOL, that his position be declared vacant, and that he be served at his last known address; the OCA also noted that the separation would be non‑disciplinary an...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Procedural: Does Section 107(a‑1), Rule 20 of the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service permit dropping an employee from the rolls for continuous AWOL without prior notice?
- Substantive: On the facts presented, should Noel C. Lindo be dropped from the rolls effective November 2, 2017 and his position declared vacant for continuous AWOL?
- Substantive/Consequential: Is separation by dropping from the rolls for continuous unauthorized absence disciplinary in nature such that bene...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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