Case Digest (G.R. No. 205659)
Facts:
Psi Darwin D. Valderas v. Vilma O. Sulse, G.R. No. 205659, March 09, 2022, Supreme Court First Division, Gaerlan, J., writing for the Court.
In May 2006, Vilma O. Sulse, former secretary of the Sangguniang Bayan of Taft, Eastern Samar, alleged that Mayor Francisco Adalim assaulted her inside the Taft Police Station and that the station’s police officers, including Police Senior Inspector (PSI) Darwin D. Valderas (then Chief of Police), failed to record or intervene. Sulse complained to the Office of the Ombudsman naming several Taft police officers, including petitioner Valderas. She later underwent a medical examination (conducted 43 days after the alleged incident) documenting head/neck pain and a short period of incapacity. Valderas filed a counter-affidavit denying that he could have prevented the assault because he arrived after the incident, and noting that the police blotter contained entries (Entry Nos. 2081 and 2082) about accusations that Sulse took office records and that she later surrendered documents and envelopes to police. Valderas also questioned the delay in the medical examination.
On January 5, 2007 the Ombudsman found Valderas and several colleagues guilty of Simple Neglect of Duty and imposed two months’ suspension without pay. After reconsideration, on October 26, 2010 the Ombudsman modified its ruling: it exonerated the other officers but found Valderas guilty and reduced the penalty to one month’s suspension without pay (citing RA 6770). Valderas then filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals (CA).
On September 17, 2012 the CA denied Valderas’s petition, upholding the Ombudsman’s finding on the ground that, even if physical mauling was not established, the blotter should have at least reflected that Sulse w...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Under Rule 45, may this Court review questions of fact raised by petitioner?
- Did the Court of Appeals err in affirming the Ombudsman’s finding that petitioner committed Simple Neglec...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)