Title
Berin vs. Barte
Case
A.M. No. MTJ-02-1443
Decision Date
Jul 31, 2002
Judge Barte, accused of brokering a real estate deal, violated judicial conduct by engaging in private dealings that compromised impartiality, fined P2,000.
business transaction
broker
impartiality
A

Case Summary (A.M. No. MTJ-02-1443)

Factual Background

The complainants alleged that, during the last week of January 2001, respondent judge invited them to his office and asked them to locate a vendor of a lot in Antique because the Church desired to purchase a site for its church. They claimed that they found Eleanor M. Checa-Santos, who owned a lot consisting of 4,000 square meters, identified as Lot 5555-B, Psd-06-000304, located in Barrio Caridad, Municipality of Now, Hamtic, Antique. Complainants asserted that they informed the respondent judge of the lot. They further alleged that three days later the judge told them that the Church would pay P2.3 million for the property and that the judge agreed that each complainant would receive a commission of P100,000.00 if the sale would proceed. According to the complainants, the respondent judge would receive the payment from the vendee and then deliver the complainants’ shares. Although the complainants wanted the arrangement placed in writing, respondent judge allegedly refused, invoking trust in the judge by telling them that there would be no written agreement because of the absence of the need for one.

Complainants claimed that the sale was consummated and that respondent judge received the purchase price, but that he paid them only P10,000.00 each despite their demands for the promised commissions. On that basis, they filed the present administrative complaint.

Respondent Judge’s Defense and the Contested Version

In his Comment and Supplemental Comment, respondent judge denied the essential allegations that he had invited complainants to his office in January 2001 and that he had discussed the Church’s plan to buy the subject lot with them. He maintained that as early as January 25, 2001, the Church had already purchased the same land and that the vendee had already paid 50% of the sale price to the vendor, as shown by a Closing Certificate indicating payment at the Metrobank, San Jose, Antique Branch on that date. He stated that the deed of sale was notarized on February 12, 2001.

Respondent judge also denied agreeing to pay P100,000.00 each as commission. Instead, he asserted that sometime in November 1999, complainant Merly Alorro, whom he considered a friend, learned from complainant Josie Berin that the lot was up for sale, and Alorro relayed the information to him. He said that he eventually facilitated the sale after about two years of effort. He claimed that, because he was able to realize some amount from the sale, he decided to give complainants a “share” for the information, despite their alleged lack of contribution to the transaction’s success. He stated that he gave P7,000.00 to Berin and P12,000.00 to Alorro.

On the legal theory of liability, respondent judge argued that he could not be held administratively liable because the act complained of did not relate to the performance of his official functions as judge. He further argued that the complaint was distinguishable from Teofilo Gil v. Eufronio Son because, unlike the secret and improper arrangement in that case, his own dealings were allegedly open and honest.

The OCA’s Position and the Court’s Focus

The Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) agreed with respondent judge’s point that he could not be held liable in that administrative proceeding for refusing to honor the alleged commission obligation on the ground that it had no relation to his official duties. The OCA likewise opined that the act did not amount to maladministration or willful intentional neglect in the discharge of judicial duties.

However, the OCA found respondent judge liable for violation of Canon 5, Rule 5.02 of the Code of Judicial Conduct and recommended a fine of P5,000.00. The Court adopted the OCA’s premise but articulated the core standard governing judicial conduct: public confidence in the judicial system rests not only on competence and diligence, but also on integrity and moral uprightness. A judge must not only be honest but must also appear to be so; he must act in a manner that preserves not only actual propriety but also the appearance of propriety.

The Court noted that whether complainants were entitled to a commission was a matter that should be threshed out in a judicial proceeding, but the Court’s concern in the administrative case was whether respondent judge committed an impropriety by acting as a broker in the real estate sale and by receiving a commission in connection with that activity. The Court thus treated the administrative issue as one of judicial ethics rather than a private dispute over contractual entitlements.

Applicable Law: Commerce Rules and Judicial Conduct Standards

The Court relied on the ethical constraint that judges must refrain from business dealings that undermine impartiality. It observed that Article 14 of the Code of Commerce prohibits judges from engaging in commerce within their jurisdiction. It quoted the provision barring judges from engaging in commerce, except for limited exceptions. The Court then discussed that in Macaruta v. Asuncion, Article 14 was considered in the nature of political law and was deemed abrogated upon the change of sovereignty, although the Court in that case still admonished judges to be discreet in private and business activities because judicial conduct must remain above suspicion.

After the abrogation issue, the Court explained that the Code of Judicial Conduct supplied the void. It pointed out that Rule 5.02 requires a judge to refrain from financial and business dealings that tend to reflect adversely on the courts impartiality, interfere with the proper performance of judicial activities, or increase involvement with lawyers or persons likely to come before the court. It also noted Rule 5.03, under which a judge may hold and manage investments but must not serve as an officer, director, manager, advisor, or employee of any business, subject to specified exceptions limited to family business of the judge.

The Court’s Legal Reasoning: Impropriety Through Brokerage and Commission

Applying these standards, the Court agreed with the OCA’s view that respondent judge’s conduct violated Canon 5, Rule 5.02. The Court reasoned that respondent judge, by allowing himself to act as an agent in the sale of the subject property and by receiving a commission, increased the possibility of disqualification if a dispute involving the sale contract were to arise in his court. It further reasoned that it was not remote that the parties to the sale might plead before his court, and that his business dealings could create suspicion regarding his fairness, his ability to render judgment free from suspicion, and his integrity. The Court cited jurisprudential formulations emphasizing that one who occupies a position in the administration of justice must maintain conduct free from the appearance of impropriety, and that a judge must be characterized by propriety that rem

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