Title
Santos vs. Paguio
Case
A.M. No. MTJ-93-781
Decision Date
Nov 16, 1993
Judge Paguio rendered a defective decision in an unlawful detainer case, later amended after RTC declared it void. Found guilty of inefficiency, fined P5,000, and warned. Complainant admonished for omitting material facts.
inefficiency
neglect of duty
flawed decision

Case Summary (A.M. No. MTJ-93-781)

Factual Background

The complainant was the lawyer for the defendants in Civil Case No. 90-1706. He claimed that, after the filing of the defendants’ answer, the respondent rendered the 28 June 1991 decision without notice and hearing. The complainant further asserted that the RTC of Bulacan, in Sp. Civil Action No. 03-M-93, declared the 28 June 1991 decision void on its face because its decretal portion was allegedly no more than a prayer that did not contain an executable disposition. The complainant emphasized that, despite that development, the respondent later changed and amended the decision by issuing another decision on 25 January 1993, the dispositive portion of which ordered the defendants to vacate, remove the structures, pay monthly rent and attorney’s fees, and pay costs.

The complainant anchored his charge on gross ignorance of the law and gross incompetence, contending that the respondent’s handling of the decision-making process reflected an inability to prepare a sensible and credible judgment. He sought the respondent’s removal from office, asserting that the integrity of the judiciary required such drastic relief.

Respondent’s Denials and Explanations

The respondent denied the imputations and explained the procedural history in Civil Case No. 90-1706. He stated that the complainant was not the original counsel for the defendants; the defendants had earlier been represented by Atty. Adriano Javier, Sr. until the parties were directed to file position papers, after which Atty. Javier withdrew and the complainant filed his notice of appearance. The respondent maintained that the 28 June 1991 decision was rendered only after the court held a preliminary conference where the parties and their respective counsels discussed the possibility of amicable settlement, and after the defendants failed to comply with an order requiring them to submit position papers, affidavits, and other evidence within a prescribed period.

The respondent added that the defendants did not appeal the 28 June 1991 decision. Instead, the plaintiff sought execution, and the defendants filed motions that, among others, attacked the validity of the proceedings by claiming irregularity in pre-trial. He stated that the plaintiff’s motion for execution was granted on 4 December 1991, a writ of execution issued, and that a copy was sent to the RTC for service. According to him, the Branch handling Sp. Civil Action No. 03-M-93 later directed him to desist from implementing the writ.

He further argued that after the RTC’s intervention, he issued the 25 January 1993 decision to correct omissions in the dispositive portion so that it would conform to law and justice. He stated that the defendants, rather than appealing, filed a motion to set aside the 25 January 1993 decision. The respondent contended that the issue relating to the 28 June 1991 dispositive portion became moot due to the correction, and he characterized the charge of gross ignorance as unfounded and contemptuous.

Office of the Court Administrator’s Evaluation

The Court referred the matter to the Office of the Court Administrator for evaluation, report, and recommendation. In its memorandum dated 31 August 1993, the Office of the Court Administrator found the complaint meritorious. It stressed that the respondent could not have overlooked a missing dispositive portion, because the alleged deficiency concerned the executory portion of a decision. The Office concluded that the dispositive language appeared to be copied from a plaintiff’s pleading and entered into the “fallo” section in a manner that did not dispose of the case.

The Office recognized that the RTC’s dismissal of the petition for certiorari did not justify treating the matter as beyond correction. It nonetheless held that the belated correction did not mitigate liability because the respondent had the opportunity to discover and remedy the defect earlier, particularly when the plaintiff’s motion for execution was filed. It also evaluated the quality of the decision and found grammatical and syntactic errors and “fractured phrases” that, in its view, showed a lack of adequate editing. It found that the respondent, at the very least, was careless for failing to read carefully the decision he signed. It recommended the imposition of a fine of P5,000.00, with a warning that repetition would warrant dismissal, and an admonition to exhibit greater care in writing decisions.

The Court’s Findings on the Decision’s Defects

The Court agreed with the Office of the Court Administrator’s observations after examining the 28 June 1991 decision. The Court found that the body of the decision contained grammatical and syntactic errors. More importantly, it held that the dispositive portion did not dispose, resolve, or decree anything, and it could not even be considered a proper dispositive or decretal portion. The Court viewed the “dispositive portion” as a prayer lifted from the plaintiff’s pleadings or ex-parte motion praying that judgment be rendered, rather than a true judgment concluding the controversy.

The Court also remarked that, despite the apparent procedural and substantive confusion, it could not resolve how the defect entered the fallo in a manner that would only complicate the case. It held, however, that the existence of the defective dispositive portion, together with the execution of the decision despite its emptiness, demonstrated inefficiency, neglect of duty, and the absence of the due care, diligence, conscientiousness, and thoroughness expected of judges.

The Court further held that the respondent could have avoided these errors with more time and effort to read and verify the decision before signing it. It rejected the notion that the respondent’s errors could be dismissed as solely excusable because the Court did not require judicial officers to be grammar experts, but it required them to exert constant study, extraordinary diligence, and passion for excellence to produce decisions that command respect and support the court’s prestige.

Application of the Canons of Judicial Ethics

The Court ruled that the respondent failed to comply with Canons 5 and 31 of the Canons of Judicial Ethics, which required judges to exhibit an industry and application commensurate with their duties and to be conscientious, studious, and thorough. The Court also emphasized that the respondent’s issuance of the writ of execution showed inefficiency and negligence because he granted execution “with full knowledge that there was nothing to execute.” It held that he could not feign ignorance of the dispositive portion’s non-executable nature because it was “embarrassingly self-evident.”

The Court did not treat the violation as attributable solely to the respondent. It observed that the parties’ lawyers also failed to discharge their duties as officers of the court. It noted that the plaintiff’s counsel filed a motion for execution despite the apparent defect, and that the defendants’ counsel relied on grounds unrelated to the dispositive portion’s fatal deficiency when moving for reconsideration. The Court stated that, as officers of the court owing candor, fairness, and good faith, both attorneys should have called the court’s attention to the glaring defect.

On “Gross Ignorance of the Law” and the Power to Amend

While the Court found administrative liability for inefficiency and neglect of duty, it held that the respondent could not be liable for ignorance of law and jurisprudence or for incompetence once he issued the 25 January 1993 decision. It reasoned that the 28 June 1991 decision was incomplete because it lacked a true fallo, and thus it could not attain finality in any legally effective sense. The Court therefore concluded that the respondent had power to amend the defective decision to make it conformable to law and justice.

The complainant argued that the RTC’s order in Sp. Civil Action No. 03-M-93 declaring the 28 June 1991 decision void upon its face forever barred the respondent from issuing a new or amended decision. The Court rejected that reading. It held that it was not correct to treat the RTC pronouncement as permanently disabling the respondent from correcting the defect, given the fundamental premise that the original lacke

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