A.M. No. RTJ-08-2151 - OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR, VS. JUDGE EDWIN C. LARIDA, JR., RTC, BRANCH 18, TAGAYTAY CITY.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, Judge Larida was guilty of unbecoming conduct, a light charge under Section 10, Rule 140 of the Rules of Court , as amended. [25] 3. Charge of soliciting money from the accused in Criminal Case No. TG-2969-98. On this charge, the Investigating Justice found and recommended as follows: In Criminal Case No. TG-2969-98, the accused, Raymund Wang, was charged with selling 275.9665 grams of shabu. According to former Branch Clerk of Court, Atty. Calma, a certain Necita Ramos ( kumare of Raymund Wang) called him up to ask if there was already a decision in the case. Further, Necita Ramos informed Atty. Calma that a certain Jake or James had visited Wang in the Trece Martirez Provincial Jail to ask P100,000.00 allegedly pang birthday ni Judge . Wang gave Jake or James the cellphone number of Necita Ramos and the two purportedly negotiated the amount down to P50,000.00. However, Necita Ramos did not pay the amount solicited. After receiving the information, Atty. Calma supposedly informed respondent Judge that certain people might be using his name but the latter only said that the problem is that people are accusing others but are afraid to show up. Thereafter, Atty. Calma did his own investigation and found out that the cellphone number calling Necita Ramos belonged to Jayson Marticio. Armed with this information, Atty. Calma and Necita Ramos went to the Office of the City Prosecutor. However, no statements were taken and no action was done. Upon verification by the audit team of the OCA, the Office of the City Prosecutor opined that the suspicion of Atty. Calma and Necita Ramos would not prosper since their bases were all hearsay. For his part, respondent Judge denied that Atty. Calma informed him of this incident. In his Judicial Affidavit, respondent Judge averred that he had asked his legal researcher, Diana Ruiz, to prepare a digest of the case but she prepared, instead a decision acquitting Wang. This allegedly triggered a suspicion in respondent Judge that Diana Ruiz and Atty. Calma were selectively preparing decisions and placing them inside his chambers, but before he could investigate, a fire gutted the court. Based on the foregoing testimonies on record, it is apparent that the charge against respondent Judge of soliciting money from accused Wang has not been proved. Apart from the hearsay testimony of Atty. Calma, there is no legal or factual basis to conclude that James or Jake is actually Jayson Marticio and that James or Jake solicited money from Wang with the authority of respondent Judge. Therefore, it is recommended that this charge against respondent Judge be DISMISSED. [26] We adopt the findings and recommendation of the Investigating Justice, and dismiss the charge for lack of evidence proving that Judge Larida solicited a bribe from the accused in Criminal Case No. TG-2969-98. It is truly proper to emphasize at this point that a charge of bribery against a judge is easy to concoct and difficult to d