ATTY. PERSEVERANDA L. RICON, CLERK OF COURT, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BRANCH 39, MANILA, COMPLAINANT, VS. JUDGE PLACIDO C. MARQUEZ, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BRANCH 40, MANILA.

Ruling

Accordingly, it dismissed the protest. To Justice Carandang, the OCA-PERC resolution strongly militates against Atty. Ricon's charge of grave abuse of discretion/authority against Judge Marquez. On the second charge (grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming a judge), Justice Carandang found that the imposition by Judge Marquez of "so many rules" in Branch 39 did not in any way constitute grave misconduct or conduct unbecoming of a judge. She noted that Judge Marquez laid down the rules to improve the filing system in Branch 39 which he found "outrageous." [28] In changing the covers of the case records, Judge Marquez only wanted to make uniform and orderly the record keeping in the court. If the staff were inconvenienced with the changes introduced by Judge Marquez, it was inconsequential and cannot be made the basis of a complaint against him; it is incumbent upon the judge to devise ways to ensure the orderly management and keeping of court records. On the other hand, for the unsavory, insulting and unpleasant utterances of Judge Marquez inside Branch 39, Justice Carandang found the judge to have violated his duty to be courteous and patient to litigants, lawyers and witnesses, and to maintain order and decorum in the court. Although, Justice Carandang noted that Judge Marquez harbored no ill will against the staff when he first met with them, and uttered " corrupt, gago, tamad at makakapal ang mukha " [29] because Judge Marquez was just voicing out his opinion of those who had been in the government service, she considered the remarks unsavory, unkind and harsh. The same is true with the words " lalamon na naman kayo " [30] uttered in the presence of lawyers and litigants during a hearing when it was almost noontime. In one case involving family members, Judge Marquez was heard repeatedly saying, " O magbati-bati na kayo, magkakapatid naman kayo eh, pare-pareho kayong lumabas sa isang kiki ." [31] Justice Carandang regarded the remarks Judge Marquez uttered as vulgar, foul and insulting, and short of what was expected in the conduct and demeanor of a judge. She opined that by using insulting and intemperate language to litigants and the personnel of Branch 39, Judge Marquez committed a breach of proper judicial decorum. Finally, Justice Carandang found no basis in the accusation that Judge Marquez used his chambers as living quarters, as alleged by Atty. Ricon and, specifically, process server Mario N. Pablico who testified that there had been instances when he saw Judge Marquez in his chambers early in the morning half-naked in his shorts or in his briefs, sometimes drinking coffee. [32] There was one time when Pablico saw the judge with his hair wet as if he had just taken a bath. [33] Judge Marquez admitted that he actually spent many nights in his chambers, working and writing decisions, even up to two o'clock in the morning, and that he would sleep on his chair for two to three hours, then start working again. Justice Carandang explained t