SC warns vs. employing "fixers" in gov't offices

The Supreme Court has warned the public from engaging the services of a so-called fixer to secure documents from government offices because if the obtained documents turned out proven as spurious, one could not claim he or she is just a victim of illegal activities.

"Transacting with a fixer is in itself grossly improper as the latter's acts are obviously unofficial and unauthorized," said the SC in an en banc decision.

The ruling junked the case filed by Bernabet Maala against the Civil Service Commission for dismissing her as an employee of the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons because she used fake eligibility documents when she applied for the job.

Maala first worked as a casual employee of the NCWDP in 1990. Five years later, she took the social worker licensure examination but failed with a grade of 67.40 percent.

She then claimed that a woman approached and offered her services for P15,000 in exchange for getting a reconsideration from the Professional Regulations Commission and have a passing grade.

Subsequently, Maala got the document showing that she passed the licensure examination with a passing rate of 76.25 percent. She also got a certificate as a social worker issued by the PRC, a PRC identification card, and a resolution of the PRC Board of Social Workers confirming she passed.

Armed with these documents, Maala applied on October 1995 for a permanent position of clerk III at the same office she had worked with before. She got the job.

But the CSC later ordered her immediate dismissal from government service due to lack of eligibility and for dishonesty. Maala however obtained from the Court of Appeals a reversal of the CSC order. This prompted the CSC to elevate the case to the Supreme Court.

The SC ruled that Maala cannot be considered to have acted in good faith when she stated in her personal data sheet that she is a licensed social worker using as basis the spurious documents the "fixer" had provided her.

"If indeed Maala had the honest intention in asking for a re-checking of her examination papers, then she should have filed with the PRC the necessary petition. Instead, she entrusted everything to a 'fixer', who later handed to her the questioned spurious documents as 'proofs' that she passed the Social Worker Licensure Examination," the SC ruling stated.

"Amazingly, Maala easily trusted the stranger without first cautiously verifying with the PRC the latter's credentials. To be approached by a complete stranger offering an unusual service for a fee, she should have been wary and verified that person's integrity," the SC said. - Rene U. Borromeo