Supreme Court fires interpreter for dishonesty

The Supreme Court dismissed from the service a court interpreter of the Tuguegarao City-based Regional Trial Court for making a fake court order so that she could get P15,000 from a litigant.

Complainant Bernadette Canlas-Bartolome approached interpreter Maritess Manio, being a friend of her sister Bety Canlas-Marcelo, to help her sister facilitate the special case she had filed in court for the correction of entries of Bety’s marriage with the Office of the Civil Registrar.

But Manio informed Bartolome that the court has already issued an order dismissing Bety’s petition, although she said she could still do something about it and needed P15,000 for filing fee, attorney’s fee, publication, including the “bribe” for the judge.

Weeks later, Manio handed to Bartolome a resolution that was reportedly issued by judge Lyliha Abella-Aquino showing that the court had granted Bety’s petition for the correction of entries of marriage of Betty C. Marcelo from Betty to Bety and the year of birth from 1959 to 1957.

Bartolome then tried to secure the certificate of finality of the order of the court, but Manio again demanded for another P500 to expedite the release of the said document.

But after several weeks Manio failed to give her the certificate of finality of the decision prompting Bartolome to proceed to the court, only to find out that the court order handed to her by Manio was fake.

It was discovered that “SP No. 2025” which was written on the resolution referred to an entirely different case in another court branch. When Judge Aquino inquired Manio about it, the court interpreter admitted her wrongdoing and explained that she did it due to financial problems.

Manio failed to answer the case when it was investigated by the Office of the Court Administrator, and instead she had stopped reporting to her work and transferred to another place without informing the court of her whereabouts.

The High Court ruled that Manio committed an ultimate betrayal of the duty to uphold the dignity and authority of the judiciary by arrogating to herself judicial power which she does not possess in order to extort money from a party-litigant while her act of forging the judge’s signature also constitutes a blatant disregard for the values of integrity, uprightness and honesty which are expected of all court personnel. 

Chief Justice Reynato Puno said those court employees who cannot come up with such highest sense of honesty and integrity should not be allowed to stay in the judiciary service so they will not tarnish the image of the court. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP