Finish case backlog, SC tells Garchitorena

Saying his inefficiency "stands out in the entire judiciary," the Supreme Court told suspended Sandiganbayan presiding justice Francis Garchitorena to make no more excuses and finish his backlog in six months.

"Decision-making is the most important duty of a member of the bench. In this area, Garchitorena’s performance has been dismal, he has been remiss to the point of plain inefficiency, if not incompetence," the SC said.

The 15 justices unanimously approved on Nov. 28 the indefinite suspension of the anti-graft court chief and imposed a P20,000 fine for sitting on hundreds of cases, many of them pending for more than a decade.

The justices also denied Garchitorena’s appeal to "clarify and set aside" the sanctions, arguing that his "actions and inactions" did him in. They also said that the fine was definitely not "unfair or excessive."

"We view his inaction as serious and gross. It was consistent, blatant and patent. An administrative lapse or error, done blatantly several times over a long period of time constitutes inefficiency to say the least," the SC ruled.

In a resolution written by Justice Bernardo Pardo who is set to retire on Feb. 11, the high court dismissed the excuses of Garchitorena and reminded him instead to finish his backlog soonest.

Garchitorena had reasoned that a colleague of his in the first division (whom he did not name) who had "no significant output," and a reorganization in 1997 contributed to the delay in resolving cases.

"This finger-pointing and blame-throwing at innocent colleagues are the hallmarks of frivolity," said Pardo. "Such reasoning only brings the Sandiganbayan into disrepute and betrays the dismal state of affairs therein."

As for the reorganization that purportedly needed a "re-orientation" of the new justices, the SC had this to say: "The justification appears trivial. The assignment of cases is not a difficult or complicated task."

Garchitorena was given six months to "devote himself exclusively to decision-writing, until the backlog of cases assigned to him as well as cases not assigned to any ponente, of which he may be the ponente, are finally decided."

And "no unloading of cases" on other justices or divisions, he was sternly reminded.

Senior Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, chairman of the anti-graft court’s fifth division, was designated to take Garchitorena’s place while he writes the decisions.

The SC noted that of the 198 cases pending in the first division, 60 of which have been disposed of as of last November, there are still 138 unresolved cases which were "submitted long ago."

The pending cases include the government’s cases against the Marcoses and their cronies, as well as behest loans, which were filed in 1987.

"There are several other cases submitted for decision as far back as 10 years ago that have remained undecided by the first division, of which Garchitorena is the presiding justice and chairman," Pardo said.

The SC ruling that requires judges of trial courts to resolve cases pending in their sala within three months from the time they are submitted for resolution, also applies to the Sandiganbayan.

"Since the Sandiganbayan acts more as a trial court, the three-month reglamentary period applies (instead of the 12-month period)," the justices said.

"We find that Garchitorena failed to devise an efficient recording and filing system to enable him to monitor the flow of cases and to manage their speedy and timely disposition. This is his duty on which he failed," they added.