SC affirms ex-NLRC chief guilty of sexual harassment

The Third Division of the Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed a May 2000 order by the Office of the President finding a former National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) chairman guilty of sexually harassing his stenographer in 1998.

The Court, however, held that the Court of Appeals did not err when it deleted the penalty of dismissal imposed by the Office of the President and instead set a one-year suspension from government service for disgraceful and immoral conduct.

The High Court said that under the rules and regulations implementing Republic Act 7877, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, the penalty for a first offense is suspension for six months and one day to one year while the penalty for a second offense is dismissal.

Stenographer Ma. Lourdes Domingo accused Rogelio Rayala of holding and squeezing her shoulders, running his fingers across her neck and tickling her ear while they were in his room on Nov. 9, 1998.

Domingo also accused Rayala of having inappropriate conversations with her, giving her money allegedly for school expenses with a promise of future privileges, and making statements with unmistakable sexual overtones. The SC said that the five CA justices who deliberated Rayala’s case were unanimous in upholding the findings of the Committee on Decorum and Investigation created by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Office of the President.

“And quite significantly, Rayala himself admits to having committed some of the acts imputed to him,” the SC said.

The High Court also rejected Rayala’s argument that the charges against him were filed as part of a conspiracy to remove him from office. The Court said conspiracy must be proved by clear and convincing evidence, which Rayala had failed to do. – Mike Frialde