Snail's pace

Forcible entry and illegal detainer cases are summary proceedings. They must be decided within 30 days after the receipt of the last affidavits and position papers, or the expiration of the period for filing the same (Section 10, Revised Rules on Summary Procedure). Failure to decide within that period constitutes gross inefficiency. This is the rule applied in this case of Judge AZ.

Judge AZ was the Presiding Judge of the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) in a Bulacan town since 1992 and the Assisting Judge in the MTC of another town since 1995. In the MTC where he was the assisting Judge there was a very acute space problem as he did not even have a chamber but was sharing office space. In such a crowded office, records sometimes get misplaced or misfiled.

One of the complaints filed in the MTCC where Judge AZ was the assisting Judge was the ejectment complaint filed by the spouses Perlas against Josie and Jane. On March 14, 2000, Judge AZ dismissed said ejectment complaint because it did not show how Jane and Josie’s possession started or continued. So Judge AZ declared that the complaint was defective and dismissed it. The decision became final on June 13, 2000.

A year and 8 months later, the spouses filed another complaint for ejectment against Jane and Josie involving the same property and the same cause of action before the same MTCC. Jane and Josie raised res judicata as defense in the second complaint. This complaint was submitted for decision on June 16, 2002. Close to four years later or on May 31, 2006, Judge AZ decided the case, this time in favor of the spouses and against Jane and Josie.

So Jane and Josie filed an administrative complaint against Judge AZ for, among others, malicious delay in the administration of justice.

While Judge AZ assumed responsibility for the delay in rendering the decision, he posited that the administrative lapse was not malicious considering the peculiar situation he was in particularly the acute space problem, crowded office and the dual position of being the Presiding Judge of one court and the assisting Judge in another court.

After evaluation, the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) nevertheless found Judge AZ’s reasons not sufficient to exonerate him from liability for delay in rendering the decision. The OCA cited a previous charge against Judge AZ also for not deciding a case within the period fixed by the rules. While this charge was dismissed, he was already admonished that a repetition would be dealt with more severely. So the OCA recommended that this time Judge AZ be fined P15,000.00. Was the OCA correct?

Yes. Ejectment cases must be resolved with great dispatch. Their nature calls for it. The avowed purpose of the actions for forcibly entry and unlawful detainer which have purposely been made summary in nature is to provide a peaceful, speedy and expeditious means of preventing an alleged illegal possessor of property from unjustly continuing his possession for a long time, thereby ensuring the maintenance of peace and order within the community.

That it took Judge AZ four years to decide the second complaint unmistakably shows his inefficiency. His explanation does not convince. Just as his statement about the records getting misplaced or misfiled. Judges must devote their professional activity to judicial duties, which include not only the performance of judicial functions and responsibilities in court and in making decisions but also other tasks relevant to the judicial office or the court’s operations. A judge should be diligent in discharging administrative responsibilities and should maintain a professional competence in court management. Hence it is incumbent upon him to devise an efficient recording and filing system so that no disorderliness can affect the flow of cases and their speedy disposition (Rule 3.08 Code of Judicial Conduct). So Judge AZ should be fined P15, 000 (Sarmiento and Mansanilla vs. Lindayag, A.M. No. MTJ-09-1743, August 3, 2010).

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