Judge sacked for immorality
By: KIT BAGAIPO, The Bohol Chronicle
A municipal trial court judge was dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) for making sexual advances and committing lascivious acts against two women in a public place.
The high tribunal, in an en banc ruling, found Judge Manuel de Castro of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) of Jagna and Garcia-Hernandez, guilty of gross misconduct and immorality.
De Castro is ordered dismissed by the high tribunal after he was deemed to have admitted certain allegations in an administrative complaint which accused him of rape.
The dismissed judge is also required to show cause why he should not be disbarred as a member of the Philippine Bar by the SC.
While the allegation of rape was not proven due to the execution of an affidavit of retraction and withdrawal by the complainant, the Court still ruled that "substantial evidence, circumstantial and testimonial, obtain to hold respondent judge (de Castro) liable for gross misconduct and immorality."
In its decision, the Court stated that De Castro's acts of teasing a waitress in a videoke bar about her "scant dress," kissing her on the cheek and another waitress behind the ear, and attempting to enter the bathroom while one of the waitresses was inside, with his companions egging him on and in full view of the other drinking individuals in the bar "translate into a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct as they reflect upon respondent judge's utter disregard of public opinion of the reputation of the judiciary which he represents."
The Court stressed that De Castro failed to conduct himself in a way that will promote confidence and respect for the judiciary.
"He deported himself in a manner most unbecoming a judge as a model of moral uprightness…The audacity under which the same were committed and the seeming impunity with which they were perpetrated shock one's sense of morality," the high tribunal's ruling stated.
The Court noted that while De Castro denied the charge of rape and alleged that the said was filed for the purpose of harassing him, he failed to prove why, how, and by whom the harassment was done.
De Castro never attributed to the complainant, according to the Court, any reasonable motive for her to accuse him of rape, nor did he categorically deny the severe allegations against him by the two waitresses.
"Respondent judge has made much of the affidavit of retraction and withdrawal of complaint upon which the Prosecutor's Office of Bohol predicated its dismissal of the underlying complaint for rape," said the Court, adding that such a recantation is extremely unreliable inasmuch as it can be easily obtained from a poor and ignorant witness.
Furthermore, the Court stated that based on the social standing and economic status of the complainant, the combination of both factors "seems to explain why complainant affixed her signature to the recanting affidavit."
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