Thursday, August 12, 2004 Supreme Court approves benefits for kin of judges killed in service By Giovanni A. Nilles Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TAKING a cue from recent “violent deaths” and the hazards judges are exposed to, the Supreme Court (SC) has granted automatic permanent total disability benefits to heirs of judges who die in service.
It took note of the unstable peace and order as well as the “discontent and emotional outbursts” of disgruntled litigants as among the reasons for passing the resolution, which grants the benefits.
In Cebu, an attempt was made on the life of Judge Leopoldo Cañete, then with the Regional Trial Court of Lapu-Lapu City, in July last year.
Ambushed
He was driving his daughter to school when two men opened fire at the car he was driving. Cañete suffered a slight injury on his right knee while his daughter escaped unharmed.
A month later, a grenade was found at his garage shortly after he left to bring his daughter to school. The police identified the suspects but have not arrested any yet.
More recently, Judge Olegario Sarmiento Jr. received two death threats allegedly coming from an anti-crime organization and a rebel from a northern town.
Both threats referred to his handling of the murder case against former policeman Jonathan Alcover.
Although Alcover was not convicted of murder, which would have sent him to jail for 20 to 40 years, he was slapped with a prison term for homicide.
Recent deaths
The conviction rose from the death of seaman Noelou Lara in San Fernando town in April 2000.
“The recent violent deaths of members of the judiciary underscore the perils that needlessly hound those who have sworn to administer and dispense justice…the deaths strike fear on the incumbent officials, there-by affecting their effectiveness and efficiency,” the resolution read.
The deaths, it added, “discourage lawyers from joining the judiciary even as the government must again go through the difficult task of attracting lawyers to the judicial service, considering the low pay that members of the judiciary receive and the stringent requirements for appointment to judicial positions.”
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