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Friday, October 22, 2004
Editorials: ‘Hazards of the job’
Suspended Barili Regional Trial Court Judge Ildefonso Suerte has shrugged off the sanction against him as part of the “hazards of the job.”
Suerte has been suspended indefinitely until the inquiry into his alleged lapses and omissions is terminated.
The lapses included actions he should not have done, such as deciding cases he had no authority to handle, while the omissions covered unfinished cases that choked his docket.
These are not, to our mind, hazards of being a judge. The complaints are not from disgruntled litigants venting their anger on a judge. The complaints arise from alleged excess of authority, ignorance of the law and rules, and laziness or ineptitude.
Judge Suerte acted on the Devinadera case when he knew or must have known that its main issue, the parricide case against cult leader and former mayor Ruben Ecleo Jr., was being tried by another court and knowing fully well that he could not handle the case anymore by order of the Supreme Court.
Judge Suerte allowed a pileup of cases which had long been pending in his court, not minding Supreme Court deadlines and the rights of litigants to speedy justice.
These are not hazards of the job. These, if proven true, are brought on him by no one and nothing else but by himself and what he did or neglected to do.
Lucky judge
Barili RTC Judge Suerte also minimized his offenses, saying they are not grievous for which he could lose his retirement benefits.
The Supreme Court is the final judge of what is grievous or not, but if all judges are like Judge Suerte who views what he did or failed to do as less than grievous, then the judiciary is in real trouble.
Thank God there are still many judges who know the law and continue learning the law, follow the rules, keep themselves and their courts honest, and do their job zealously.
These are the judges who consider the sins of ignorance, sloth, or willful disobedience as grievous sins. These are the judges who help restore people's faith in the justice system.
Judge Suerte must feel lucky still. His suspension has come when he is reportedly on terminal leave of absence preparatory to retirement.
Even without the sanction, he is already effectively out of office and not running any courtroom anymore. So what is he suspended from?
But perhaps the Supreme Court is holding its punches until the verdict. Justice, even for lucky judges, is still to come.
(October 22, 2004 issue)
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