Saturday, February 09, 2008 SC orders probe on Judge Econg for solemnizing 412 marriages in 3 years By Karlon N. Rama Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE “marriage scam” issue at the Palace of Justice just won’t die down. This time, Judge Geraldine Faith Econg is the one under investigation.
In a resolution issued by the First Division dated Dec. 5, the High Tribunal ordered an administrative docket opened against the presiding judge of the 9th Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch of Cebu City.
The basis for the investigation is the report of a judicial audit team that supposedly uncovered “highly suspicious” information regarding marriages that she solemnized.
According to the memorandum sent by Clerk of Court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal, the High Court wants Econg to submit her comment to the audit report within 30 days upon receiving it.
Econg, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu yesterday, confirmed having received the High Court’s memorandum and said she’ll answer it.
She welcomed the administrative investigation, adding that it will afford her the chance to present her evidence.
“It is an order from the Supreme Court and I will honor it,” she said.
Based on the audit report, Econg officiated 412 marriages from 2004 to 2007.
Econg, in the interview, downplayed the figures, saying that it covered four years and gives a weekly average of three weddings.
“That is not out of the ordinary at the Palace of Justice,” she said.
However, most of the marriages she allegedly officiated were either with marriage licenses secured from the Local Civil Registrar of Barili or without marriage licenses at all, the SC memorandum said.
“This is highly suspicious considering that Barili is a municipality with relatively small population compared to the other areas of Cebu,” the memorandum read.
Likewise, all of the 412 weddings were allegedly carried out without any proof that the marriage fee was settled.
Also, Econg supposedly “failed to reflect” in her monthly report of cases the weddings she solemnized from January 2004 to May 2007 and only kept the duplicate copy of 38 weddings out of 412.
Of those weddings where licenses obtained from the Local Civil Registrar of Barili were involved, 11 were between contracting parties that didn’t even come from the town.
Likewise, 63 of the marriages with licenses from Barili were solemnized on the same day their licenses were issued.
“(This) might not be improbable to have occurred except that four of these marriages were solemnized as early as 8 or 9 o’clock in the morning, making it quite impossible for the parties to secure the license from Barili and then proceed to either Cebu City (where Branch 9 is located) or Minganilla, Cebu (where Econg has another court assignment), for the marriage ceremonies,” the memorandum said.
One couple was married a day before their marriage license came out.
Among the other findings were that of the 412 weddings that Econg supposedly oversaw, 114 were contracted under Art. 34 of the Family Code.
The provision details the procedures for couples who have already lived together as man and wife but want to have their cohabitation recognized by civil law. One highlight of the provision is that under it, no marriage license is required.
While the finding may not seem significant, the High Court memorandum cited how the audit team found out that three of those 114 marriages had parties that were minors at the time of the cohabitation.
The High Court has given lawyer Jeoffrey Joaquino and Teresita Remotigue, clerk of court of the RTC and the Municipal Trial Court in Citites, a copy of the inventory of cases prepared by the audit team.
It has also directed the two officials to “verify” if the marriage fee was settled by the parties in the weddings Judge Econg solemnized and to “submit a report within 10 days from notice.”
