TALENS vs.

ARCEO [1996]

Administrative Matter in the SC. Gross Misconduct.

Atty. Jocel yn C. Talens-Dabon, Cl erk of Court of the San !ernando,"am#an$a, %TC

filed a s&orn-com#laint char$in$ Jud$e 'ermin (. Arceo,the ()ecutive Jud$e thereat &* $ross
misconduct +later amended to includeimmorality,

SC referred the case to Associate Justice "ortia Ali-o-'ormachuelos of theCA for investi$ation,
re#ort, and recommendations, and at the same time,#lacin$ Jud$e Arceo under #reventive
sus#ension for the duration of theinvesti$ation

After re.uests for #ost#onement from both #arties, hearin$s &ere held.
/nd u e t i me , t h e / n v e s t i $ a t i n $ J u s t i c e s u b mi t t e d h e r %e # o r t a n d %ecom
mendation &ith the follo&in$ findin$s0
o
1 days after Talens-Dabon first re#orted at the 2ffice of the Clerk of Court, Atty. (lenita 3uinsay,
she &as summoned by Arceo. /t botheredher that he looked at her from head to foot 4as if he
&ere undressin$her.4 Arceo told her that she &as $oin$ to be detailed to his office
as hisassi stant, a si tuation &hi ch she di d not &el come havi n$ heard of Arceo5s
re#utation in the office as 4bastos4 6 4maniakis4 #rom#tin$ her to &ork for her transfer to 7r. 89
under Jud$e Adelaida Ala-Medina. alens-Dabon received Arceo5s (.2. re.uirin$ her to re#ort
to the officeof t he ()ec. Jud$e. She
obser ved r es#ondent t o be r ude anddi sres#ectful to her 6 the other court
#ersonnel . 'e tal ked i n a l oudvoi ce and shouted at them: used offensi ve &ords such
as 4&al an$i si #,4 4tan$a4: tol d $reen ; okes 6 stori es: made harsh and
ne$ati vecomments about court #ersonnel in the #resence of others.
o
<henever he had the o##ortuni ty he &oul d make bodi l y contact+4chancin$4, &ith her 6
certain female em#loyees. <hen com#lainantintroduced her fiance to him, Arceo asked her &hy
she &as #layin$&*her forefin$er, at the same time $esturin$ &ith his to si$nify se)ualintercourse.
o
2ne time, Arceo kissed com#lainant, as &ell as Marilyn =eander, (ster Galicia and other female
em#loyees. 'e also had a #orn ta#e #layed athis biddin$, and brou$ht and sho&ed to the
em#loyees a #icture &hich&hen held in some &ay sho&ed fi$ures in coital #osition.
o
Addi n$ t o com#l ai nant > s a##r ehensi ons about Ar ceo5 s se)ual #redi l ecti on &er
e the revel ati ons of Mari l yn Sena#i l o-=eander, asteno$ra#her of 7ranch 81
&ho testifi ed that Arceo &rote her l oveletters, kissed her, #ointedly stared at her lo&er #arts
&hen she &oreti $ht #ants and made body contacts +4chanci n$4,. 2ne ti me,
Arceosummoned her to his chamber and she found him clad only in briefs.<hen she turned
around to flee, res#ondent cal l ed after her sayi n$4&hy are you afraid. After al l , thi s
i s for you.4 =eander confided to7ernardo Taruc, the most senior em#loyee there &ho
advised her tore#ort the matter to De#uty Court Administrator %eynaldo Suare?
but=eander e)#r essed f ear of r et r i but i on f r om r es#ondent . <hen=eander>s
&eddin$ &as set in late @AA9, res#ondent taunted her bysayin$ 4/kay, an$ dami ko #a naman$
balak sa >yo, kinuha #a namankita n$ bahay sa isan$ subdivision, ta#os sinayan$ mo lan$, tan$a
kakasiB4
o
!or the com#lainant5s #art, one afternoon, Arceo summoned her 6
ato n e # o i n t $ a v e h e r a # o e m + a mu s t r e a d B

, and t her eaf t er a##roached her for kisses &*c turned into a dramatic stru$$le. Arceosto##ed
and com#lainant an$rily fled. After confidin$ to Taruc and toAtty. (lenita 3uinsay &hat ha##ened,
com#lainant &ent to the 'all of Justi ce &here Arceo &as and verbal l y broached her
re.uest for transfer. 'e acceded. Thus she brou$ht her &ritten re.uest for
transfer for res#ondent> s si $nature but he refused althou$h he eventual l ysi$ned the
memorandum transferrin$ her later that mornin$.
o
C days l ater, com#l ai nant, after consul ti n$ her fami l y, re#orted thematter to the #olice
and filed &ith the Munici#al TC of San !ernando,"am#an$a criminal cases for acts of
lasciviousness, iolation of Anti-Se)ual 'arrassment =a& and this administrative case on the
follo&in$day.
o
!or his #art, Arceo mostly denied com#lainant>s alle$ations statin$ thathe &as merely ;okin$ then
and makin$ his other acts seem li$hter thanho& com#lainant had narrated, even testifyin$ that
com#lainant herself
sked him to make the #oem. 'e believed she &as merely retaliatin$for 8 incidents that he
either scolded or humiliated her.

7ased on the fore$oi n$ findin$s, the /nvesti $ati n$ Justi ce made thefollo&in$ conclusions0
+a,that there is sufficient evidence to create a moral certainty that Arceocommi tted the acts
com#l ai ned of, es#ecial l y the vi ol ent ki ssi n$incident:+b,that com#l ai nant 6 her
&i tnesses are credibl e &i tnesses &ho have noulterior motive or bias to falsely testify
a$ainst Arceo:+c,that res#ondent>s denials can not #revail over the &ei$ht and #robativevalue of
the affirmative assertions of com#lainant 6 her &itnesses,+d,that res#ondent>s #oem has damned
him, bein$ documented #roof of hisse)ual intentions to&ards the com#lainant:+e,that by filin$ her
char$es im#utin$ to Arceo a crime a$ainst chastity 6 &*her back$round as a la&yer 6 a court
em#loyee, com#lainant &as &ell-a&are that her honor &ould itself be on trial:+f,that it is
unbelievable that com#lainant, a demure ne&ly-married lady anda reli$ious #erson, &ould
fabricate a story &ith such severe im#licationson res#ondent> s #rofessi onal and
#ersonal l ife ; ust to $et even &*res#ondent for an alle$ed sim#le scoldin$ incident:
and+$,that by doin$ the acts com#l ai ned of, Arceo has tem#ted the moral s of not only
com#lainant but also the other court em#loyees over &hom hee)ercised #o&er 6 influence as
()ecutive Jud$e.

The /nvesti $ati n$ Justi ce thereu#on, recommended that Arceo bedismissed from the
service &ith #re;udice to re-a##ointment in any other $overnment #osi tion and &i th
forfeiture of al l benefits and #ri vi l e$esa##ertainin$ him, if any.
WON Arceo is guilty of gross misco!uct "! immor"lity

D(S. The Cour t hel d t hat t he f i ndi n$s and r ecommendat i ons of t he/nvesti$atin
$ Justice are in truth ade.uately su##orted by the evidence andare in accord &ith a##licable le$al
#rinci#les. The Court a$rees and ado#tssuch findin$s and recommendations.

The inte$rity of the Judiciary rests not only u#on the fact that it is able toadmi ni ster ; usti ce
but al so u#on the #erce#ti on and confi dence of thecommunity that the #eo#le &ho run the
system have done ;ustice. 'ence,
inor der t o cr eat e such conf i dence, t he #eo#l e &ho r un t he ; udi ci ar y, #arti cul a
rl y ;ud$es and ; usti ces, must not onl y be #rofi ci ent i n both thesubstantive and
#rocedural as#ects of the la&, but more im#ortantly,
theymust #ossess the hi $hest i nte$ri ty, #robi ty, and un.uestionabl e moral u#ri$htness,
both in their #ublic and #rivate lives. 2nly then can the #eo#lebe reassured that the &heels of
;ustice in this country run &ith fairness ande.uity, thus creatin$ confidence in the ;udicial system.

=(GA= 7AS(S0 Code of Judicial Conduct

o
Ca n o n / , %u l e @ . E @ 0 A J u d $ e s h o u l d b e t h e e mb o d i me n t o f com#etence:
inte$rity and inde#endence.
anon / / , %ul e C. EE0 A Jud$e shoul d avoi d i m#r o#r i et y and t hea##earance of
im#ro#riety in all activities.
o
Canon //, %ul e C.E@0 A Jud$e shoul d so behave at al l times as to#romote #ubl i c
confi dence i n the i nte$ri ty and i m#arti al i ty of the ;udiciary.

Court has adhered and set forth the e)acti n$ standards of moral i ty anddecency &hich
every member of the ;udiciary must observe

Dy Taban Hardware and Auto Supply Co. vs. Tapucar

0 %ationale &hy every ;ud$e must #ossess moral inte$rity0 The #ersonal and official actuations
of ever y member of t he ; udi ci ar y must be beyond r e#r oach and abovesus#icio
n. The faith and confidence of the #eo#le in the administrations of ;ustice can not be maintained
if a ;ud$e &ho dis#enses it is not
e.ui##ed&i t h t he car di nal ; udi ci al vi r t ue of mor al i nt e$r i t y and i f he obt usel y
conti nues to commit affront to #ubl i c decency. /n fact, moral i nte$ri ty i s more than a
virtue: it is a necessary in the ;udiciary ))) 7ein$ the sub;ect
of const ant #ubl i c scr ut i ny, a ; ud$e shoul d f r eel y and &i l l i n$l y acce#t restrictio
ns on conduct that mi$ht be vie&ed as burdensome by the ordinaryciti?en. ))) A ;ud$e should
#ersonify inte$rity and e)em#lify honest #ublicservice. The #ersonal behavior of a ;ud$e, both in
the #erformance of hisofficial duties and in #rivate life should be above sus#icion.

%es#ondent has failed to measure u# to these e)actin$ standards. 'e hasbehaved in a

manner unbecomin$ of a ; ud$e and as model of moral u#ri$htness.

'is actuations, if condoned, &ould dama$e the inte$rity of the ;udiciary,fomentin$ distrust in the
system. 'ence, his acts deserve no less than theseverest form of di sci #l i nary sanction of
di smi ssal from the servi ce. 'i sactuati ons are a$$ravat ed by the fact that
com#l ai nant i s one of hi ssubordinates over &hom he e)ercises control and su#ervision,
he bein$ thee)ecutive ;ud$e.

%es#ondent may
i ndeed be a l e$al l y com#et ent #er son but he hasdemonstrated himself to be
&antin$ of moral inte$rity. 'e has violated theCode of Judicial Conduct &hich re.uires every
;ud$e to be the embodimentof com#etence, inte$rity, and inde#endence and to avoid im#ro#riety
andt he a##ear ance of i m#r o#r i et y i n al l act i vi t i es as t o #r omot e #ubl i cconfide
nce in the inte$rity and im#artiality of the ;udiciary.

SC Ci rcul ar Fo. @10 !i nal l y, al l tri al ; ud$es shoul d endeavor to conduct themselves
strictly in accordance &ith the mandate of e)istin$ la&s and theCode of Judicial (thics that they
be e)em#lars in the communities and thelivin$ #ersonification of ;ustice and the %ule of =a&
#ol!ig$
Arceo is hereby D/SM/SS(D from the service for $ross misconduct 6immorality #re;udicial to the
best interests of the service, &*forfeiture of allretirement benefits 6 &* #re;udice to re-em#loyment
in any branch of the $ov5t,includin$ $ov5t-o&ned 6 controlled cor#s