8CNIIACIC LAW CIIICL vs IUDGL kLNALDC 8 8LLLCSILLC

1

lAC1S
1 ALLy 8lcardo M Salomon !r of Lhe 8onlfaclo Law Cfflce charged
acLlng !udge 8eynaldo 8 8elloslllo of Lhe M1C Cuezon ClLy wlLh
lgnorance of Lhe law grave abuse of dlscreLlon and obvlous
parLlallLy ln Lhe Cfflce of Lhe CourL AdmlnlsLraLor (CCA) arlslng
from an acLlon for e[ecLmenL enLlLled 8lcardo M Salomon !r vs
Spouses Severlno lulgenclo

2 ln sald complalnL lL was alleged LhaL comp/oinont ossoi/s on
Order issued by soid ludqe referrinq the soid ejectment cose bock
to the boronqoy for conci/iotion proceedinqs despite the foct
thot it wos o//eqed in the verified comp/oint thot the motter hod
o/reody been referred to the boronqoy and LhaL a copy of Lhe
CerLlflcaLlon Lo llle MoLlon was aLLached Lo Lhe verlfled
complalnL Agrleved by Lhe Crder he Lrled Lo Lalk wlLh respondenL
[udge buL was prevenLed Lo do Pe Lhen lnqulred from Lhe
respondenLs branch clerk of courL Lhe reason behlnd such order
and he was advlsed LhaL perhaps he should submlL Lhe mlnuLes of
Lhe hearlngs held ln Lhe barangay lollowlng sald advlce he flled a
compllance wlLh respondenLs courL aLLachlng LherewlLh a copy of
hls complalnL flled before Lhe barangay and Lhe mlnuLes of Lhe
proceedlngs held LhereaL neverLheless no acLlon was done by
Lhe !udge ln connecLlon wlLh such maLLer and was even advlsed
upon lnqulry LhaL no acLlon could be Laken unless Lhe Crder had
been complled wlLh Pe declded noL Lo pursue Lhe case by flllng a
noLlce Lo wlLhdraw complalnL whlch was denled Pe Lhen flled a
noLlce of ulsmlssal buL Lhe same was sLlll unacLed upon Pe flled a
MoLlon Lo 8ender !udgmenL upon Lhe defaulL of Lhe defendanLs ln
accordance wlLh Lhe provlslons of Sec3 of Lhe 8ule on Summary
rocedure whlch was also unacLed upon 1hus causlng hlm so
much sufferlng as hls famlly ls forced Lo renL a house Lo llve ln aL a
monLhly renLal raLe of 1900000

1
venus Me[la

3 espondents uefense ln clalmlng LhaL he dld noL err ln lssulng
Lhe Crder refferlng Lhe case back Lo baranggay conclllaLlon he
asservaLes LhaL ln all cases where Lhere ls fallure of seLLlemenL of
medlaLlon proceedlngs before Lhe 8arangay Chalrman lL ls
necessary LhaL Lhe angkaL be consLlLuLed by Lhe parLles from Lhe
Lupon members ln order LhaL Lhey may have a second
opporLunlLy Lo amlcably seLLle Lhelr dlspuLe lL ls a mandaLory
duLy of Lhe 8arangay Chalrman Lo seL Lhe meeLlng of Lhe parLles
for Lhe consLlLuLlon of Lhe angkaL upon fallure of parLles Lo
amlcably seLLle oLherwlse Lhere ls no compllance wlLh Lhe
requlremenLs of u 1308 now Sec 412 1991 Local CovernmenL
Code ln Lhls case lL appears from Lhe records Lhereof LhaL Lhere
was premaLure lssuance of Lhe CerLlflcaLe Lo llle AcLlon
conslderlng LhaL Lhere ls no proof Lo show LhaL Lhe angkaL was
duly consLlLuLed before Lhe sald cerLlflcaLe was lssued Moreover
Lhe belaLed submlsslon by complalnanL of Lhe MlnuLes of
roceedlngs before Lhe 8arangay Chalrman whlch was lnaccuraLe
and dlfflculL Lo declpher glarlngly reveals Lhe noncompllance of
complalnanL wlLh Lhe requlremenL of Lhe aforeclLed law

4 u/inq of Oc4 CCA ruled ln favor of Lhe peLlLloner and held LhaL
Lhe respondenL was elLher lgnoranL or negllgenL ln referrlng Lhe
case back Lo Lhe barangay desplLe Lhe presence of whaL lL
consldered Lo be a valld CerLlflcaLlon Lo llle AcLlon and
recommended LhaL Lhe respondenL !udge be llnLu ln Lhe amounL
of 1000000 wlLh Lhe S1L8n WA8nlnC LhaL a repeLlLlon of Lhe
same wlll be dealL wlLh more severely
ISSUL
WCn Lhe !udge commlLLed an error ln referrlng Lhe case back Lo
baranggay conclllaLlon proceedlngs desplLe Lhe conLenLlon of Lhe
ComplalnanL conLends LhaL he has complled wlLh Lhe mandaLory barangay
conclllaLlon proceedlngs as evldenced by Lhe CerLlflcaLlon Lo llle AcLlon
aLLached Lo Lhe ComplalnL for e[ecLmenL
kULING
SecLlon 410 (b) of Lhe Local CovernmenL Code ls quoLed hereunder
MeJlotloo by lopoo cboltmoo upoo tecelpt of tbe complolot tbe lopoo cboltmoo
sboll wltblo tbe oext wotkloq Joy sommoo tbe tespooJeot(s) wltb ootlce to tbe
complolooot(s) fot tbem ooJ tbelt wltoesses to oppeot befote blm fot o meJlotloo
of tbelt coofllctloq lotetests lf be folls lo bls meJlotloo effott wltblo flfteeo (15)
Joys ftom tbe fltst meetloq of tbe pottles befote blm be sboll fottbwltb set o Jote
fot tbe coostltotloo of tbe ponqkot lo occotJooce wltb tbe ptovlsloos of tbls
cboptet
lurLhermore AdmlnlsLraLlve Clrcular no 1493 provldes
lo otJet tbot tbe looJoble potpose of tbe low moy oot be sobvetteJ ooJ lts
effectlveoess ooJetmloeJ by loJlsctlmloote lmptopet ooJ/ot ptemotote lssoooce
of cettlflcotloos to flle octloos lo coott by tbe lopoo ot looqkot 5ectetotles
ottesteJ by tbe lopoo/looqkot cboltmeo tespectlvely tbe followloq qolJelloes ote
beteby lssoeJ fot tbe lofotmotloo of ttlol coott joJqes lo coses btooqbt befote tbem
comloq ftom tbe 8otooqoys
ll 4 lf meJlotloo ot cooclllotloo effotts befote tbe looooq 8otooqoy ptoveJ
oosoccessfol tbete bovloq beeo oo oqteemeot to otblttote (5ec 410b kevlseJ
kole kototooqooq lombotooqoy low 5ec 1c1 kole lll kototooqooq
lombotooqoy koles) ot wbete tbe tespooJeot folls to oppeot ot tbe meJlotloo
ptoceeJloq befote tbe looooq 8otooqoy (J
tJ
pot 5ec 8o kole vl kototooqooq
lombotooqoy koles) tbe looooq 8otooqoy sboll oot coose tbe lssoooce of tbls
stoqe of o cettlflcotloo to flle octloo becoose lt ls oow mooJototy fot blm to
coostltote tbe looqkot befote wbom meJlotloo cooclllotloo ot otblttotloo
ptoceeJloqs sboll be belJ
lll All complolots ooJ/ot lofotmotloos flleJ ot toffleJ to yoot solo/btoocb of tbe
keqloool 1tlol coott Mettopolltoo 1tlol coott ot Moolclpol 1tlol coott sboll be
cotefolly teoJ ooJ sctotlolzeJ to Jetetmloe lf tbete bos beeo compllooce wltb ptlot
8otooqoy cooclllotloo ptoceJote ooJet tbe kevlseJ kototooqooq lombotooqoy
low ooJ lts lmplemeotloq koles ooJ keqolotloos os o ptecooJltloo to joJlclol
octloo porticu/or/y whether the certificotion to fi/e oction ottoched to the records
of the cose comp/y with the requirements hereinobove enumeroted in port ll
lv A cose flleJ lo coott wltboot compllooce wltb ptlot 8otooqoy cooclllotloo wblcb
ls o ptecooJltloo fot fotmol oJjoJlcotloo x x x moy be JlsmlsseJ opoo motloo of
tbe JefeoJoot/s x x x ot tbe coott moy sospeoJ ptoceeJloqs opoo petltloo of ooy
potty x x x ooJ tefet tbe cose moto ptoptlo to tbe opptoptlote 8otooqoy ootbotlty
x x x
1he records reveal LhaL such CerLlflcaLlon was lmproperly and premaLurely
lssued for lL falled Lo show LhaL a personal confronLaLlon before a duly
consLlLuLed looqkot oq 1oqopoqkosooJo Look place 8espondenLs poslLlon
LhaL Lhe looqkot was noL consLlLuLed and LhaL no face Lo face conclllaLlon
of Lhe parLles had Laken place before lL ls subsLanLlaLed by Lhe MlnuLes
submlLLed by complalnanL LvldenLly complalnanL falled Lo compleLe Lhe
barangay conclllaLlon proceedlngs
lurLhermore Lhe ComplalnL before Lhe barangay was daLed lebruary 16
1996 8ecords show LhaL Lhe hearlng was scheduled for lebruary 26 1996
and was reseL for lebruary 29 1996 And yeL Lhe CerLlflcaLlon Lo llle
AcLlon was lssued on March 1 1996 less Lhan flfLeen days afLer Lhe flrsL
scheduled hearlng before Lhe barangay chalrman
LvldenLly Lhe barangay falled Lo exerL enough efforL requlred by law Lo
conclllaLe beLween Lhe parLles and Lo seLLle Lhe case before lL Pence
respondenL [udge was noL lncorrecL ln remandlng Lhe case Lo lL for
compleLlon of Lhe mandaLed proceedlngs We cannoL faulL hlm for seeklng
Lo promoLe Lhe ob[ecLlves of barangay conclllaLlon and for Laklng Lo hearL
Lhe provlslons of Supreme CourL Clrcular no 1493 Pls referral of Lhe case
back Lo Lhe barangay cannoL be equaLed wlLh gross lgnorance of Lhe law
nelLher does lL consLlLuLe grave abuse of dlscreLlon or obvlous parLlallLy