The Supreme Court (SC) reprimanded a driver of the Court of Appeals (CA) Cebu Station for playing card games with friends inside the government office.
Ronelo Labar, driver of the mailing and delivery section of appellate court in Cebu City, was found guilty of violating the Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, specifically on the provision against gambling.
He was also found liable for entering the maintenance section of the CA even if he was no longer on duty by the time he was caught playing cards.
But since it was his first administrative infraction, the High Court deemed it proper to impose the penalty of reprimand instead of a one month suspension that was earlier recommended by the Office of the Court Administrator.
Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe of the High Court’s first division, however, cautioned Labar that a repetition of the same of similar acts in the future shall be dealt with more severely.
“It bears to stress that no other office in the government service exacts a greater demand for moral righteousness and uprightness from an employee than the judiciary,” said Bernabe, echoing a previous SC ruling.
Her decision on Bernabe was approved by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Associate Justices Teresita de Castro, Lucas Bersamin, and Jose Perez.
The issue stemmed from a complaint of CA-Cebu Assistant Clerk of Court Lucila Cad-Enjambre who caught Bernabe playing cards with two co-terminous employees and an outsider near the maintenance section of the CA building on Jan. 25, 2012.
Enjambre surmised that Bernabe’s group was into gambling as evidenced by some P20 bills and coins on top of the table that was used by the group.
The following day, she issued a memorandum to Labar, requiring him to explain in writing why no disciplinary action should be meted against him.
Bernabe received a copy of the memorandum but he said he forgot to send a response.
When an investigation was conducted by the CA, he explained to the court that he and his companions decided to play card games since he was already done with his tasks for the day.
Bernabe eventually admitted and apologized for his infractions, and promised that he will not do it again.