Supreme Court chides driver for playing cards
The Supreme Court (SC) has 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, was chastised even if he was found playing cards off-duty.
He was found guilty of violating the Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, particularly 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 during the incident.
But since it was his first administrative infraction, the High Court only gave him a reprimand instead of a one-month suspension that was recommended by the Office of the Court Administrator.
He was warned not to repeat the offense or else he would be dealt with more severely.
Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe of the High Court’s first division, said any action that stains the image of the judiciary should not be tolerated.
“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 who echoed a previous SC ruling.
“The conduct and behavior of everyone connected with an office charged with the dispensation of justice, from the presiding judge to the lowliest clerk, must always be beyond reproach and must be circumscribed with the heavy burden of responsibility,” the justice said.
Her decision was approved by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and three other justices.
The complaint was filed by CA-Cebu Assistant Clerk of Court Lucila Cad-Enjambre who caught Bernabe playing cards with two employees and an outsider near the maintenance section of the CA building on Jan. 25, 2012.
It looked like a gambling session with the presence of P20 bills and coins on top of the table.
The next day she issued the driver a memorandum and required him to explain in writing why no disciplinary action should be meted out against him.
Labar received a copy of the memo but said he forgot to send a response.
In an investigation by the Court of Appeals, he said he and his companions played cards because he was already done with his tasks for the day.
Labar eventually apologized.
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