Vilos v. Bato

EN BANC A.M. No. P-05-2007 June 8, 2005 SENEN VILOS, complainant, vs. EXPEDITO B. BATO, Sheriff III, respondent. PER CURIAM: The facts which gave rise to the present administrative complaint of Senen Vilos against Expedito B. Bato, Sheriff III, Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), Branch 1, Dumaguete City, are as follows: In a Decision rendered on October 15, 20011 by the MTCC of Dumaguete City, Branch 1 in Civil Case No. 90-28-5, a case for ejectment filed by Vilos, the therein defendants spouses Fermin and Maxima Nocete et al. were ordered to, among other things, x x x . .

. pay to plaintiff Senen Vilos representing arrears or past rentals to the land the amount equivalent to ₱400.00 per month representing the rentals for the reasonable use and occupation of the land effective January 1990 until the land is fully vacated by the defendants; . .

. to pay to plaintiff Senen Vilos representing arrears or past rentals to the land the amount equivalent to ₱150.00 per month from 1984 up to January 1990; . .

. to pay jointly the amount equivalent to P3,000.00 as reimbursement payments of attorneys fees to plaintiff; . .

. the cost of the suit.2 The Decision of the MTCC was not appealed and it having become final and executory, the trial court, on motion of the judgment creditor Vilos, ordered the issuance of a Writ of Execution and one was issued dated February 18, 2002.3 Herein respondent MTCC Sheriff Expedito Bato, by his own admission, received a copy of the Writ of Execution on February 19, 2002. No Progress Report on the enforcement of the Writ of Execution having been made by respondent, he was constantly reminded by Vilos' counsel to submit the same but it was not heeded.

Vilos' counsel was later furnished a copy of respondent's Return of Writ of Execution dated March 4, 20024 on October 10, 2002.5 The March 4, 2002 return stated that on February 26, 2002, respondent served a copy of the Writ of Execution only upon the defendants judgment debtors Nocete spouses, the other defendants having vacated the premises and their whereabouts could no longer be determined; and that when he sought to collect from the Nocete spouses the full amount of their judgment obligation, they replied that they had neither cash nor personal or real property sufficient to satisfy the same in full but they promised to settle it "on or before April 2002 with the conformity of [Vilos]." Vilos (hereinafter referred to as complainant), was eventually informed that all the while respondent had been collecting some amounts from the Nocetes. Complainant thereupon asked respondent to make a return of the Writ of Execution and to remit to him his collections but respondent failed to and did not give a satisfactory explanation therefor either, prompting him to execute on February 5, 2003 an Affidavit-Complaint6 charging respondent with ten (10) counts of Malversation of Public Funds as defined in Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.

On receipt of a copy of the Affidavit-Complaint which the MTCC Clerk of Court forwarded to the Court Administrator, the latter directed respondent, by 1st Indorsement of May 8, 2003,7 to submit his Comment thereon within ten (10) days from receipt. By Comment of June 19, 2003,8 respondent, in compliance with the directive of the Court Administrator, gave the following capsulized self-explanatory comment: 1. Plaintiff wanted full payment and full settlement of the decision; 2.

Defendant could not at one time, make a full payment to satisfy the decision; 3. As soon as defendant can come up with the full amount to settle and fully satisfy the decision the same shall be turned over to the plaintiff ; 4. Private funds cannot be subject to malversation ; 5.

Attached are papers and documents.

(Underscoring supplied) It turned out that, indeed, respondent had been collecting various amounts on different occasions from judgment debtor Fermin Nocete since April 22, 2002 as shown in the tabulation below, which were duly receipted by respondent: DATE AMOUNT April 22, 2002 P10,000.00 June 3, 2002 P 2,000.00 July 2, 2002 P 2,000.00 August 6, 2002 P 2,000.00 September 5, 2002 P 2,000.00 October 11, 2002 P 2,000.00 November 5, 2002 P 2,000.00 December 7, 2002 P 2,000.00 (Undated) P 5,000.00 Undated) P 5,000.00