(Formerly A.M. No. 06-7-215-MTCC) OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR, Complainant, vs. RODELIO E. MARCELO and MA. CORAZON D. ESPAÑOLA, MTCC, SAN JOSE DEL MONTE CITY, BULACAN, Respondents.

Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila EN BANC A.M. No. P-06-2221 October 5, 2010 (Formerly A.M. No. 06-7-215-MTCC) OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR, Complainant, vs. RODELIO E. MARCELO and MA. CORAZON D. ESPAÑOLA, MTCC, SAN JOSE DEL MONTE CITY, BULACAN, Respondents. PER CURIAM: We resolve in this Decision the administrative matter involving Clerk of Court Rodelio E. Marcelo and Ma.

Corazon D. Española, Officer-in-Charge, Office of the Clerk of Court, arising from the financial audit conducted at the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan. The Antecedents The financial audit was conducted by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) on the MTCC books of accounts for the period May 1991 to April 30, 2005, which covered the terms of several clerks of court. The report, dated June 28, 2006, of the OCA audit team1 showed that Marcelo and Española incurred shortages in their collections, pertaining to the court's funds, in the total amount of Seven Hundred Ninety-Two Thousand Two Hundred Thirteen Pesos (₱792,213.00), broken down as follows: NAME OF FUND AMOUNT OF SHORTAGE Clerk of Court General Fund ₱ 75,553.00 Special Allowance for the Judiciary 69,006.00 Judiciary Development Fund 214,929.00 Fiduciary Fund 418,325.00 Marriage Solemnization fees 14,400.00 TOTAL SHORTAGES ₱792,213.00 Española, a former clerk of court/officer-in-charge, had a shortage in her collection for the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF), for the period January 18, 1996 to November 8, 1996 amounting to ₱11,647.00.2 The shortage was due to the absence of deposit slips evidencing the remittance of the collection.

There was also a shortage in Española's collection of marriage solemnization fees in the amount of ₱200.00. Española was directed to immediately deposit the ₱11,647.00 to the JDF and the ₱200.00 to the marriage solemnization fund. In a letter, dated June 2, 2005,3 to Dindo Sevilla (the OCA audit team leader), Española complied with the directive by depositing the amounts covering the shortages.4 At the recommendation of the OCA, the Court resolved, on August 7, 2006,5 to: (1) docket the audit team's report as a regular administrative matter; (2) direct Marcelo to pay the amount of ₱792,213.00, and immediately deposit the payment according to its fund allocations; (3) direct Marcelo and Española to explain, in writing, their failure to deposit the collections on time and why no disciplinary action should be taken against them for the shortages; and (4) refer the matter to Judge Pelagia Dalmacio-Joaquin, MTCC, San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, for investigation.

Marcelo explained his side through a letter to the MTCC on October 20, 2006.6 He strongly denied the charge of malversing/pocketing the court's collections. He claimed that he had been frequently on leave of absence starting late 2003 as he has a heart ailment due to stress, anxiety and fear caused by threats to his life and that of his family; sometime in March 2004, he expressed to Judge Joaquin his intention to return to work, but was advised to continue his leave of absence or to report but not as clerk of court, and to perform some other tasks, pending Judge Joaquin's request for the revocation of his designation as acting clerk of court; and he opted to remain on leave instead of doing other tasks. Marcelo claimed that had Judge Joaquin allowed him to return to work for at least a week, he could have done his work and deposited the court's collections.

Marcelo admitted that he entrusted the undeposited court collections to Bernadette Alconiza, supervising stenographer and his mother's secretary, who kept the cash in the vault of the City Prosecutor's Office. The cash were in several bundles, each bundle marked with the amount it contained. While he admitted that he had been remiss in the performance of his duties as clerk of court, he blamed his poor health for his shortcomings.

Judge Joaquin's investigation was cut short as she inhibited herself from the case7 upon the motion for inhibition filed by Marcelo's mother and counsel, Atty. Lucita E. Marcelo (who claimed she had retired as City Prosecutor of San Jose del Monte City on April 18, 2006).8 In a Resolution dated February 28, 2007, the Court referred the case to Judge Mario B. Capellan of the MTCC, Branch 1, Malolos City, Bulacan, whose Report and Recommendation, submitted on October 9, 2007,9 provides: The salient features of the said financial audit report revealed the following shortages: COC General Fund . . .

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. ₱ 75,553.00 Special Allowance for the Judiciary (SAJ) 69,006.00 Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) 214,923.00 Fiduciary Fund (FF) 418,325.00 Marriage Solemnization Fees 14,400.00