A Travesty to the Judicial Hierarchy & the Constitution

When the Supreme Court declared as FINAL & EXECUTORY the DENIALS for several petitions on certiorari and appeals for review and/or annulment of the Amended Decision of SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS IR-1110 of Iriga City in G.R. Nos. 140271 and then again on G.R. No.142477 , I thought that with these six resolutions, two entries of judgments and letters of transmittal being remanded back to the court of origin, the execution would be less difficult.

But then came, two years later, on 16 April 2002, a decision from the former Fifth Division of the Court of Appeals came out with its own controversial decision to expunge the whole proceedings. Still then, the Hon. Lore R. Valencia-Bagalacsa, the assisting judge who decided the case, used the strength of the resolutions and entries of judgments by the Honorable Supreme Court in the said two cases which prevailed over the CA Decision, and to continue pursuing the executions as manifested by the prevailing party- Mr. Henry Rodriguez. The honorable judge did follow the principle of the "hierarchy of the courts" wherein the resolutions/decisions of the Supreme Court should be the FINAL decision on the judicial bearings and Court of the "last resort." Not till on the 21st of February 2007, barely three days after assuming her office as the new Acting Presiding Judge of RTC Branch 34, Iriga City, Judge Lelu Contreras, in defiance of the constitution, the rules of court and the Supreme Court, issued an Order to EXPUNGE Special Proceedings IR-1110, using the Court of Appeals Decision to nullify the whole proceedings in its entirety.

The Honorable Associate Justice Lock formerly of the Office of the Court Administrator strongly and firmly stated in answer to a query dated last 4 October 2007:

“x x x…The Court of Appeals and the Regional Trial Court CANNOT EXPUNGE, DECLARE NULL & VOID or REVERSE the decision of the Supreme Court rather it is the other way around. Under the hierarchy of courts, the Supreme Court is the court of the LAST RESORT. The Constitution provides “No doctrine or principle of law laid down by the court (Supreme Court) in a decision rendered en banc or in a division may be modified or reversed except by the court setting en banc. The Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction under Section 5, Article VIII of the Constitution provides that it has the “power to review, revise, reverse, modify or affirm on appeal or certiorari as the law or Rules of Court may provide, final judgments and orders of lower courts .x x x.”

Somehow, the RTC judge (Judge Lelu Contreras) disregarded the FINAL authority of the Supreme Court in the above cited cases and instead used as reference the Court of Appeals Decision, to issue the Order to expunge. This is clearly an unlawful, unconstitutional act and constitutes the gravest administrative offense that a judge has made. If an RTC judge can do this against the Supreme Court, where else are we to go to? Where can "Juan de la Cruz" go to seek justice when these things happen in the judiciary. We can only shiver, tremble with fear and think deeply...

A Violation of the Basic Law-the Philippine Constitution

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A Blast From The Past!

On March 21, 1999, at around 8:00 in the morning, my mother died when she was hit by a car while trying to cross Ninoy Aquino Avenue near the NAIA Airport. She was on her way to retrieve survey plans of properties concerning the Rodriguez Estate. These documents, among others, were part of her documentary research of about 20 years concerning the H.Rodriguez Estate. She was 69 years old, and I was 36, already with a family of my own, when she passed away on that fateful day.

On April 27, 1999, more than a month later, the decision as to who the real heirs, the appointment of the administrator, and the settlement of the estate came out in a court proceedings which took more than ten years and two judges to finally come out. About four months later and several motions for reconsideration, on August 13, 1999, the decision was amended. The said case: SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS IR-1110 of the RTC Branch 34 of Iriga City. I knew, from the personal accounts of my mother, that some of the vital evidences that were presented concerning the Estate came from the research work of my dear mom (God rest her soul..).

A few months after the said Amended Decision, on 24 November 1999, a petition for review on certiorari filed by one of the losing parties directly with the Supreme Court was DENIED for not complying with the documentary requirements. Other losing parties did in fact filed their own respective appeals and petitions to review or annul the said decision, but were DENIED, notably G.R. Nos. 140271 and 142477. That was in the months of the year 2000.

Five years later, in 2005, I was asked by Mr. Henry Rodriguez, the estate administrator, if I could be part of his personal staff to oversee the recovery of several parcels of land that were contained in the inventory of properties that were approved by the Hon. Lore R. Valencia-Bagalacsa, the magistrate of the Court who decided the case. "How could I contribute and help you, kuya? I barely know the documents and procedures, save for the knowledge I possess when I handled most of my mother's documents then?" To which Kuya Henry replied, "I know you and trust in your talent and capacity. Please assist me in the recovery.."

There were a lot of things to consider, especially my job and the welfare of my family to begin with. I was unusually interested in the offer of dear Kuya Henry, who was a very close friend of the Gomez clan, but I had to clearly weigh things since I would be risking the lives and future of my family. But then, the urge coming from the bloodline of my mother overtook me, and here I am and three years later, still working for the Estate...

(TO BE CONTINUED)