SC orders Dismissal of 4 MTCC Judges

The Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of four judges coming from different branches of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) in Cebu City after they were found guilty of irregularities in the solemnization of marriages.

In a decision dated April 2, 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed MTCC-Branch 2 Judge Anatalio Necessario, MTCC Branch 3 Judge Gil Acosta, MTCC Branch 4 Judge Rosabella Tormis and MTCC Branch 8 Judge Edgemelo Rosales.

It was reported that the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) discovered the irregularities of said judges after a female and male lawyers of the audit team pretended as a couple looking to get married.

Somebody gave them a tip that marriage could be solemnized by some of the judges in Cebu City-based MTCC the next day, but the marriage certificate would only be dated the day the marriage license becomes available.

The High Court ruling said Judges Necessario, Tormis and Rosales had violated the law when they solemnized marriages even if the requirements submitted by the couples were incomplete and questionable.

Because of their actuations, the Office of the Court Administrator earlier described the Palace of Justice in Cebu City as a hub of swift marriages because the respondent judges and some court personnel disregarded the law and procedure about the conduct of marriage.

It was discovered that the judges Tormis, Necessario and Rosales solemnized marriages even if one of the contracting parties was a foreigner who did not submit a certificate from their respective embassies to prove that they have the legal capacity to marry.

The foreigners were just allowed by said judges to submit affidavits, also notarized by said judges themselves, to support their marriages stating the contracting parties’ capacity to marry, which is not enough and only proved that they were inefficient of their jobs.

The High Court justices had found out that Necessario, Tormis and Acosta are also guilty of gross ignorance of the law when they failed to comply with the provisions of Article 34 of the Family Code with respect to the marriages that they solemnized despite the existence of legal impediments such as the minority status of one of the contracting parties.

Moreover,there were marriages that were solemnized by the respondent judges even if there was no marriage license previously issued and the contracting parties were made to fill up the application for a license on the same day the marriage was done.

The High Court also ordered the forfeiture of their retirement benefits and barred them from working in any office or agency of the government, including government-owned or controlled corporations.

Aside from the four judges, the Supreme Court also dismissed Tormis’ court interpreter Helen Mongaya and court clerk Rhona Rodriguez then suspensed for six months court process server Desiderio Aranas and court interpreter Rebecca Alesna, while court clerk Celeste Retuya and stenographer Emma Valencia were admonished. They are also involved in the marriage scam.

With the dismissal of the four judges, several cases filed with their respective court branches may not be acted upon for a couple of months pending their replacements.

This is the second dismissal order issued by the Supreme Coourt for Tormis who was similarly ordered dismissed from the judiciary service after she was also found guilty in another administrative case for gross ignorance of the law, negligence and other similar cases.