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MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday said it dismissed a female clerk of the Metropolitan Trial Court of Makati City for her alleged attempt to steal court collections worth P277,000.
In a decision dated June 27, the SC’s en banc found Charlibeth Sicad, Clerk III of the Cashier Unit of the Makati’s Office of the Clerk of Court-Metropolitan Trial Court (OCC-MeTC) guilty of gross misconduct.
“Sicad’s unauthorized taking of cash collections in the amount of PhP277,000.00 constitutes theft, which is a crime involving moral turpitude,” the High Court said in a statement.
The incident occurred in February 2022, when Sicad relieved the cashier on duty from her post.
The cashier on duty received a text message and a phone call from a supposed Lalamove rider regarding a supposed delivery of documents, prompting her to ask Sicad to relieve her at the cashier post.
While the cashier was away, Sicad allegedly replaced the cash in the money drawer with fake bills, as discovered by the same cashier.
“Sicad was seen going to the storage room at the back of the OCC-MeTC even though everyone was ordered to stay in their work areas.
“The police officers saw Sicad coming out from the edge of a filing cabinet, prompting them to search the area where she had come out.
“There, the police officers discovered the stolen money inside a black pouch. There were also fake bills found in the garbage bin in front of the table of Sicad,” the SC said.
The High Court also said that the text message from the supposed Lalamove driver was a ruse to lure the cashier away from her post.
“The ruse proved to be successful since Sicad gained access to the cashier’s drawer … Sicad used her position while taking charge of the cashier area to unlawfully take and clandestinely hide the court’s cash collections inside the black pouch,” it further stated.
The SC also ordered the forfeiture of Sicad’s benefits and privileges as well as her perpetual disqualification from working in the government.
A criminal charge for qualified theft has been filed against Sicad, which is now pending before the trial court.
The High Court stressed that thievery, “no matter how petty,” has no place in the Judiciary, adding that all of its employees should be an example of integrity, uprightness, and honesty.
“Finding that Sicad has fallen far short of the exacting standards of judicial conduct and integrity, the Court stressed that conduct which violates the norms of public accountability and diminish, or even tends to diminish, the faith of the people in the justice system has never been and will never be tolerated or condoned by the Court,” the SC said.
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