Cebu courts face backlog with dismissal of four judges

WITH four judges in Cebu City’s Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) dismissed, sitting judges may be burdened with a backlog of cases, Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Meinrado Paredes said yesterday.

Paredes said the dismissal order from the Supreme Court was not commensurate to the alleged offense committed by the four judges due to their involvement in a marriage scam.

Judges Anatalio Necessario, Gil Acosta, Rosabella Tormis and Edgemelo Rosales of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branches 2, 3, 4 and 8 in Cebu City also forfeited their benefits after their dismissal.

“The penalty is too harsh especially against Judge Gil Acosta, he was nearly disabled, the others were sole breadwinners of their families. While we do not condone wrong doings but the penalty must be commensurate to the offense,” Paredes said.

Paredes said some of these judges are about to retire and they could no longer receive their benefits and they may be even facing disbarment.

He said suspension should be sufficient penalty for their alleged offense.

“Assuming that they are implicated in the marriage scam, but humanitarian reasons should be taken into consideration,” Paredes added.

Still, Paredes acknowledged that this decision should serve as lesson to the judges that they should always be faithful to their job.

He said he received word about the marriage scam in courts.

But Paredes believed that the scam was already stopped.

When he served as the RTC executive judge then, Paredes said, he strictly prohibited the fixers to stand by at the Palace of Justice.

Mae Elaine Bathan, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter president, said they appealed to President Aquino and to the Judicial and Bar Council to fill-up the vacancies as soon as possible.

“While (our chapter) recognizes the authority of the Supreme Court to discipline its judges it cannot be denied that the dismissal will severely cause a vacuum in the administration of justice in Cebu,” she said. With Correspondent Edison delos Angeles