Executive judge steps down
Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Meinrado Paredes yesterday stepped down as leader of the Cebu City judiciary, an administrative post he’s held for two years.
He tried to hold back tears as he turned over his functions as executive judge to Judge Sylvestre Maamo Jr. , who is next in line.
Paredes and RTC Judge Bienvinido Saniel were held administratively liable in a decision by the Supreme Court (SC) for incompetence and undue delay in the resolution of a motion in a civil case over unpaid bills.
Both judges were fined P10,000 each.
Paredes expressed dismay over the ruling that he said was “grossly unfounded and erroneous.” He and Saniel are seeking reconsideration of the High Court’s decision.
Paredes, who was appointed in December 2008, announced his resignation at a meeting with other RTC judges, lawyers, and officials of the Palace of Justice.
Article continues after this advertisement“I’m very disappointed. I felt I am a victim of injustice. I am not guilty of undue delay. The records of the branch of the court where I am the presiding judge will bear me out,” Paredes said.
Article continues after this advertisementThe case stemmed from an administrative complaint filed by lawyer and former regional director Florencio Villarin of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7).
Villarin earlier accused Paredes, Saniel and three other RTC judges of failing to resolve pleadings in a civil suit he filed in court against a stevedoring company and a shipping company over an unpaid P1.4 million obligation.
Villarin, who retired from NBI, has a stevedoring business. For failing to get his money claim within a reasonable time, Villarin charged the five judges and filed a case of disbarment against the defendant’s lawyer Bernardito Florido.
The Supreme Court’s 3rd Division affirmed the findings of the Office of the Court Administrator, which investigated the judges.
With this, Paredes said he had to “automatically divest” himself of his position.
“Dili ko kapit tuko. (I won’t cling to my position) Whether or not the decision against us is erroneous, I have to set the example for others,” he said.
“Without hesitation, I have to resign.”
Paredes said that he couldn’t resolve the pleadings filed by Villarin because the other party in the case had yet to answer them.
Paredes’ two-year term as executive judge should have ended last December 2010 but was extended by the High Court. He remains presiding judge of Branch 13.
Three other judges—Ireneo Lee-Gako, Anacleto Caminade and Aproniano Taypin—have already retired. /Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol
