AC 9684; (March, 2016) (Digest)
G.R. No. A.C. No. 9684. March 16, 2016.
Mary Rose A. Boto, Complainant, vs. Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Vincent L. Villena, City Prosecutor Archimedes V. Manabat and Assistant City Prosecutor Patrick Noel P. De Dios, Respondents.
FACTS
This administrative case stemmed from an information for Libel filed against complainant Mary Rose A. Boto before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC), Branch LXXIV, Taguig City. The information was prepared by Assistant City Prosecutor Patrick Noel P. de Dios, the investigating prosecutor, and approved by City Prosecutor Archimedes Manabat. Respondent Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Vincent L. Villena was the trial prosecutor assigned to the MeTC. Boto charged all three respondents with gross ignorance of the law for filing the information and for opposing her motion to quash despite knowledge that the MeTC lacked jurisdiction over the case. In a Decision dated September 18, 2013, the Court found Villena liable for Ignorance of the Law and fined him P10,000.00, reprimanded De Dios for negligence, and admonished Manabat. Villena filed a Motion for Reconsideration, not to deny his actions but to plead for compassion, arguing the penalty was not commensurate with his infraction which was done without ill motive or malice, and highlighting his unblemished record and high disposal rate as a prosecutor.
ISSUE
Whether the penalty imposed on respondent Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Vincent L. Villena should be reduced.
RULING
Yes. The Court partially granted Villena’s Motion for Reconsideration and reduced his penalty. The Court considered Villena’s contrition, his apology, his assertion that his opposition to the motion to quash was a sort of “pro-forma comment” crafted in general terms, and the absence of bad faith or malice. It also noted his unblemished career, his being a first-time offender, and that the penalty would affect his professional growth. Citing that penalties are imposed to correct rather than punish, the Court reduced the penalty from a fine of P10,000.00 to a REPRIMAND, the same penalty imposed on his co-respondent De Dios.