G.R. No. L-2456; January 25, 1949
NICOLAS B. POTOT, petitioner, vs. JUAN L. BAGANO, the SECRETARY OF JUSTICE and the JUDGE OF COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF CEBU, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Nicolas B. Potot was the prewar justice of the peace of Pilar, Cebu, appointed in 1933 and serving until April 25, 1944. After liberation, the position was filled by others, and later by respondent Juan L. Bagano, who assumed office on September 1, 1946. Potot did not immediately seek reinstatement after the war. Instead, he accepted other government positions: as a police lieutenant in Cebu City from June 11, 1947, to January 15, 1948, and as Assistant Provincial Warden from January 16, 1948, to April 24, 1948. He filed this quo warranto proceeding to reclaim his former judicial office.

ISSUE

Whether petitioner Potot, by accepting other public offices incompatible with judicial functions, abandoned his right to reinstatement as justice of the peace.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition. Following precedents (Floresca v. Quetulio and Maddumba v. Ozaeta), the Court held that Potot’s acceptance of other public offices (de facto incompatible with judicial functions) operated as an abandonment of his former position. His nearly two-year inaction after liberation, during which the position was vacant, and his subsequent entry into incompatible government employment, demonstrated a loss of interest in the judicial post. Economic necessity was not a valid excuse, as private employment was available. Thus, he was not entitled to reinstatement.

AI Generated by Armztrong.