sic itur ad astra

C. ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION OVER JUDGES AND JUSTICES Supreme Court Members of the Supreme Court may be removed from office on  impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the  Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high  crimes, or betrayal of public trust (Sec 2, Article XI, 1987  Constitution ). The SC has administrative supervision over all lower courts and  their personnel ( Art. VIII, Sec. 6.) and exclusive power to  discipline judges of lower courts ( Art. VIII, Sec. 11 ). The Ombudsman is duty bound to refer to the SC all cases  against judges and court personnel. Rule: The Supreme Court en banc shall have the power to discipline judges of lower courts, or order their dismissal by a  vote of majority of the Members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted  thereon (Section 11, Article VIII, Constitution). Qualification: (1) In principle, the Supreme Court...

                                        Rule 120: Judgment, Discharge | Criminal Procedure Facts: Simeon Yusay appealed a judgment convicting him of theft and sentencing him to one year, eight months, and twenty-one days ( 1-8-21 ) of imprisonment. The prosecution presented evidence that Yusay took two pawn tickets belonging to Leonor Gil de Lazaro without her consent.  The servant of Gil de Lazaro, Remigia Mediavilla , was entrusted the tickets and left them to Yusay unintentionally. Yusay met Mediavilla at a store, noticed the tickets in her purse, and took them from her. Yusay falsely claimed to be the owner of the pawned jewels and redeemed them without presenting the tickets, using only their numbers. Gil de Lazaro discovered the theft when she tried to redeem the jewels herself. When confronted, Yusay refused to return the tickets and instead offered to help Mediavi...

                                       Rule 120: Judgment, Discharge | Criminal Procedure Facts: Venancio de Guzman  was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. De Guzman, along with Pedro and Serapio Macarling and Rufino Garin, was allegedly walking through a field when he struck Garin on the head and held him down while Pedro Macarling stabbed him to death. De Guzman had a prior agreement with the prosecutor to testify as a witness for the government in exchange for the dismissal of the murder charge against him.  One of his co-accused pleaded guilty and the other not guilty, and thereafter the case came on for trial.  De Guzman appeared as a witness at the trial but denied any knowledge of the murder and made false statements, disavowing his previous statements. The Solicitor-General recommended the discharge of De Guzman based on certain sectio...

                                      Rule 120: Judgment, Variance Doctrine | Criminal Procedure Facts: Isidoro Palad and Melecio Macalintal were charged with the crime of murder for the death of Saturnina Austria. Isidoro suspected Austria of bewitching his sick mother  Maria Estevan . Isidoro struck his mother several times, demanding to know the identity of the witch. Maria Estevan shouted the name "Saturnina," which prompted Isidoro to search for Saturnina Austria in Sibul, San Miguel. Upon finding Saturnina, Isidoro forcefully took her from her house and brought her to Batong-Uling. Isidoro and Macalintal cut off Saturnina's ears and threw her into the water. They further augmented her suffering by kicking her on the head, causing her fatal injuries when her head struck a rock. Macalintal aided Isidoro in carrying out these acts. Issue: WoN the crime committed by the defend...

                                       Rule 120: Judgment, Civil Liability | Criminal Procedure Facts: Josephine Sanchez was assigned as the secretary of Kai J. Chin, the director and representative of Chemical Bank. Sanchez allegedly made unauthorized withdrawals from the account of Chemical International Finance Limited (CIFL) in Far East Bank and Trust Company (FEBTC) using forged applications for cashier's checks.  She deposited the checks into her personal accounts and withdrew the amounts for her personal benefit, causing damage to FEBTC. FEBTC had to reimburse the CIFL account for a total amount of ₱3,787,530.86. RTC: Acquitted Josephine Sanchez of all charges as it found Kai Chin, the key witness, not credible and doubted the integrity of the handwriting expert's findings. The court highlighted that the alleged fraudulent transactions involved the participation of other...

                                      Rule 120: Judgment, Civil Liability | Criminal Procedure Facts: Petitioner Anamer D. Salazar and co-accused Nena Jaucian Timario were charged with estafa for issuing a check without sufficient funds for the payment of 300 cavans of rice she purchased from J.Y. Brothers Marketing Corporation. After the prosecution rested its case, the petitioner filed a Demurrer to Evidence with Leave of Court. The trial court acquitted Salazar of the crime. The trial court ruled that the evidence for the prosecution did not establish the existence of conspiracy beyond reasonable doubt between the petitioner and the issuer of the check, her co-accused for the purpose of defrauding the private complainant.  Nevertheless, she was held liable for the value of the rice she purchased with the check. Salazar filed a motion for reconsideration on the civil as...