R.A. 3019, Sec. 3 (e); causing undue injury, how proved - G.R. No. 175991

G.R. No. 175991

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Section 3(e) of RA 3019, as amended, provides:

Section 3. Corrupt practices of public officers. – In addition to acts or omissions of public officers already penalized by existing law, the following shall constitute corrupt practices of any public officer and are hereby declared to be unlawful.

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(e) Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official, administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence. This provision shall apply to officers and employees of offices or government corporations charged with the grant of licenses or permits or other concessions.


Under said provision of law, three essential elements must thus be satisfied, viz:

1. The accused must be a public officer discharging administrative, judicial or official functions;

2. He must have acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or inexcusable negligence; and

3. His action caused any undue injury to any party, including the government or gave any private party unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his functions.[31]

All the above enumerated elements of the offense charged have been successfully proven by the prosecution.

First, petitioner could not have committed the acts imputed against him during the time material to this case were it not for his being a public officer, that is, as the Officer-In-Charge (Principal) of SNSAT. As such public officer, he exercised official duties and functions, which include the exercise of administrative supervision over the school such as taking charge of personnel management and finances, as well as implementing instruction as far as appointment of teachers.[32]

Second, petitioner acted with evident bad faith in refusing to implement the appointments of private complainants. As the Sandiganbayan aptly remarked:

The records clearly indicate that the refusal of Catacutan to implement the subject promotion was no longer anchored on any law or civil service rule as early [as] the July 14, 1997 letter of the CHED Regional Director addressing the four issues raised by the Accused-appellant in the latter’s protest letter. x x x In light of the undisputed evidence presented to the trial court that Catacutan’s reason for not implementing the appointments was a personal dislike or ill feelings towards Posesano, this Court believes that Catacutan’s refusal was impelled by an ill motive or dishonest purpose characteristic of bad faith. x x x

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In the August 1, 1997 [m]emorandum issued by the CHED Regional Director, Catacutan was once again directed, in strong words, to cease and desist from further questioning what has been lawfully acted upon by competent authorities. Catacutan deliberately ignored the memorandum and even challenged the private complainants to file a case against him. Such arrogance is indicative of the bad faith of the accused-appellant.

Yet again, the [CSC] Regional Director wrote the Accused-appellant on September 5, 1997, clarifying with finality the validity of the appointment. Still, Accused-appellant failed to implement the subject promotions. This stubborn refusal to implement the clear and repeated directive of competent authorities established the evident bad faith of Catacutan and belies any of his claims to the contrary.[33]

While petitioner may have laudable objectives in refusing the implementation of private complainants’ valid appointments, the Court fails to see how he can still claim good faith when no less than the higher authorities have already sustained the validity of the subject appointments and have ordered him to proceed with the implementation. “It is well to remember that good intentions do not win cases, evidence does.”[34]

Third, undue injury to the private complainants was duly proven to the point of moral certainty. Here, the private complainants suffered undue injury when they were not able to assume their official duties as Vocational Supervisors III despite the issuance of their valid appointments. As borne out by the records, they were able to assume their new positions only on November 19, 1997. So in the interregnum from June to November 1997, private complainants failed to enjoy the benefits of an increased salary corresponding to their newly appointed positions. Likewise established is that as a result of petitioner’s unjustified and inordinate refusal to implement their valid appointments notwithstanding clear and mandatory directives from his superiors, the private complainants suffered mental anguish, sleepless nights, serious anxiety warranting the award of moral damages under Article 2217 of the New Civil Code.

At this point, the Court just needs to stress that the foregoing are factual matters that were threshed out and decided upon by the trial court which were subsequently affirmed by the Sandiganbayan. Where the factual findings of both the trial court and the appellate court coincide, the same are binding on this Court. In any event, apart from these factual findings of the lower courts, this Court in its own assessment and review of the records considers the findings in order.

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