ARTURO Q. PELGONE, COMPLAINANT, VS. RODOLFO M. ESPARTINEZ, SHERIFF IV, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BRANCH V, LEGAZPI CITY, RESPONDENT.

Arturo Q. Pelgone, in his letter-complaint of 18 February 1994,
charged respondent Sheriff with grave abuse of authority amounting to gross
misconduct.

Complainant averred that he was one of the oppositors in LRC Case
No. N-400. On 11 October 1984, a decision
was rendered by the Regional Trial Court (“RTC”), Branch 5, Legazpi
City, granting the registration of three (3) subject parcels of land in the
name of one Felisa Marbella. The
decision became final and executory. On
08 February 1993, the RTC issued a writ of possession, commanding respondent
Sheriff to place Marbella in possession of the premises. In accordance therewith, the oppositors were
ordered to vacate the property within twenty (20) days from notice. Following oppositors’ failure to vacate the
premises, Marbella filed a motion for the issuance of a writ of
demolition. After hearing, a writ of demolition, dated 15
December 1993, was issued, ordering the removal of all improvements and
constructions on the area. The writ of
demolition was served by respondent Sheriff on the oppositors on 20 December 1993, and the latter
were again directed to vacate the property within twenty (20) days from
notice. The period was extended to
thirty days, or until 20 January 1994, in view of the holidays.

On 24 January 1994, respondent Sheriff, accompanied by some
police officers, proceeded to demolish the house of complainant and of one
Romualdo Magas. Complainant allegedly
requested respondent Sheriff not to start the demolition for a few minutes to
allow the complainant to take a snack. Respondent Sheriff acquiesced. Upon complainant’s return, however, he found that his property was
already demolished. The steel gate and
twelve (12) wooden beams were sawed off. Ten (10) pieces of G.I. sheets were torn, rendering them useless. Twenty (20) pieces of “lawanit board”
used as double walling and ceiling were carelessly and wantonly detached. The area was immediately fenced off to
prevent complainant from getting the demolished items, water pipes and hollow blocks.

In his comment, dated 14 June 1994, respondent Sheriff denied the
allegations of complainant. He asserted
that on 24 January 1994, at around seven o’clock in the morning, he and Nestor
Fernandez, a Sheriff from the Office of the Clerk of Court, RTC, Legazpi City,
left for Barangay Ilawod, Guinobatan, Albay, where the houses of complainant
and Romualdo Magas were located. The
Sheriffs requested Nancy Salting, the Barangay Captain, to be present at the
demolition. The Barangay Captain
acceded; she went to the house of complainant to inform him of the matter but
the latter replied that he had already been notified thereof. Salting thereupon rejoined the demolition
team and gave the go-signal to proceed with the demolition. The group went to the site at around nine
o’clock in the morning but found the gate of the premises padlocked. They waited for a while for complainant;
when the latter failed to show up, the demolition team decided to break-open
the padlock and to enter the premises. Respondent Sheriff explained that he gave prior instructions to the
team, composed of twelve (12) workers, to observe due care in removing the main
structures of the house, considering that it appeared to be relatively an old
one. At the time, the house was already
devoid of house belongings, furniture, appliances and other personal effects of
the family of complainant. The
demolition work proceeded. Window
jalousies, made of glass, were
first removed to avoid breakage. The
trusses and beams were detached, frame by frame, and those where the bolts had
turned rusty were sawn at the connecting ends. The G.I. roofings, the walls (consisting of wooden materials), and the
ceiling were carefully detached. The
concrete walls and fence were smashed since there was no other way of removing
them. Complainant and his own workers,
including a plumber, took charge of removing the plumbing installations, the
water pump, pipes and other fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen. All the materials removed from the premises
were loaded in a truck provided by the Office of the Mayor of Guinobatan upon
the request of complainant. The
demolition of the structure took about three (3) days. Complainant
and his own workers were at the demolition site until the work was
completed on 27 January 1994. Respondent Sheriff thereupon advised complainant to remove all the
remaining materials at the demolition site, consisting of debris, rubbles from
concrete walls and filling materials. Complainant assured respondent, however, that he (complainant) had no
need of them.

On 31 January 1994, respondent delivered the physical possession
of two lots (Lot No. 2 was bought by
Veronica Miranda and Rosita Olavario) to Felisa Marbella, which delivery was
acknowledged by her daughter Fem Julia E. Paladin. On 02 February 1994, respondent submitted his return.

Respondent Sheriff’s
comment was supported by the affidavits of Ilawod Barangay Captain Nancy M.
Salting,^[1] Sheriff Angel C. Conejero,^[2] PO3 Tobias B. Rabe, Jr.,^[3] SPO1 Rodrigo P. Paraiso,^[4] municipal employee Dioscoro Acabado, Jr.,^[5] and demolition team members Reynaldo C.
Rodriguez and Joffre F. Arteta,^[6] all attesting to the fact that respondent
Sheriff did not act in any wanton or reckless manner in effecting the
demolition order of the court.

In a memorandum, dated 21
October 1994, the Office of the Court Administrator, to which the case was
referred for evaluation and report, concluded that respondent Sheriff did not
abuse his authority in effecting the demolition work but that he was unfortunately
remiss in forcing open the main gate and destroying the padlock without first
securing from the court a break-open order. These findings and conclusion of the Office of the Court Administrator
accord with the evidence and applicable jurisprudence.^[7] We
believe, however, that the recommended fine should instead be fixed at
P1,000.00.

WHEREFORE, we find respondent Sheriff to have fallen short
of circumspection in properly carrying out the writ of execution, and he is
hereby ordered to pay a fine of P1,000.00. He is further cautioned against a repetition of the same or similar
offense in the future.

SO ORDERED.

Bidin, Romero, and Melo,
JJ., concur.

Feliciano, J., (Chairman), on
leave.

^[1]
Rollo, p. 52.

^[2]
Rollo, p. 55.

^[3]
Rollo, p. 54.

^[4]
Rollo, p. 59.

^[5]
Rollo, p. 58.

^[6]
Rollo, p. 52.

^[7]
See Wearever Textile Mills, Inc. vs. Bagaybagayan, 109 SCRA 412.