FELICIDAD FELARCA-BERDIN, COMPLAINANT,VS. PETRONILA AMBROSIO-GARCIA, RESPONDENT.

Felicidad Felarca-Berdin
charged Petronila Ambrosio-Garcia,
a clerk-stenographer in Branch V of the city court of Quezon
City, with willful failure to pay just debts and frequent unauthorized absences
or tardiness.

Mrs. Garcia denied the charges. 
After Mrs. Berdin had filed a reply and Mrs.
Garcia had submitted a rejoinder, the case was referred to the executive judge
of the city court for investigation, report and recommendation.

Willful failure to pay just debts.
– The evidence shows that sometime in May, 1975, Mrs. Berdin,
66, a retired government
employee and her sister, Mariquita L. Felarca, leased to Mrs.
Garcia and her husband a room on the ground floor of her house located
at 16 Banahaw Street, Cubao,
Quezon City for a monthly rental of one hundred pesos
payable within the first five days of the month, with free light and water.

The Garcia spouses complied faithfully with their obligation for
the first few months.  Then, they
defaulted and their arrearages piled up.

On December 21, 1975,
Mrs. Berdin caused respondent’s husband, Reynaldo to
sign a document captioned “Reynaldo Garcia Rental Schedule of
Payment” under which he agreed to pay on a staggered basis up to August 31, 1976 the back rentals
amounting to P589 as of December, 1975 together with the rental for January,
1976.  Respondent Mrs. Garcia also signed
that agreement (Exh. A).

Because the Garcias only made sporadic
payments, Mrs. Berdin reminded them of their
obligation in her letter dated October
21, 1976.  In May, 1979 when
the Garcias‘ obligations totalled
P1,505.00, Mrs. Berdin’s
lawyer sent them a pay-and-vacate demand letter dated May 31, 1979, giving them
until the end of June, 1979 to settle their account and to leave the premises.

On June 4, 1979,
the Garcias paid fifty pesos but did not vacate the
room.  As of that date, their back
rentals amounted to P1,555.00 (Exh.
Z).  On August 14, 1979, Mrs. Berdin filed an ejectment suit against the Garcia spouses in the Quezon City city court (Civil
Case No. 35986).

At the same time, she lodged with the executive judge of the city
court the administrative complaint against Mrs. Garcia. (See sec. 36[b][22], Civil Service Decree, Presidential Decree No. 807.)

As a counter-move, the Garcias filed
with the city court on August 28, 1979
a petition for consignation of rentals.  They alleged that Mrs. Berdin
had deliberately refused to accept their payments so that she would have a
pretext to eject them.

Eventually, or as of August, 1980 and shortly
before the hearing of this administrative case, the Garcias
were able to pay the back rentals. 
The investigator found that Mrs. Garcia deliberately failed to pay the
back rentals.  That finding is supported
by the evidence.

Tardiness.- As to the charge of
tardiness or irregular office attendance, Mrs. Berdin
attached to her complaint the affidavits of Monica Rance
and Cristobella Engana who
alleged that Mrs. Garcia invariably left her residence at nine o’clock in the
morning and returned at about four in the afternoon, carrying with her a
plastic bag containing fresh fish, meat and vegetables which she cooked in the
morning.

The investigator found that the second charge was not
proven.  The vague and inconsistent
testimonies of Mrs. Berdin’s witnesses cannot prevail
over Mrs. Garcia’s time records which show that she maintained regular office
hours (Exh. 8 to 16-C).  She is hereby exculpated from that charge.

WHEREFORE, for willful failure to pay just debts, res­pondent
Mrs. Garcia is ordered to pay a fine equivalent to her salary for fifteen
days.  A copy of this decision should be
attached to her personal record.

SO ORDERED.

Barredo, (Chairman), Concepcion, Jr., Abad Santos, and De Castro, JJ., concur.