The Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal and disbarment of a Makati City judge who was convicted in 2013 for graft and malversation by the Sandiganbayan for conspiring with a police officer to facilitate the withdrawal of P1 million from public funds when he was still Dapitan City mayor.
Apart from dismissal from service and disbarment of Judge Joseph Cedrick O. Ruiz of the Makati City, RTC, Branch 61, he also forfeited all of his benefits, except accrued leave credits, and was disqualified from reemployment in the government or any of its subdivisions, instrumentalities, or agencies including government-owned and –controlled corporations.
Ruiz was found by the Sandiganbayan First Division guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crimes charged on April 29, 2013. The anti-graft court imposed on Ruiz penalties of fine and imprisonment, and perpetual disqualification.
The SC ruled that respondent judge’s denial cannot stand against the positive declarations of the prosecution witnesses, which are supported by the documents on record. It noted that Judge Ruiz had even failed to substantiate his claim that the charges against him had been politically motivated.
According to the tribunal, there was substantial evidence that Judge Ruiz actively worked for the approval of the P1 million cash advance from the Central Intelligence Fund allotted for the Mayor’s Office; and that he facilitated the withdrawal of the P1 million by one P/Insp. Pepe Nortal; and that the respondent judge received and used this withdrawn amount for his personal benefit.
The High Court found no merit in the judge’s claims that the present administrative case against him was premature because his criminal convictions by the Sandiganbayan are not yet final. It stressed that Ruiz was placed under preventive suspension because he was alleged to have committed transgressions that are classified as serious under Sec. 8, Rule 140 of the Rules of Court.
The High Court stressed that its task in the administrative case at bar was not to determine the correctness of the Sandiganbayan’s ruling but to determine only whether substantial evidence exists to hold the respondent administratively liable for acts he is alleged to have committed while he was still the mayor of Dapitan City. It stressed “that only substantial evidence is required to support our conclusions in administrative proceedings.”
“We emphasize that judges should be the embodiment of competence, integrity, and independence, and their conduct should be above reproach. They must adhere to exacting standards of morality, decency, and probity. A magistrate is judged, not only by his official acts, but also by his private morality and actions,” the Court said.
Following his 2013 conviction, Ruiz wrote the High Court requesting for an optional retirement, to which the Court has not acted on in view of his standing criminal convictions. OCA records show he is “on leave of absence” status.