The Supreme Court has sustained a ruling of the Civil Service Commission ordering the dismissal from government service of a close-in cameraman of Presidential Broadcasting Staff-Radio TV Malacanang (PBS-RTVM) for tickling the knee of his female co-worker, which the high court found be indecent and unprofessional.
In a 13-page decision dated February 26 but only released to the media this week, the SC's Second Division also upheld the CSC's decision forfeiting the retirement benefits of the respondent as well as perpetual disqualification from reemployment in any government agency.
The administrative case stemmed from an administrative complaint filed by his co-worker for sexual harassment or grave misconduct in 2013.
The complainant, who is a contractual employee of PBS-RTVM, alleged that the respondent sat beside her in the office while she was watching the noon time television show Eat Bulaga and when he suddenly tickled her right knee and also "held her" causing her to hit her left elbow in a cabinet when she freed herself.
According to the complainant, the incident made her cry but that instead of apologizing he even taunted her by saying "oh umiyak ka daw."
The respondent admitted he touched the knee of the complainant, but he reasoned out that it was intended as a joke and done without malice considering that they are in a group while watching a noontime show.
The respondent also claimed that the simultaneous filing of similar complaints by two other female co-workers indicated a concerted action on the part of the female employees to harass and inconvenience him.
He also assailed the charge of misconduct against him, arguing that it was not an act performed in connection to or related to his functions.
In May 2014, the Presidential Communications Operation Office found the respondent guilty for simple misconduct, but since it was his second offense he was meted the penalty of dismissal from government service.
Then PCOO Chief Herminio "Sonny"Coloma affirmed the findings and the penalty of dismissal, prompting the respondent to appeal the decision with the CSC.
The CSC in December 2014 partially granted her appeal as it remanded the complaint to the PBS-RTBM for the conduct of a formal investigation.
On August 2015, the investigation also upheld the same guilty findings and dismissal from the service of the respondent.
The respondent then appealed to the CSC but again lost the case, prompting him to elevate the matter to the Court of Appeals which on March 2017 reduced the penalty from dismissal to just 6 months suspension without pay and benefits.
The appellate court ruled that while it was in conformity with the findings that he committed a less grave offense of simple misconduct and that it was not convinced that his tickling the knee of his co-worker was innocent, it considered the "triviality of the offense and the length of his government service which dates back from 1987."
In ruling against the respondent, the SC took his length of government service against him, saying he should have set a good example to his co-workers considering his seniority.
"Length of service is not a magic word that would automatically be considered as a mitigating circumstance in favor of the party invoking it. Length of service is an alternative circumstance, it could either be a mitigating or aggravating circumstance depending on the factual millieu of each case," stated the SC decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting.
In this case, the high court said, the respondent’s long years of service cannot be considered as a mitigating circumstance since his seniority emboldened him to commit unsolicited advances.
"Where a government employee concerned takes advantage of his long years of service and position in public office, length of service may not be considered in lowering the penalty," the SC ruled.
"Under the circumstances, his dismissal is warranted. His years of service should have impelled him to set a good example to his co-employees and other civil servants instead of flagrantly and shamelessly violating the law and undermining the professionalism and integrity required from public servants," the tribunal added.
According to the tribunal, a public servant must exhibit at all times the highest sense of professionalism, honesty and integrity.
The also issued a reminder that the respondent’s act of touching his co-worker's knee, though maybe without malice to him, was "clearly unsolicited and uncalled for."
"Even if the act was done without malice, it is beyond all bounds of decency and decorum for a person to touch anybody part of another without consent for that matter," the SC said.
While the Court consider light banter and humor in the workplace as having positive effects on work productivity and staff motivation, "unsolicited physical contact, even if done in jest, has no place in the workplace, especially in the government service," the SC pointed out.
Associate Justices Andres Reyes Jr. Ramon Paul Hernando and Edgardo Delos Santos concurred with the ruling.