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recent jurisprudence

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES- OFFICE OF THE

COURT ADMINISTRATOR v. JUDGE IGNACIO B. MACARINE
A.M. No. MTJ-10-1770, 18 July 2012, SECOND DIVISION (Brion, J.)

The constitutional right to travel is not absolute since the OCA may regulate the travels
of Judges and personnel to avoid disruption in the administration of justice.
Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) issued the Circular No. 492003 requiring all foreign travels of judges and court personnel to be with prior
permission from the Court. Moreover, a travel authority must first be secured
from the OCA. Accordingly, Judges must submit the complete requirements to
the OCA at least two weeks before the intended time of travel.
Judge Ignacio Macarine requested for authority to travel to Hongkong
with his family. Said travel was to be charged to Judge Macarines annual forced
leave. However, Judge Macarine did not submit the complete requirements so his
request for authority to travel remained unacted upon. Judge Macarine proceeded
with his travel abroad without the required travel authority. Judge Macarine was
informed by the OCA that his leave of absence had been disapproved and his
travel considered unauthorized by the Court. Accordingly, the absences of Judge
Macarine shall not be deducted from his leave credits but from his salary. The
OCA found Judge Macarine guilty of violation of OCA Circular No. 49-2003 for
traveling out of the country without filing the necessary application for leave and
without first securing a travel authority from the Court.
ISSUE:
Whether or not Judge Macarine is guilty of violation of OCA Circular
No. 49-2003

HELD:
The right to travel is guaranteed by the Constitution. However, the exercise
of such right is not absolute. Section 6, Article III of the 1987 Constitution allows
restrictions on ones right to travel provided that such restriction is in the interest
of national security, public safety or public health as may be provided by law. This,
however, should by no means be construed as limiting the Courts inherent power
of administrative supervision over lower courts.
OCA Circular No. 49-2003 does not restrict but merely regulates, by
providing guidelines to be complied by judges and court personnel, before they can

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go on leave to travel abroad. To restrict is to restrain or prohibit a person from

doing something; to regulate is to govern or direct according to rule. To ensure
management of court dockets and to avoid disruption in the administration of
justice, OCA Circular No. 49-2003 requires a judge who wishes to travel abroad to
submit, together with his application for leave of absence duly recommended for
approval by his Executive Judge, a certification from the Statistics Division, Court
Management Office of the OCA. The said certification shall state the condition
of his docket based on his Certificate of Service for the month immediately
preceding the date of his intended travel, that he has decided and resolved all
cases or incidents within three (3) months from date of submission, pursuant to
Section 15(1) and (2), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution.
Thus, for traveling abroad without having been officially allowed by the
Court, Justice Macarine is guilty of violation of OCA Circular No. 49-2003.

MARYNETTE R. GAMBOA v. P/SSPT. MARLOU C. CHAN

and P/SUPT. WILLIAM O. FANG
G.R. No. 193636, 24 July 2012, EN BANC (Sereno, J.)
The state interest of dismantling PAGs far outweighs the alleged intrusion on the
private life of Gamboa, especially when the collection and forwarding by the PNP of information
against her was pursuant to a lawful mandate.

Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Administrative Order
No. 275 (A.O. 275) creating the Zearosa Commission (Commission) which was
formed to investigate the existence of private army groups (PAGs) in the country
in view of eliminating and dismantling them permanently in the future. Upon
conclusion of its investigation, the Commission submitted a confidential report
to the Office of the President.

Marynette Gamboa (Gamboa) was the Mayor of Dingras, Ilocos Norte.
Gamboa alleged that the Philippine National Police Ilocos Norte (PNP) conducted
surveillance operation against her and her aides, and classified her as a PAG
coddler. Purportedly without the benefit of data verification, PNP forwarded the
information gathered on her to the Commission, causing her inclusion in the
Reports enumeration of individuals maintaining PAGs.

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