Prosecutor rapped for ‘faking' court decision

By Jeehan V. Fernandez

He should be the one prosecuting but now he will be the one to be prosecuted.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-6) filed a case of falsification of public document and violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act against a provincial prosecutor for “forging the signature of a judge and altering a decision in special proceedings”.

In a statement, NBI regional director Atty. Oscar L. Embido said the suspect is San Jose , Antique assistant provincial prosecutor Salvador N. Pe.

Embido noted that an investigation was conducted by NBI-6 upon the request of the Clerk of Court, RTC, Branch 64, Bugasong, Antique as he disclosed that on July 7, 2004 , the said court received a letter from Ballam Delaney Hunt, Solicitors from the United Kingdom , dated June 17, 2004 .

In that letter, Hunt requested a copy of the decision dated February 12, 1997 by Presiding Judge Rafael O. Penuela in the Special Proceedings No. 084 entitled “In the Matter of the Declaration of Presumptive Death of Rey Laserna” where a certain Shirly Quioyo as the petitioner.

Likewise, on September 9, 2004 , a follow-up letter from Hunt dated August 4, 2004 which reiterated the request for a copy of said document was received by RTC Branch 64.

“Both letters were forwarded to Penuela while the Civil Docket Clerk was instructed to retrieve the records of SP No. 084., however it was found out that there is no record of such proceedings with the said court,” Embido said.

On the other hand, as available record on court files showed, there is a decided SP No. 084 but the petitioner is Serena Catin Austria and not Shirly Quioyo, he said.

“On November 3, 2004, after a comparison of the two decisions, Special Proceedings No. 084 of RTC Branch 64 records and Special Proceedings No. 084 as furnished by the Solicitorhelp, Penuela wrote a letter to the Legal Team of Solicitorhelp, informing them that the decision they have attached to the letter dated October 12, 2004 is a falsified decision,” Embido added.

Embido cited that among the material points contained therein which were allegedly forged are the name of the petitioner, person to be presumptively dead, date of filing, date of first hearing, documentary evidence presented, date of decision, name of publisher which publish the order and spelling of word “decision”.

“On March 4, 2005 , Dy Quioyo, brother of Shirly Quioyo, executed an affidavit stating among others that it was Pe who facilitated the issuance of decision in the Special Proceedings No. 084 under the name of Shirly Quioyo as petitioner for a fee of P60,000,” Embido said.

He added that “the allegations of Dy Quioyo were substantially corroborated by his witness Mary Rose Quioyo”.

Embido stressed that cases of falsification of public documents under Art. 171 Sec. 1 & 2 of the Revised Penal Code as amended and violation of RA 3019 otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were filed by the NBI against Pe before the Office of the Ombudsman for Visayas, Cebu City .

Likewise, an administrative case and disbarment proceedings were filed against Pe with the Office of the Regional State Prosecutor, Iloilo City and the Court Administrator, Supreme Court, Manila respectively.