ROGUE JUDGE
THE Supreme Court has dismissed from service a judge who directly solicited bribes from lawyers, litigants, and even local elective officials in exchange for favorable actions.
In a decision, the SC En Banc found Judge Edralin C. Reyes, presiding judge of Branch 43, Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Roxas City, Oriental Mindoro, guilty of gross misconduct and ordered his dismissal from service.
The SC also ordered the forfeiture of his retirement and other benefits, except accrued leave credits, and his perpetual disqualification from re-employment in any branch or agency of the government, including government-owned or controlled corporations.
The SC likewise ordered Reyes to pay a fine of 17,500 for simple misconduct, for his negligence in supervising his court staff and ensuring proper and safe record- and evidence-keeping system in his court, resulting in missing firearms, exhibits, and pieces of evidence that were in court custody.
In August 2018, the Supreme Court assigned a laptop to respondent Reyes, then Acting Presiding Judge of Branch 39, RTC of Roxas City. The subject laptop was transferred to Judge Josephine C. Carranzo upon her appointment to Branch 39. In December 2019, Judge Carranzo returned the laptop to the Management Information Systems Office (MISO) of the Supreme Court, for repair or replacement.
As standard procedure, the MISO examined the laptop and found a backup of iPhone messages, some of which showed that Reyes was engaged in corrupt practice.
The MISO reported the same to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), which hired a forensic expert to extract data from the laptop, resulting in the recovery of SMS/iMessage conversations, contact information, photos, videos, and iPhone notes.
The OCA Investigating Team found that Reyes was the user of the laptop and the owners of an iPhone 6S Plus from which the iMessages came. Reyes used the phone to communicate and ask for bribes from several lawyers and private individuals, in exchange for favorable action on cases pending before him.
