THE SUPREME Court (SC) dismissed one of its employees after being proven to have smoked marijuana within the court’s premises.
The employee, who worked under the Property Division, was expelled and all benefits forfeited except accrued leave credits, the High Court said in its resolution dated March 16 and made public on June 8.
The termination was also “with prejudice to reemployment in any branch or instrumentality of the government including government-owned or controlled corporations,” the resolution said.
The dismissed employee was also referred to a drug rehabilitation facility “where he may be able to undertake programs for his rehabilitation at his own expense.”
According to the court’s resolution, several complaints were filed against the worker for smoking within court premises. The “most disturbing report,” the court said, was in Dec. 2020 when other court staff detected marijuana, a prohibited drug under Philippine law.
The employee tested positive and later admitted to drug use “due to family and marital problems that were compounded by further stress from the ongoing pandemic.”
The court said this case serves as “another reminder to all court personnel whose conduct is expected, at all times, to be characterized by propriety and decorum and above all else, be above suspicion so as to earn and keep the respect of the public for the Judiciary.” — Bianca Angelica D. Añago