SC fines former Davao City judge for disregarding CA order favoring Pilipinas Shell

THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has ordered a previously dismissed Davao City trial court judge to pay a fine of P700,000 over a settlement order he issued against Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and subsidiaries of Shell Oil Company despite an appellate court ruling barring him to do so.

In an 18-page decision dated March 28 and made public on June 19, the tribunal said the former judge was guilty of gross ignorance of the law and gross misconduct when he went against the Court of Appeals (CA) order.

“Despite this, he refused to obey and justified such refusal with an inapplicable legal provision and an erroneous interpretation of a basic concept of law,” Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando said in the ruling.

The case stemmed from a 1996 damages complaint filed by 1,843 Filipino banana plantation workers in the United States who claimed to have been exposed to a Dibromochloropropane (DBCP) during the 1980s up to the 1990s, which resulted in permanent injuries to their reproductive systems.

The chemical is a pesticide used against roundworms and threadworms that thrive in banana and pineapple plantations. It is known to have mutagenic properties.

Chiquita Brands, Inc., Shell Oil Company, Dow Chemical Company, Occidental Chemical Company, Del Monte Fresh Produce, N.A. and Del Monte Tropical Fruit Co. entered into a worldwide compromise settlement agreement with the plantation workers in the United States.

The agreement involved the firms depositing settlement amounts in an escrow account, which would then be distributed to the banana plantation workers.

In 2002, a Panabo City trial court in Davao del Norte approved the deal and granted a motion to collect the settlement payments the following year after it found that the firms did not show proof of their compliance with the compromise agreement.

The complaint was originally filed before a Panabo court but was transferred to the Davao City trial court due to security concerns, the SC said.

The Davao City trial court issued a seizure order in the amount of $17 million (P948.7 million) against the subsidiaries and affiliates of Shell.

Pilipinas Shell argued that it was not afforded due process since the former Davao City judge included the company in the order to pay the settlement amount despite not being a signatory to the agreement.

In 2009, the CA sided with Pilipinas Shell, saying it was not liable to pay the settlement amount.

The former judge then issued a resolution on the same day of the appellate court’s decision saying the injunction was not official since only two members of the court’s division signed the injunction.

The Davao City court also ordered the arrest of bank officials due to indirect contempt of court for refusing to release Pilipinas Shell’s funds.

“The court condemns and would never countenance any conduct, act or omission on the part of all those involved in the administration of justice which would violate the norm of public accountability or tend to diminish the faith of the people in the Judiciary,” the High Court said.

In the separate expulsion case, the Supreme Court in a 2013 ruling ordered the judge’s dismissal from service and the forfeiture of his retirement benefits after continuing to handle two different contempt cases even after he agreed to inhibit. — John Victor D. Ordoñez