A judge was dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) for gross misconduct for manipulating the procurement of medical supplies for the city of Manila.

Judge Ateneones S. Bacale of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Biliran-Cabucgayan, Biliran, was stripped of his post in an SC en banc decision dated 23 July 2024, but published only on 19 December

Records showed that in 2016, Bacale offered pharmaceutical supplier Aldrin Magaoay a project worth P50,000,000 to supply medicines to four hospitals in Manila.

Bacale purportedly said that his wife, Romilda, the executive secretary of then mayor Joseph Estrada, could facilitate the procurement in Magaoay’s favor without the required bidding.

Over the next three years, Magaoay was found to have given Bacale various amounts of money through bank transfers or personal delivery. In one instance, Magaoay was able to take a photo of Bacale counting the money he received from him.

The payments reached almost P20,000,000 without any progress on the projects. Magaoay later realized that Bacale and his wife were scamming him. He then filed an administrative complaint against Bacale for gross misconduct.

During the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) proceedings, Bacale explained that he only acted as a messenger for his wife to get some documents from Magaoay.

He followed her instructions to thank her for helping him recover after Typhoon Yolanda destroyed his home. The couple had been separated for more than 30 years.

Romilda, on the other hand, claimed that due to her heavy workload as Administrative Officer IV at the Office of the City Mayor of Manila, she asked Bacale to get documents from Magaoay for a project.

Fake documents

When she realized the bidding documents from Magaoay were fake, she said she immediately promised to return the amounts paid by Magaoay.

The JIB recommended that Bacale be dismissed for gross misconduct for violating the New Code of Judicial Conduct (Code).

The JIB’s recommendation to dismiss Bacale was upheld by the SC, which emphasized that judges must follow the highest standards of conduct.

This includes acting in a way that reaffirms public trust in the courts, as stated in the Code’s Canon 2 on Integrity. Judges should also avoid any behavior that could seem improper, as outlined in Canon 4 on Propriety.

Bacale admitted that he knew his wife was illegally influencing the bidding for medical supplies. He took part in this by acting as her “bag man” and received the bidding documents and money from Magaoay, the SC said.

Magaoay said that he trusted Bacale due to his position as a judge, which led Magaoay to believe the project would proceed.