SC Affirms Dismissal of Former DFA Employee for Bigamy

The Supreme Court has affirmed the dismissal from service of a former employee of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) who had been previously convicted of the crime of Bigamy.

In her Petition for Review on Certiorari, the petitioner assailed the Court of Appeals (CA) rulings which affirmed the January 5, 2015 Decision and September 28, 2015 Resolution of respondent Civil Service Commission – National Capital Region (CSC-NCR) dismissing her from service for the administrative offense of Conviction of a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude.

In a Decision penned by Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, the Court found the petition “not meritorious.”

The Court noted that petitioner did not contest that she was guilty of both the administrative and criminal offenses. What she assailed was the CSC’s imposition of the penalty of dismissal from service upon the finding of her administrative guilty.

It held that the applicable rules would be CSC Resolution No. 991936, or the Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (URACCS), which provide that the administrative offense of Conviction of a Crime Involving Moral Turpitude is a grave offense that is punishable with dismissal from service upon first commission. (SC JOURNAL)