The Supreme Court has penalized lawyer Persida Rueda-Acosta, chief of the Public Attorney’s Office, for indirect contempt of court for violating the Rules of Court.
The court also penalized Acosta for grossly undignified conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA), for her opposition to the proposed new conflict of interest rule for the PAO, which eventually became Section 22, Canon III of the CPRA.
In an en banc decision promulgated on Tuesday, the Supreme Court unanimously voted to cite the PAO chief for indirect contempt of court under Section 3(d), Rule 71 of the Rules of Court and for grossly undignified conduct under Section 33, Canon VI of the CPRA.
The SC ordered Acosta to pay a fine of P30,000 for indirect contempt of court and P150,000 for the undignified conduct violation, with a stern warning that a repetition “shall be dealt with more severely.”
The High Court also found PAO forensics chief lawyer Erwin P. Erfe guilty of indirect contempt of court for his now-deleted post on Facebook accusing the Court of judicial tyranny. Erfe was fined P10,000.