SC SUSPENDS SULU JUDGE FOR 6 MONTHS

Court finds Judge Bensaudi Arabiani Jr. liable for sexual harassment after he showed a court employee his drawings of the male and female genitals

A Shari’a Court judge in Sulu has been suspended for six months by the Supreme Court for sexually harassing a court employee.

Judge Bensaudi Arabiani Jr. of the Fourth Shari’a Circuit Court, Maimbung, Sulu, was disciplined for violation of Section 53 (B) (5), Rule X of Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Resolution No. 01-0940 or the “Administrative Disciplinary Rules on Sexual Harassment Cases,” according to a Feb. 21 SC decision.

The administrative case against Arabiani stemmed from a complaint filed by a court employee following his act of drawing the male and fe- male genitals and showing it to the complainant.

“The distasteful act by Judge Arabiani of making a drawing of a vagina and penis, and thereafter showing it to an employee of the court of which he is an officer constitutes sexual harassment. It is an act that constitutes a physical behavior of a sexual nature; a gesture with lewd insinuation,” said the decision penned by Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

The High Court warned Judge Arabiani that a repetition of the same act will be dealt with more severely.

In the same decision, the Supreme Court also suspended for six months several members of Arabiani’s staff, namely: Rahim Arabiani, Junior Process Server, and Abudaraji Bakil for Abudaraji’s irregular act of punching Rahim’s time card on three occasions.

Both were also reprimanded and warned for failing to comply with Arabiani’s memorandum requiring them to explain the incidents in writing.

Another Sulu court employee, Rodrigo Ramos Jr., a clerk of court, was also suspended for six months for his frequent unauthorized absences.

He was also warned by the Court for his refusal to leave his time card on the designated rack despite Arabiani’s orders.