Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. 169449
March 26, 2010
TERESITA G. NARVASA, Petitioner,
vs.
BENJAMIN A. SANCHEZ, JR.,1 Respondent.
RESOLUTION
Per Curiam:
This is a petition for review on certiorari2 of the April 25, 2005 decision3 and August 4, 2005
resolution4 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 81107.
The parties to this case are employees of the Municipality of Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya (the LGU).
Petitioner Teresita G. Narvasa is a senior bookkeeper while respondent Benjamin A. Sanchez, Jr. is
the municipal assessor.
The instant case stemmed from three cases of sexual harassment filed separately against
respondent by petitioner along with Mary Gay P. de la Cruz and Zenaida M. Gayaton, who are also
employees of the LGU.
In her affidavit-complaint, De la Cruz claimed5 that, sometime in February 2000, respondent handed
her a note saying, "Gay, I like you." Offended by respondent’s inappropriate remark, de la Cruz
admonished him for giving her such a note and told him that she would give the note to his wife.
Respondent then grabbed the note from her and tore it into pieces. However, this first incident was
followed by a message sent to De la Cruz sometime in March 2002 in which he said, "Ka date ko si
Mary Gay… ang tamis ng halik mo."
On the other hand, Gayaton narrated6 that, on April 5, 2002, respondent whispered to her during a
retirement program, "Oy flawless, pumanaw ka met ditan"7 while twice pinching her upper left arm
near the shoulder in a slow manner.
A few days later, Gayaton received a text message while she was passing respondent’s car in front
of the municipal hall. The message said, "Pauwi ka na ba sexy?" Gayaton later verified through
respondent’s clerk, Alona Agas, that the sender of the message was respondent.
On or about April 22 to 25, 2002, Gayaton received several messages from respondent stating: (1) "I
like you"; (2) "Have a date with me"; (3) "Don’t tell to (sic) others that I told that I like you
because nakakahiya"; (4) "Puso mo to pag bigay moto sakin, I would be very happy" and (5) "I slept
and dreamt nice things about you."
Finally, as far as petitioner’s complaint was concerned, she asserted8 that, on November 18, 2000,
during a field trip of officers and members of the St. Joseph Multi-Purpose Cooperative to the Grotto
Vista Resort in Bulacan, respondent pulled her towards him and attempted to kiss her. Petitioner