Due Process

Although the Civil Service Rules do not specifically provide that a formal charge without the requisite preliminary investigation is null and void, it is, however, "mandatory for the disciplinary authority to conduct a preliminary investigation or at least respondent should be given the opportunity to comment and explain his side." No exception is provided by the CSC Rules, not even an indictment in flagranti.
The violation of a party's right to due process raises a serious jurisdictional issue which cannot be glossed over or disregarded at will. Where the denial of the fundamental right to due process is apparent, a decision rendered in disregard of that right is void for lack of jurisdiction. The constitutional guarantee that no man shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process is unqualified by the type of proceedings (be it judicial, quasi-judicial. or administrative), where he stands to lose the same (Garcia v. Molina; August 18, 2010).

a line we must not cross...

"We grow up forming our own opinions, and then learn to form opinions about others. Then, those opinions become judgments, at which point we hurt people. There is a fine line that separates an opinion from a judgment,
a line we must not cross."

The power of contempt

A judge, as a public servant, should not be so thin-skinned or sensitive as to feel hurt or offended if a citizen expresses an honest opinion about him which may not altogether be flattering to him. After all, what matters is that a judge performs his duties in accordance with the dictates of his conscience and the light that God has given him. A judge should never allow himself to be moved by pride, prejudice, passion, or pettiness in the performance of his duties. The power of the court to punish for contempt should be exercised for purposes that are impersonal, because that power is intended as a safeguard not for judges as persons but for the functions they exercise.