Dear PAO,
I am a respondent in an administrative case for grave misconduct. I must admit that the pieces of evidence presented against me are overwhelming. However, this is the first time I have committed an administrative offense. Can I invoke this circumstance to reduce the penalty?
Kupyago
Dear Kupyago,
Grave misconduct is an offense under Section 63 (A), Rule 10 of the 2025 Rules On Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (RACCS), which reads:
“A. Grave Offenses
1. The following grave offenses shall be punishable by dismissal from the service: x x x f. Grave misconduct;”
Correlative thereto, the last paragraph of Section 68 of the same rules states that:
“Dismissal, being an indivisible penalty, may neither be mitigated nor aggravated, unless allowed by law.”
Hence, being a first-time offender cannot be considered a mitigating circumstance in an administrative case involving grave misconduct. This is also in consonance with the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in Hernandez vs. Delgado, G.R. No. 276258, June 9, 2026, where Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen stated that:
“Public office is a public trust. Any violation of this trust through grave misconduct is punishable by dismissal from service. Further, the circumstances surrounding the officer’s grave misconduct cannot be mitigated by claims that such misconduct was the erring officer’s first, or that the same officer possessed a long track record of good service. In Office of the Ombudsman v. Regalado, this Court rejected similar claims from the erring officer:
"The fact that an offender was caught for the first time does not, in any way, abate the gravity of what he or she actually committed. Grave misconduct is not a question of frequency, but, as its own name suggests, of gravity or weight. One who commits grave misconduct is one who, by the mere fact of that misconduct, has proven himself or herself unworthy of the continuing confidence of the public. By his or her very commission of that grave offense, the offender forfeits any right to hold public office.
"Underscoring the severity of grave misconduct and other offenses meriting dismissal, the 2017 RACCS now specifically state that no mitigating circumstances, of any sort, may be appreciated in cases involving an offense punishable by dismissal from service.”
Applying the above-quoted decision to your situation, one who commits grave misconduct had proven himself/herself unworthy of the confidence of the public and the offender forfeits any right to hold public office. Thus, grave misconduct is punishable by dismissal from service. The 2025 RACCS specifically provides that the penalty of dismissal is an indivisible penalty which cannot be mitigated or aggravated, so being a first-time offender will not to be considered in the imposition of the said penalty.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
