Manila, April 26 -- A court sheriff has been dismissed from the service by the Supreme Court (SC) for asking money from parties and causing delays in implementing court orders.

In a ruling published on April 24, the high court dismissed Sheriff George Clemente Paniqui, Tarlac and fined him PHP215,000 for gross neglect of duty and gross misconduct.

The SC also forfeited Clemente's retirement benefits.

He was named in a complaint filed by lawyer Sotero Rambayon, who represented the plaintiffs in a civil case related to the writs of execution.

In its ruling, the SC noted that Clemente "unduly delayed" the implementation of the writ of execution in the civil case and failed to submit the sheriff's report on time; and also delayed the exec...