Themistocles to Eurybiades: "Strike, but hear me first!"

The essence of due process is distilled in the immortal cry of Themistocles to Eurybiades: "Strike, but hear me first!" Less dramatically, it simply connotes an opportunity to be heard. The petitioner had several opportunities to be heard and to present evidence that she was not guilty of embezzlement but only of failure to comply with the tellering procedure. Not only did she testify at her formal investigation but she also filed a motion for reconsideration with the DBP, then appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and later elevated the case to the Civil Service Commission. Having been given all these opportunities to be heard, which she fully availed of, she cannot now complain that she was denied due process. (LOLITA DADUBO, petitioner, vs. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION and the DEVELOPMENT BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents. G.R. No. 106498; June 28, 1993)