Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-15345 May 26, 1962
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellant,
vs.
RICARDO MAPA and PATRICIO ABALO, defendants-appellees.
Office of the Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellant.
Romulo C. Golez for defendants-appellees.
PADILLA, J.:
Appeal by the Provincial Fiscal of Iloilo in behalf of the People from an order entered on 23 March 1959 by the Court of First Instance of Iloilo quashing an information that charged Ricardo Mapa and Patricio Abalo with the crime of direct assault on a person in authority (crim. case No. 7391).
On 11 October 1958 Juan Dooma, a barrio lieutenant of Lublub, Dumangas, Iloilo, filed in the Justice of the Peace Court of Dumangas a sworn complaint charging Ricardo Mapa and Patricio Abalo with the crime of assault upon a person in authority with slight physical injuries.
On 29 October 1958 the complaint was amended to read, as follows:
The undersigned complainant, after being duly sworn to according to law, accuses RICARDO MAPA and PATRICIO ABALO of the crime of ASSAULT UPON A PERSON IN AUTHORITY with SLIGHT PHYSICAL INJURIES, committed as follows:
That on October 10, 1958, at about 6:00 P.M., more or less, in the barrio of Lublub, municipality of Dumangas, Iloilo, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, the abovenamed accused conspiring and confederating with each other, did then and there, wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously, and without provocation on the part of the offended party, assaulted and attacked one Juan Dooma who is a person in authority on the occasion of the performance of his duties, thus inflicting upon the person of said Juan Dooma physical injuries which according to medical findings will heal within two to three days.
Contrary to law.
Dumangas, Iloilo, Oct. 29, 1958.
(SGD.) JUAN DOOMA
Complainant
Witnesses:
1. Juan Dooma, Lublub, Dumangas, Iloilo
2. Jesus Dormitorio, Lublub, Dumangas, Iloilo
3. Castor Dooma, Lublub, Dumangas, Iloilo
4. and others
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 29th day of October, 1958, in Dumangas, Iloilo, Philippines, affiant exhibiting to me his Res. Cert. No. A-2246381, issued at Iloilo City on February 28, 1958.
(SGD.) NATIVIDAD PARCON
MISS NATIVIDAD PARCON
Justice of the Peace
On 9 January 1959 the Justice of the Peace Court of Dumangas rendered the following opinion:.
Was the offended party engaged in the performance of his duties as teniente del barrio when the supposed crime was committed by the accused?
Did he attend the meeting in his OFFICIAL CAPACITY as teniente del barrio as it is alleged in the complaint?
Exhibits "3" and "4" of the prosecution which are invitations to a meeting addressed to Jesus Dormitorio and Juan Dooma signed by Castro Dooma, President of the P.T.A. of barrio Lublub, Dumangas, Iloilo, do not state at all that the complainant was asked to attend the meeting as teniente del barrio, although as a matter of respect the appendage of teniente del barrio was added to his name. The fact that those who attended the meeting were members of the association, there were about 25 persons most of them teachers, does not necessarily imply that the meeting was an official one and for an official purpose. Hence, the offended party was just one of those present at the meeting that aimed to devise ways and means to honor a son of the barrio, Dr. Narciso Monfort, who at that time was about to arrive accompanying the Director of Health, Dr. Jesus Nolasco.
FOR THE ABOVE CONSIDERATION, this Court orders that the case be dismissed with costs de oficio.
On 19 February 1959 the Provincial Fiscal of Iloilo filed in the Court of First Instance of Iloilo an information charging Ricardo Mapa and Patricia Abalo with the crime of direct assault on a person in authority, to wit:
That on or about October 10, 1958, in the municipality of Dumangas, province of Iloilo, Philippines, within the jurisdiction of this Court, the two above-named accused, conspiring and helping one another, did, maliciously and feloniously attack, assault and box Juan Dooma, a barrio lieutenant of barrio Lublub, municipality of Dumangas, Province of Iloilo, inflicting upon said Juan Dooma physical injuries which took three (3) days to heal: the aforestated attack on said person-in-authority having been done by the two herein accused on the occasion of the performance by said person-in-authority of his official duties in the aforestated barrio. (Criminal case No. 7391).
On 18 March 1959 the accused moved that the information be quashed on the ground that the Provincial Fiscal had no power or authority to conduct a preliminary investigation of a crime charged in a complaint that had been investigated and dismissed by the Justice of the Peace Court of Dumangas. On 21 March 1959 the Provincial Fiscal objected to the motion to quash. As stated above, on 23 March 1959 the Court of First Instance of Iloilo quashed the information. An urgent motion for reconsideration of the order of 23 March 1959 having been denied, the Provincial Fiscal of Iloilo in behalf of the People has appealed to this Court raising only a question of law.
The three errors assigned by the Provincial Fiscal boil down to the question of whether a Provincial Fiscal may conduct his own preliminary investigation of a criminal case which had been investigated and dismissed by a Justice of the Peace Court.
The People invokes Republic Act No. 732, as amended by Republic Act No. 1799, which provides that —
A provincial fiscal, an assistant provincial fiscal and a special counsel appointed under section 1686 of this Code shall have authority to conduct investigation into the matter of any crime or misdemeanor and have the necessary information or complaint prepared or made against persons charged with the commission of the same. . . .,
to support its proposition that the Provincial Fiscal has the power or authority to conduct such investigation.
On the other hand, the appellees, without denying that the Provincial Fiscal is clothed with that power to conduct investigation under the provisions of the aforequoted law, contend that such power or authority may only be exercised when the crime or felony charged in the complaint is cognizable by a Court of First Instance, but not when the crime charged in the complaint, though cognizable by a Court of First Instance, had been investigated and dismissed by a Justice of the Peace Court. In support of their contention they cite the case of Villanueva vs. Gonzales, 52 Off. Gaz. (12) 5497, where this Court held that —
. . . Said Republic Act No. 732, governs preliminary investigation conducted by provincial fiscals in cases originally instituted by them in courts of first instance. It does not apply to cases begun in justice of the peace courts and, thereafter, forwarded to the corresponding court of first instance, either after the second phase of the preliminary investigation required in the Rules of Court had been conducted before said justice of the peace courts or after a waiver by the accused of their right to said preliminary investigation. . . .
The power of the Provincial Fiscal to conduct an investigation of a criminal case previously investigated and dismissed by a Justice of the Peace Court is a settled question. In People vs. Perez,1 G.R. No. L-15231, 29 November 1960, this Court held that —
... it cannot seriously be disputed, and needs no citation of authorities, that the Provincial Fiscal is not precluded from conducting his own preliminary investigation of a case previously dismissed by the Justice of the Peace, since such dismissal creates no bar to another prosecution. . . .,
In resume, we reiterate our previous ruling that if the charge for a crime cognizable by the Court of First Instance is filed by a competent party or officer in the Justice of the Peace Court, and the accused waives preliminary investigation, (and the latter court) finds that a prima facie case exists, and consequently, elevates the records to the Court of First Instance the Provincial Fiscal is not called upon to conduct another investigation, and may forthwith file the information in the Court of First Instance. Republic Act No. 732 does not apply in such a case. But if the Justice of the Peace, after due investigation, dismisses the charge, then the case stands as if no charge had been made, and the Provincial Fiscal may thereafter conduct his own investigation of the same charge under the aforesaid Republic Act 732; making it in the presence of the accused if and when the latter so requests.
The ruling was reiterated in People vs. Padron, G.R. No. L-15960, 29 April 1961.
The order appealed from is set aside and the case remanded to the court below for further proceedings in accord with law, with costs against the appellees.
Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes and Dizon, JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1This is the case previously quashed by the Court of First Instance of Iloilo, which was invoked by the accused to support and justify their motion to quash the information filed in the present case.
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