CONTACT: |
Supreme Court of the Philippines Library Services, Padre Faura, Ermita, Manila, Philippines 1000 |
(632) 8524-2706 |
libraryservices.sc@judiciary.gov.ph |
354 Phil. 90
FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 125066, July 08, 1998 ]
ISABELITA REODICA,
PETITIONER, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, AND PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
RESPONDENTS.
D E C I S I O N
DAVIDE, JR., J.:
On the evening
of 17 October 1987, petitioner Isabelita Reodica was driving a van along Doña
Soledad Avenue, Better Living Subdivision, Parañaque, Metro Manila. Allegedly because of her recklessness, her
van hit the car of complainant Norberto Bonsol. As a result, complainant sustained physical injuries, while the
damage to his car amounted to P8,542.00.
Three days after
the incident, or on 20 October 1987, the complainant filed an Affidavit of
Complaint[1] against petitioner with the
Fiscal’s Office.
On 13 January
1988, an information[2] was filed before the Regional Trial
Court (RTC) of Makati (docketed as Criminal Case No. 33919) charging petitioner
with “Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Damage to Property with Slight Physical
Injury.” The information read:
The undersigned 2nd Asst. Fiscal accuses Isabelita Reodica of the crime of Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Damage to Property with Slight Physical Injury as follows:
That on or about the 17th day of October, 1987 in the Municipality of Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the abovementioned accused, Isabelita Velasco Reodica, being then the driver and/or person in charge of a Tamaraw bearing plate no. NJU-306, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously drive, manage and operate the same in a reckless, careless, negligent and imprudent manner, without regard to traffic laws, rules and regulations and without taking the necessary care and precaution to avoid damage to property and injuries to person, causing by such negligence, carelessness and imprudence the said vehicle to bump/collide with a Toyota Corolla bearing plate no. NIM-919 driven and owned by Norberto Bonsol, thereby causing damage amounting toP8,542.00, to the damage and prejudice of its owner, in the aforementioned amount ofP8,542.00.
That as further consequence due to
the strong impact, said Norberto Bonsol suffered bodily injuries which required
medical attendance for a period of less that nine (9) days and incapacitated
him from performing his customary labor for the same period of time.
Upon
arraignment, petitioner pleaded not guilty to the charge. Trial then ensued.
On 31 January
1991, the RTC of Makati, Branch 145, rendered a decision[3] convicting petitioner of the “quasi
offense of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with slight
physical injuries,” and sentencing her:
[t]o suffer imprisonment of six (6) months of arresto mayor, and to pay the complainant, Norberto Bonsol y Atienza, the sum of Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred Forty-Two (P13,542), Philippine Currency, without subsidiary impairment in case of insolvency; and to pay the costs.[4]
The trial court justified
imposing a 6-month prison term in this wise:
As a result of the reckless imprudence of the accused, complainant suffered slight physical injuries (Exhs. D, H and I). In view of the resulting physical injuries, the penalty to be imposed is not fine, but imprisonment (Gregorio, Fundamental of Criminal Law Review, Eight Edition 1988, p. 711). Slight physical injuries thru reckless imprudence is now punished with penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period (People v. Aguiles, L-11302, October 28, 1960, cited in Gregorio’s book, p. 718).[5]
As to the sum of P13,542.00, this represented the cost of the car repairs (P8,542.00) and
medical expenses (P5,000.00).
Petitioner
appealed from the decision to the Court of Appeals, which docketed the case as CA-G.R.
CR No. 14660. After her motions for
extension of time to file her brief were granted, she filed a Motion to
Withdraw Appeal for Probation Purposes, and to Suspend, Ex Abundanti Cautela,
Period for Filing Appellant’s Brief. However, respondent Court of Appeals denied this motion and directed
petitioner to file her brief.[6]
After passing
upon the errors imputed by petitioner to the trial court, respondent Court of
Appeals rendered a decision[7] on 31 January 1996 affirming the
appealed decision.
Petitioner
subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration[8] raising new issues, thus:
NOW THAT AN ACQUITTAL SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE, MAY WE REVISIT THE PENALTY AND MOVE THAT IT BE REVIEWED AND SET ASIDE SINCE IT IS RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED TO BE ERROR TO COMPLEX DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND SLIGHT PHYSICAL INJURIES, AS BOTH ARE LIGHT OFFENSES, OVER WHICH THE RESPONDENT COURT HAD NO JURISDICTION AND EVEN ASSUMING SUCH JURISDICTION, IT CANNOT IMPOSE A PENALTY IN EXCESS OF WHAT IS AUTHORIZED BY LAW.[9]
. . . . . . . . .
REVERSAL OF THE DECISION REMAINS POSSIBLE ON GROUNDS OF PRESCRIPTION OR LACK OF JURISDICTION.[10]
In its
Resolution of 24 May 1996, the Court of Appeals denied petitioner’s motion for
reconsideration for lack of merit, as well as her supplemental motion for
reconsideration. Hence, the present
petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court
premised on the following grounds:
RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS’ DECISION DATED JANUARY 31, 1996 AND MORE SO ITS RESOLUTION DATED MAY 24, 1996, ARE CONTRARY TO LAW AND GROSSLY ERRONEOUS IN THAT THEY IMPOSED A PENALTY IN EXCESS OF WHAT IS AUTHORIZED BY LAW FOR THE CRIME OF RECKLESS IMPRUDENCE RESULTING IN SLIGHT PHYSICAL INJURIES, ON THE BASIS OF A CLERICAL ERROR IN A SECONDARY SOURCE.
A IN THE CASE OF PEOPLE V. AGUILAR,[11] THE SAME CASE WHERE THE COURT A QUO BASED ITS FINDING OF A
PENALTY WHEN IT AFFIRMED THE DECISION OF THE REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, WHAT WAS
STATED IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF SAID CASE IS THAT THE PENALTY FOR SLIGHT
PHYSICAL INJURIES THROUGH RECKLESS
IMPRUDENCE IS ARRESTO MENOR AND NOT ARRESTO MAYOR. IT IS GRAVE ERROR FOR THE RESPONDENT COURT
TO PUNISH PETITIONER MORE THAN SHE SHOULD OR COULD BE PUNISHED BECAUSE OF A
CLERICAL ERROR COPIED FROM A SECONDARY SOURCE.
B. THE RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ABUSED
ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT COMPLEXED THE CRIME OF RECKLESS IMPRUDENCE RESULTING IN
DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND SLIGHT PHYSICAL
INJURIES IMPOSING A SINGLE EXCESSIVE PENALTY IN ITS ELLIPTICAL RESOLUTION OF
MAY 24, 1996.
C. THE RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY
ERRED WHEN IT AFFIRMED THE TRIAL COURT’S DECISION NOTWITHSTANDING THE DEFENSE
OF PRESCRIPTION AND LACK OF JURISDICTION.
Anent the first
ground, petitioner claims that the courts below misquoted not only the title,
but likewise the ruling of the case cited as authority regarding the penalty
for slight physical injuries through reckless imprudence. Concretely, the title of the case was not People
v. Aguiles, but People v. Aguilar; while the ruling was that the
penalty for such quasi offense was arresto menor – not arresto
mayor.
As regards the
second assigned error, petitioner avers that the courts below should have
pronounced that there were two separate light felonies involved, namely: (1)
reckless imprudence with slight physical injuries; and (2) reckless imprudence
with damage to property, instead of considering them a complex crime. Two light felonies, she insists, “do not …
rate a single penalty of arresto mayor or imprisonment of six months,”
citing Lontok v. Gorgonio,[12] thus:
Where the single act of imprudence resulted in double less serious physical injuries, damage to property amounting toP10,000.00 and slight physical injuries, a chief of police did not err in filing a separate complaint for the slight physical injuries and another complaint for the lesiones menos graves and damage to property (Arcaya vs. Teleron, L-37446, May 31, 1974, 57 SCRA 363, 365).
. . . . . . . . .
The case
of Angeles vs. Jose, 96 Phil. 151, cited by investigating fiscal, is different
from the instant case because in that case the negligent act resulted in the
offenses of lesiones menos graves and damage to property which were both
less grave felonies and which, therefore, constituted a complex crime.
In the
instant case, following the ruling in the Turla case, the offense of lesiones
leves through reckless imprudence should have been charged in a separate
information.
She then suggests that “at worst, the penalties of two light offenses,
both imposable in their maximum period and computed or added together, only sum up to 60 days
imprisonment and not six months as imposed by the lower courts.”
On the third
assigned error, petitioner insists that the offense of slight physical injuries
through reckless imprudence, being punishable only by arresto menor, is
a light offense; as such, it prescribes in two months. Here, since the information was filed only
on 13 January 1988, or almost three months from the date the vehicular
collision occurred, the offense had already prescribed, again citing Lontok,
thus:
In the instant case, following the ruling in the Turla case, the offense of lesiones leves through reckless imprudence should have been charged in a separate information. And since, as a light offense, it prescribes in two months, Lontok’s criminal liability therefor was already extinguished (Arts. 89[5], 90 and 91, Revised Penal Code in relation to sec. 2[e] and [f], Rule 117, Rules of Court). The trial court committed a grave abuse of discretion in not sustaining Lontok’s motion to quash that part of the information charging him with that light offense.
Petitioner further claims that the information was filed with the wrong
court, since Regional Trial Courts do not deal with arresto menor
cases. She submits that damage to
property and slight physical injuries are light felonies and thus covered by
the rules on summary procedure; therefore, only the filing with the proper
Metropolitan Trial Court could have tolled the statute of limitations, this
time invoking Zaldivia v. Reyes.[13]
In its Comment
filed on behalf of public respondents, the Office of the Solicitor General
(OSG) agrees with petitioner that the penalty should have been arresto menor
in its maximum period, instead of arresto mayor, pursuant to Article
365 of the Revised Penal Code.
As to the second
assigned error, the OSG contends that conformably with Buerano v. Court of
Appeals,[14] which frowns upon splitting of
crimes and prosecution, it was proper for the trial court to “complex” reckless
imprudence with slight physical injuries and damage to property because what
the law seeks to penalize is the single act of reckless imprudence, not the
results thereof; hence, there was no need for two separate informations.
To refute the
third assigned error, the OSG submits that although the Municipal Trial Court
had jurisdiction to impose arresto menor for slight physical injuries,
the Regional Trial Court properly took cognizance of this case because it had
the jurisdiction to impose the higher penalty for the damage to property, which
was a fine equal to thrice the value of P8,542.00. On this score, the OSG cites Cuyos v.
Garcia.[15]
The OSG then
debunks petitioner’s defense of prescription of the crime, arguing that the
prescriptive period here was tolled by the filing of the complaint with the
fiscal’s office three days after the incident, pursuant to People v.
Cuaresma[16] and Chico v. Isidro.[17]
In her Reply to
the Comment of the OSG, petitioner expressed gratitude and appreciation to the
OSG in joining cause with her as to the first assigned error. However, she considers the OSG’s reliance on
Buerano v. Court of Appeals[18] as misplaced, for nothing there
validates the “complexing” of the crime of reckless imprudence with physical
injuries and damage to property; besides, in that case, two separate
informations were filed -- one for slight and serious physical injuries through
reckless imprudence and the other for damage to property through reckless
imprudence. She then insists that in
this case, following Arcaya v. Teleron[19] and Lontok v. Gorgonio,[20] two informations should have been
filed. She likewise submits that Cuyos
v. Garcia[21] would only apply here on the
assumption that it was proper to “complex” damage to property through reckless imprudence
with slight physical injuries through reckless imprudence. Chico v. Isidro[22] is likewise “inapposite,” for it
deals with attempted homicide, which is not covered by the Rule on Summary
Procedure.
Petitioner
finally avers that People v. Cuaresma[23] should not be given retroactive
effect; otherwise, it would either unfairly prejudice her or render nugatory
the en banc ruling in Zaldivia[24] favorable to her.
The pleadings
thus raise the following issues:
I. Whether the penalty imposed on petitioner is correct.
II. Whether the quasi offenses of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property in the amount ofP8,542.00 and reckless imprudence resulting in slight physical injuries are light felonies.
III. Whether the rule on complex crimes under Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code applies to the quasi offenses in question.
IV. Whether the duplicity of the information may be questioned for the first time on appeal.
V. Whether the Regional Trial Court had jurisdiction over the offenses in question.
VI. Whether the quasi offenses in question have already prescribed.
I. The Proper
Penalty.
We agree with
both petitioner and the OSG that the penalty of six months of arresto mayor
imposed by the trial court and affirmed by respondent Court of Appeals is
incorrect. However, we cannot subscribe
to their submission that the penalty of arresto menor in its maximum
period is the proper penalty.
Article 365 of
the Revised Penal Code provides:
Art. 365. Imprudence and negligence. – Any person who, by reckless imprudence, shall commit any act which, had it been intentional, would constitute a grave felony, shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its medium period; if it would have constituted a less grave felony, the penalty of arresto mayor in its minimum and medium periods shall be imposed; if it would have constituted a light felony, the penalty of arresto menor in its maximum period shall be imposed.
Any person who, by simple imprudence or negligence, shall commit an act which would otherwise constitute a grave felony, shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor in its medium and maximum periods; if it would have constituted a less serious felony, the penalty of arresto mayor in its minimum period shall be imposed.
When the execution of the act covered by this article shall have only resulted in damage to the property of another, the offender shall be punished by a fine ranging from an amount equal to the value of said damages to three times such value, but which shall in no case be less than 25 pesos.
A fine not exceeding 200 pesos and censure shall be imposed upon any person who, by simple imprudence or negligence, shall cause some wrong which, if done maliciously, would have constituted a light felony.
In the imposition of these penalties, the courts shall exercise their sound discretion, without regard to the rules prescribed in Article 64.
The provisions contained in this article shall not be applicable:
1. When
the penalty provided for the offense is equal to or lower than those provided
in the first two paragraphs of this article, in which case the courts shall
impose the penalty next lower in degree than that which should be imposed in
the period which they may deem proper to apply.
According to the
first paragraph of the aforequoted Article, the penalty for reckless imprudence
resulting in slight physical injuries, a light felony, is arresto menor
in its maximum period, with a duration of 21 to 30 days. If the offense of slight physical injuries
is, however, committed deliberately or with malice, it is penalized with arresto
menor under Article 266 of the Revised Penal Code, with a duration of 1 day
to 30 days. Plainly, the penalty then
under Article 266 may be either lower than or equal to the penalty prescribed
under the first paragraph of Article 365. This being the case, the exception in the sixth paragraph of Article 365
applies. Hence, the proper penalty for
reckless imprudence resulting in slight physical injuries is public censure,
this being the penalty next lower in degree to arresto menor.[25]
As to reckless
imprudence resulting in damage to property in the amount of P8,542.00,
the third paragraph of Article 365, which provides for the penalty of fine, does
not apply since the reckless imprudence in this case did not result in damage
to property only. What applies is
the first paragraph of Article 365, which provides for arresto mayor in
its minimum and medium periods (1 month and 1 day to 4 months) for an act
committed through reckless imprudence which, had it been intentional, would
have constituted a less grave felony. Note that if the damage to the extent of P8,542.00 were caused
deliberately, the crime would have been malicious mischief under Article 329 of
the Revised Penal Code, and the penalty would then be arresto mayor in
its medium and maximum periods (2 months and 1 day to 6 months which is higher
than that prescribed in the first paragraph of Article 365). If the penalty under Article 329 were equal
to or lower than that provided for in the first paragraph, then the sixth
paragraph of Article 365 would apply, i.e., the penalty next lower in
degree, which is arresto menor in its maximum period to arresto mayor
in its minimum period or imprisonment from 21 days to 2 months. Accordingly, the imposable penalty for
reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property to the extent of P8,542.00
would be arresto mayor in its minimum and medium periods, which could be
anywhere from a minimum of 1 month and 1 day to a maximum of 4 months, at the
discretion of the court, since the fifth paragraph of Article 365 provides that
in the imposition of the penalties therein provided “the courts shall exercise
their sound discretion without regard to the rules prescribed in article 64.”
II. Classification
of the Quasi Offense in Question.
Felonies are
committed not only by means of deceit (dolo), but likewise by means of
fault (culpa). There is deceit
when the wrongful act is performed with deliberate intent; and there is fault
when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or
lack of skill.[26]
As earlier
stated, reckless imprudence resulting in slight physical injuries is punishable
by public censure only. Article 9,
paragraph 3, of the Revised Penal Code defines light felonies as infractions of
law carrying the penalty of arresto menor or a fine not exceeding P200.00,
or both. Since public censure is
classified under Article 25 of the Code as a light penalty, and is considered
under the graduated scale provided in Article 71 of the same Code as a penalty
lower than arresto menor, it follows that the offense of reckless
imprudence resulting in slight physical injuries is a light felony.
On the other hand,
reckless imprudence also resulting in damage to property is, as earlier
discussed, penalized with arresto mayor in its minimum and medium
periods. Since arresto mayor is
a correctional penalty under Article 25 of the Revised Penal Code, the quasi
offense in question is a less grave felony – not a light felony as claimed by
petitioner.
III. Applicability
of the Rule on Complex Crimes.
Since criminal
negligence may, as here, result in more than one felony, should Article 48 of
the Revised Code on complex crimes be applied? Article 48 provides as follows:
ART. 48. Penalty for complex crimes. -- When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies, or when an offense is necessary a means for committing the other, the penalty for the most serious crime shall be imposed, the same to be applied in its maximum period.
Clearly, if a
reckless, imprudent or negligent act results in two or more grave or less grave
felonies, a complex crime is committed. However, in Lontok v. Gorgonio,[27] this Court declared that where one
of the resulting offenses in criminal negligence constitutes a light felony,
there is no complex crime, thus:
Applying article 48, it follows that if one offense is light, there is no complex crime. The resulting offenses may be treated as separate or the light felony may be absorbed by the grave felony. Thus, the light felonies of damage to property and slight physical injuries, both resulting from a single act of imprudence, do not constitute a complex crime. They cannot be charged in one information. They are separate offenses subject to distinct penalties (People vs. Turla, 50 Phil. 1001; See People vs. Estipona, 70 Phil. 513).
Where the single act of imprudence resulted in double less serious physical injuries, damage to property amounting toP10,000 and slight physical injuries, a chief of police did not err in filing a separate complaint for the slight physical injuries and another complaint for the lesiones menos graves and damage to property [Arcaya vs. Teleron, L-37446, May 31, 1974, 57 SCRA 363, 365].
Hence, the trial
court erred in considering the following felonies as a complex crime: the less
grave felony of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property in the
amount of P8,542.00 and the light felony of reckless imprudence
resulting in physical injuries.
IV. The Right to
Assail the Duplicity of the Information.
Following Lontok,
the conclusion is inescapable here, that the quasi offense of reckless
imprudence resulting in slight physical injuries should have been charged in a
separate information because it is not covered by Article 48 of the Revised
Penal Code. However, petitioner may no
longer question, at this stage, the duplicitous character of the information, i.e.,
charging two separate offenses in one information, to wit: (1) reckless
imprudence resulting in damage to property; and (2) reckless imprudence
resulting in slight physical injuries. This defect was deemed waived by her failure to raise it in a motion to
quash before she pleaded to the information.[28] Under Section 3, Rule 120 of the
Rules of Court, when two or more offenses are charged in a single complaint or
information and the accused fails to object to it before trial, the court may
convict the accused of as many offenses as are charged and proved and impose on
him the penalty for each of them.[29]
V. Which Court Has Jurisdiction Over the
Quasi Offenses in Question.
The jurisdiction
to try a criminal action is to be determined by the law in force at the time of
the institution of the action, unless the statute expressly provides, or is
construed to the effect that it is intended to operate as to actions pending
before its enactment.[30]
At the time of
the filing of the information in this case, the law in force was Batas Pambansa
Blg. 129, otherwise known as “The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980.” Section 32(2)[31] thereof provided that except in
cases falling within the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Regional Trial
Courts and of the Sandiganbayan, the Metropolitan Trial Courts (MeTCs),
Municipal Trial Courts (MTCs), and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts (MCTCs) had
exclusive original jurisdiction over “all offenses punishable with imprisonment
of not exceeding four years and two months, or a fine of not more than four
thousand pesos, or both fine and imprisonment, regardless of other imposable
accessory or other penalties, including the civil liability arising from such
offenses or predicated thereon, irrespective of kind, nature, value or amount
thereof.”
The criminal
jurisdiction of the lower courts was then determined by the duration of the
imprisonment and the amount of fine prescribed by law for the offense
charged. The question thus arises as to
which court has jurisdiction over offenses punishable by censure, such as
reckless imprudence resulting in slight physical injuries.
In Uy Chin
Hua v. Dinglasan,[32] this Court found that a lacuna
existed in the law as to which court had jurisdiction over offenses penalized
with destierro, the duration of which was from 6 months and 1 day to 6
years, which was co-extensive with prision correccional. We then interpreted the law in this wise:
Since the legislature has placed offenses penalized with arresto mayor under the jurisdiction of justice of the peace and municipal courts, and since by Article 71 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Section 3 of Commonwealth Act No. 217, it has placed destierro below arresto mayor as a lower penalty than the latter, in the absence of any express provision of law to the contrary it is logical and reasonable to infer from said provisions that its intention was to place offenses penalized with destierro also under the jurisdiction of justice of the peace and municipal courts and not under that of courts of first instance.
Similarly, since
offenses punishable by imprisonment of not exceeding 4 years and 2 months were
within the jurisdictional ambit of the MeTCs, MTCs and MCTCs, it follows that
those penalized with censure, which is a penalty lower than arresto menor under
the graduated scale in Article 71 of the Revised Penal Code and with a duration
of 1 to 30 days, should also fall within the jurisdiction of said courts. Thus, reckless imprudence resulting in
slight physical injuries was cognizable by said courts.
As to the reckless
imprudence resulting in damage to property in the amount of P8,542.00,
the same was also under the jurisdiction of MeTCs, MTCs or MCTCs because the
imposable penalty therefor was arresto mayor in its minimum and medium
periods -- the duration of which was from 1 month and 1 day to 4 months.
Criminal Case
No. 33919 should, therefore, be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction on the part
of the RTC of Makati.
VI. Prescription
of the Quasi Offenses in Question.
Pursuant to Article
90 of the Revised Penal Code, reckless imprudence resulting in slight physical
injuries, being a light felony, prescribes in two months. On the other hand, reckless imprudence
resulting in damage to property in the amount of P8,542.00, being a less
grave felony whose penalty is arresto mayor in its minimum and medium
periods, prescribes in five years.
To resolve the
issue of whether these quasi offenses have already prescribed, it is
necessary to determine whether the filing of the complaint with the fiscal’s
office three days after the incident in question tolled the running of the
prescriptive period.
Article 91 of
the Revised Penal Code provides:
ART. 91. Computation of prescription of offenses. -- The period of prescription shall commence to run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the offended party, the authorities, or their agents, and shall be interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information, and shall commence to run again when such proceedings terminate without the accused being convicted or acquitted, or are unjustifiably stopped by any reason not imputable to him. (emphasis supplied)
Notably, the aforequoted article, in declaring that the prescriptive
period “shall be interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information,”
does not distinguish whether the complaint is filed for preliminary examination
or investigation only or for an action on the merits.[33] Thus, in Francisco v. Court of
Appeals[34] and People v. Cuaresma,[35] this Court held that the filing of
the complaint even with the fiscal’s office suspends the running of the statute
of limitations.
We cannot apply
Section 9[36] of the Rule on Summary Procedure,
which provides that in cases covered thereby, such as offenses punishable by
imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, as in the instant case, “the prosecution
commences by the filing of a complaint or information directly with the MeTC,
RTC or MCTC without need of a prior preliminary examination or investigation;
provided that in Metropolitan Manila and Chartered Cities, said cases may be
commenced only by information.” However, this Section cannot be taken to mean that the prescriptive
period is interrupted only by the filing of a complaint or information directly
with said courts.
It must be
stressed that prescription in criminal cases is a matter of substantive
law. Pursuant to Section 5(5), Article
VIII of the Constitution, this Court, in the exercise of its rule-making power,
is not allowed to diminish, increase or modify substantive rights.[37] Hence, in case of conflict between
the Rule on Summary Procedure promulgated by this Court and the Revised Penal
Code, the latter prevails.
Neither does Zaldivia
control in this instance. It must
be recalled that what was involved therein was a violation of a municipal ordinance;
thus, the applicable law was not Article 91 of the Revised Penal Code, but Act.
No. 3326, as amended, entitled “An Act to Establish Periods of Prescription for
Violations Penalized by Special Acts and Municipal Ordinances and to Provide
When Prescription Shall Begin to Run.” Under Section 2 thereof, the period of prescription is suspended only
when judicial proceedings are instituted against the guilty party. Accordingly, this Court held that the
prescriptive period was not interrupted by the filing of the complaint with the
Office of the Provincial Prosecutor, as such did not constitute a judicial
proceeding; what could have tolled the prescriptive period there was only the
filing of the information in the proper court.
In the instant
case, as the offenses involved are covered by the Revised Penal Code, Article
91 thereof and the rulings in Francisco and Cuaresma apply. Thus, the prescriptive period for the quasi
offenses in question was interrupted by the filing of the complaint with the
fiscal’s office three days after the vehicular mishap and remained tolled
pending the termination of this case. We cannot, therefore, uphold petitioner’s defense of prescription of the
offenses charged in the information in this case.
WHEREFORE, the instant petition is
GRANTED. The challenged decision of
respondent Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 14660 is SET ASIDE as the
Regional Trial Court, whose decision was affirmed therein, had no jurisdiction
over Criminal Case No. 33919.
Criminal Case
No. 33919 is ordered DISMISSED.
No pronouncement
as to costs.
SO ORDERED.
[1]
Original Record (OR), 131.
[2]
Id., 1.
[3]
Annex “C” of Petition, Rollo, 52-56. Per Judge Job B. Madayag.
[4]
Rollo, 56.
[5]
Id.
[6]
Rollo, 35.
[7]
Annex “A” of Petition, Rollo, 27-49. Per Mabutas, Jr., R., J. with Elbinias, J., and
Valdez, Jr., S., JJ., concurring.
[8]
Annex “D” of Petition, Rollo, 57-69.
[9]
Id., 58.
[10]
Id., 60.
[11]
Erroneously cited by the trial court as People v. Aguiles.
[12]
89 SCRA 632, 636 [1979].
[13]
211 SCRA 277 [1992].
[14]
115 SCRA 82 [1982].
[15]
160 SCRA 302 1988].
[16]
172 SCRA 415, [1989].
[17]
A.M. MTJ-91-559, 13 October 1993.
[18]
Supra note 14.
[19]
57 SCRA 363 [1974].
[20]
Supra note 12.
[21]
Supra note 15.
[22]
Supra note 17.
[23]
Supra note 16.
[24]
Supra note 14.
[25]
Article 71 of the Revised Penal Code; People v. Leynez, 65 Phil.
608, 610-611 [1938].
[26]
Article 3, Revised Penal Code.
[27]
Supra note 12 at 635-636.
[28]
Section 8, Rule 117, Rules of Court.
[29]
See also People v. Conte, 247 SCRA 583 [1995].
[30]
People v. Velasco, 252 SCRA 135 [1996].
[31] This Section has been amended by Section 2 of R.A. No. 7691, which was
approved by President Fidel V. Ramos on 25 March 1994. As amended, the provision now reads in part
as follows:
“Section 32. Jurisdiction of Metropolitan Trial
Courts, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts in Criminal
Cases. -- Except in cases falling within the exclusive original
jurisdiction of Regional Trial Courts and Sandiganbayan, the Metropolitan Trial
Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts shall
exercise:
“(2) Exclusive original jurisdiction over all offenses punishable with
imprisonment not exceeding six (6) years irrespective of the amount of fine,
and regardless of other imposable accessory or other penalties, including the
civil liability arising from such offenses or predicated thereon, irrespective
of kind, nature, value or amount thereof: Provided, however, That in offenses involving damage to property through
criminal negligence, they shall have exclusive original jurisdiction thereof.”
[32]
86 Phil. 617 [1950].
[33]
People v. Olarte, 19 SCRA 494 [1967].
[34]
122 SCRA 538 [1983].
[35]
Supra note 16.
[36] Now Section 11 of the Revised Rules of Summary Procedure, which reads in
part as follows:
SEC.
11. How commenced. -- The filing of criminal cases falling within
the scope of this Rule shall be either by complaint or information: Provided, however, that in Metropolitan
Manila and in Chartered Cities, such cases shall be commenced only by
information, except when the offense cannot be prosecuted de oficio.
[37]
Zalvidia v. Reyes, supra note 13 at 284.