477 Phil. 103
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
That on or about January 12, 1994 or sometime prior or subsequent thereto, in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, accused Rodolfo G. Valencia, then Provincial Governor of Oriental Mindoro, Pedrito A. Reyes, then Vice-Governor and Presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Oriental Mindoro, Bayani Anastacio, Romualdo J. Bawasanta, Emmanuel B. Buenaventura, Cesareo M. Cueto, Violeta D. Dakis, Jose A. Enriquez, Nelson B. Cabutero, Jose G. Genilo, Jr., Jose C. Leynes, Dante A. Manao, Remedios E. Marasigan, all members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Oriental Mindoro, and Alfonso V. Umali, Jr., then Provincial Administrator, all of whom are public officials of the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro, while in the performance of their official and/or administrative functions, and acting in evident bad faith and manifest partiality, conspiring and confederating with private accused Engr. Alfredo M. Atienza, and mutually helping one another , did then and there willfully, unlawfully and criminally give said accused Alfredo M. Atienza unwarranted benefit, privilege and advantage by entering into a grossly disadvantageous contract of loan, whereby the provincial funds of Oriental Mindoro in the sum of P2,500,000.00 was given to Alfredo M. Atienza to finance the cost of repair, operation and maintenance of his vessel, thereby causing the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro damage and undue injury.The Information was filed with the Sandiganbayan and docketed as Criminal Case No. 23624.
CONTRARY TO LAW.[1]
Respondent Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in not dismissing the information or in not granting the Motion to Quash information despite the fact that:In a Minute Resolution dated January 31, 2000, the petition was dismissed for failure to show grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Sandiganbayan.[13]
a) Respondent ombudsman had already dismissed the administrative case against the petitioners regarding the same subject matter of the criminal case against the petitioners;b) The facts alleged in the information have already become moot and academic and no longer constitute an offense;c) No satisfactory reason was given by the respondent Ombudsman in delaying inordinately (close to three [3] years) the filing of the information against the petitioners.
Similarly, respondent Sandiganbayan committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in the Resolution dated September 27, 1999 in holding that the dismissal of the administrative case against all the petitioners is not determinative of the outcome of the criminal case despite the facts following:
a) The subject matter in both criminal and administrative cases against the same petitioners are one and the same;
b) The degree of proof in criminal case is proof beyond reasonable doubt. Whereas, in administrative case the proof required is only substantial evidence; and
c) Two of the reviewing prosecutors, namely: Deputy Prosecutor Roberto Kallos and Special Prosecutor Leonardo Tamayo held in the Joint Resolution dated March 23, 1999 that the criminal case against the petitioners should be dismissed, and they both concurred with the findings of GIO I Medwin Dizon, Dir. Angel Mayoralgo, Jr., and Hon. Assistant Ombudsman Abelardo Aportadera, Jr., in their Resolution dated October 8, 1996, which recommended the dismissal of the case as they found that the contract of loan entered into by the petitioners with a certain Alfredo Atienza was in pursuance of the General Welfare Clause of Section 16 of the Local Government Code.[12]
(a) That the facts charged do not constitute an offense;Save where the Rules expressly permit the investigation of facts alleged in a motion to quash, the general rule is that in the hearing of such motion only such facts as are alleged in the information, and those admitted by the prosecutor, should be taken into account in the resolution thereof. Matters of defense can not be produced during the hearing of such motions, except where the rules expressly permit, such as extinction of criminal liability, prescription and former jeopardy.[22] Otherwise put, facts which constitute the defense of the accused against the charge under the information must be proved by them during trial. Such facts or circumstances do not constitute proper grounds for a motion to quash the information on the ground that the material averments do not constitute the offense.[23]
(b) That the court trying the case has no jurisdiction over the offense charged;
(c) That the court trying the case has no jurisdiction over the person of the accused;
(d) That the officer who filed the information had no authority to do so;
(e) That it does not conform substantially to the prescribed form;
(f) That more than one offense is charged except when a single punishment for various offenses is prescribed by law;
(g) That the criminal action or liability has been extinguished;
(h) That it contains averments which, if true, would constitute a legal excuse or justification; and
(i) That the accused has been previously convicted or acquitted of the offense charged, or the case against him was dismissed or otherwise terminated without his express consent.[21]
Prima facie, the facts charged are those described in the complaint, but they may be amplified or qualified by others appearing to be additional circumstances, upon admissions made by the people’s representative, which admissions could anyway be submitted by him as amendments to the same information. It would seem to be pure technicality to hold that in the consideration of the motion the parties and the judge were precluded from considering facts which the fiscal admitted to be true, simply because they were not described in the complaint. Of course, it may be added that upon similar motions the court and the fiscal are not required to go beyond the averments of the information, nor is the latter to be inveigled into a premature and risky revelation of his evidence. But we see no reason to prohibit the fiscal from making, in all candor, admissions of undeniable facts, because the principle can never be sufficiently reiterated that such official’s role is to see that justice is done: not that all accused are convicted, but that the guilty are justly punished. Less reason can there be to prohibit the court from considering those admissions, and deciding accordingly, in the interest of a speedy administration of justice.It should be stressed, however, that for a case to fall under the exception, it is essential that there be no objection from the prosecution. Thus, the above rule does not apply where the prosecution objected to the presentation of extraneous facts and even opposed the motion to quash.[28]
Sec. 3. Corrupt practices of public officers. – In addition to acts or omissions of public officers already penalized by existing law, the following shall constitute corrupt practices of any public officer and are hereby declared to be unlawful:xxx xxx xxx.
(e) Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official, administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence. This provision shall apply to officers and employees of officers or government corporations charged with the grant of licenses or permits or other concessions.xxx xxx xxx.
(g) Entering, on behalf of the Government, into any contract or transaction manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the same, whether or not the public officer profited or will profit thereby.
On the other hand, the elements of the crime of violation of Section 3 (g) are:
- The accused is a public officer discharging administrative, judicial or official functions;
- He must have acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or inexcusable negligence; and
- His action has caused undue injury to any party, including the Government, or has given any party any unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference in the discharge of his functions.[29]
A careful scrutiny of the Information shows that all the above elements are averred therein. It sufficiently alleges that petitioners are public officials discharging official or administrative functions who, in evident bad faith and with manifest partiality, entered into a grossly disadvantageous contract on behalf of the government with a private person which gives the latter unwarranted benefit and advantage.
- The offender is a public officer;
- He enters into a contract or transaction on behalf of the government; and
- The contract or transaction is grossly and manifestly disadvantageous to the government.[30]
SEC. 16. General Welfare. — Every local government unit shall exercise the powers expressly granted, those necessarily implied therefrom, as well as powers necessary, appropriate, or incidental for its efficient and effective governance, and those which are essential to the promotion of the general welfare. Within their respective territorial jurisdictions, local government units shall ensure and support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture, promote health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology, encourage and support the development of appropriate and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, improve public morals, enhance economic prosperity and social justice, promote full employment among their residents, maintain peace and order, and preserve the comfort and convenience of their inhabitants.As enunciated above, however, the Resolution must be established as their defense during the trial. It was not even offered and admitted as evidence by the Sandiganbayan. It was merely attached to petitioners’ “Supplemental Pleading in Support of Motion to Quash Information.”[32] Furthermore, the Resolution does not bear the approval of the Ombudsman.[33]
The subject loan does not fall within the context of the “general welfare clause” under Section 16 of the Local Government Code. The loan in question was more inclined to promote the personal or business interest of Engr. Atienza rather than to boost the common welfare of the people in Mindoro. In the “credit agreement” itself, while the problem of transport system was addressed in passing under its “whereas clause” (introductory part) of the said contract, however, the same was not mentioned in the body of the said agreement. There is no provision in the contract to obligate Engr. Atienza towards the improvement of transport service for the people of Oriental Mindoro. In short, it is not clear in the said agreement that Engr. Atienza is mandated to render transport service for the general welfare of the people in Mindoro. xxx xxx xxx.In the final analysis, the conflicting findings of the Ombudsman boil down to issues of fact which, however, are not within our province to resolve. As has been oft-repeated, this Court is not a trier of facts.[35] This is a matter best left to the Sandiganbayan.xxx xxx xxx.
As embodied in the credit agreement, the purpose of the loan being stated therein was to finance the cost of the repair, operation and maintenance of Atienza’s vessel. This in essence is indeed a private affair. It suits Atienza’s personal aggrandizement. In synthesis, the subject loan has the attributes of a private interest as opposed to public purpose. Consequently the subject loan does not rhyme with the requirement that “government funds shall be used/spent strictly for public purpose.” xxx xxx xxx.[34]
The ruling, therefore, that – “when the people have elected a man to his office it must be assumed that they did this with knowledge of his life and character and that they disregarded or forgave his faults or misconduct if he had been guilty of any” – refers only to an action for removal from office and does not apply to a criminal case, because a crime is a public wrong more atrocious in character than mere misfeasance or malfeasance committed by a public officer in the discharge of his duties, and is injurious not only to a person or group of persons but to the State as a whole. This must be the reason why Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code, which enumerates the grounds for extinction of criminal liability, does not include reelection to office as one of them, at least insofar as a public officer is concerned. Also, under the Constitution, it is only the President who may grant the pardon of a criminal offense.[38]There is, thus, no reason for the Sandiganbayan to quash the Information against petitioners on the basis solely of the dismissal of the administrative complaint against them.