Case Digest (G.R. No. L-27590)
Facts:
Felix O. Alfelor, Sr., et al. v. The Honorable Bonifacio C. Intia and Felix A. Fuentebella, G.R. No. L-27590, April 30, 1976, Supreme Court Second Division, Fernando, J., writing for the Court.
The petitioners were the losing candidates and supporters in the 1965 congressional contest in the Second District of Camarines Sur: Felix O. Alfelor, Sr. (principal petitioner) and a number of co-petitioners. Felix A. Fuentebella, the proclaimed winner and then-Congressman, filed a criminal complaint in the Municipal Court of Tigaon, Camarines Sur charging petitioners with falsification of public or official documents allegedly involving the contents of a ballot box from a precinct in Parubcan; the complaint, however, alleged that the falsification took place in another municipality, Iriga, Camarines Sur.
Petitioners moved to dismiss the complaint in the municipal court on the ground that the alleged falsification occurred outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Municipal Court of Tigaon. In an order dated April 29, 1967 the respondent Municipal Judge denied the motion to dismiss, ruling that falsification is a continuing offense and that Tigaon was one of the “intervening municipalities where the jeep carrying the ballot box passed through,” thus vesting his court with jurisdiction. A motion for reconsideration was filed and denied on May 25, 1967.
Petitioners then sought relief from the Supreme Court by way of certiorari and prohibition to annul the municipal judge’s orders denying dismissal and reconsideration. The petition challenged the municipal court’s exercise of jurisdiction over an offense alleged to have been committed in another municipality. The Supreme Court, reviewi...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Are certiorari and prohibition proper remedies to challenge the municipal judge’s orders denying dismissal and reconsideration?
- Did the Municipal Court of Tigaon have jurisdiction to try the charge of falsification when the alleged falsification was committed in Iriga?
- Is falsification a continuing offense such that an essential ingredient occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of Tigaon, thereby supportin...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)