Case Digest (G.R. No. L-49483-86)
Facts:
Salud P. Beradio v. The Court of Appeals and People of the Philippines, G.R. No. L-49483-86, March 30, 1981, Supreme Court First Division, De Castro, J., writing for the Court.Salud P. Beradio (petitioner) was an election registrar of the COMELEC assigned in Rosales, Pangasinan. Acting as Chief of Office, she kept daily time records which she submitted to COMELEC. In 1973 she appeared on several mornings and afternoons in nearby court proceedings — sometimes as counsel de oficio — and on several dates recorded full office hours on her daily time records despite these brief courtroom appearances two meters from her office.
In September–October 1973 Beradio resigned (resignation retroactive to September 30, 1973) and received clearance and retirement benefits. In July 1975 the Provincial Fiscal of Pangasinan filed seven informations (dated July 7, 1975) charging her with falsification of public or official documents under Article 171, paragraph 4 of the Revised Penal Code for alleged false entries on specified dates (Criminal Cases CCC-0258 to CCC-0264). The Circuit Criminal Court, Third Judicial District, Dagupan City convicted her on four counts on July 30, 1976 and acquitted on three counts.
Beradio appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. Nos. 20319–20322), which, in a decision promulgated September 18, 1978, affirmed the trial court’s conviction in toto (the CA decision was penned by Justice Corazon Julian de Agrava). Her motion for reconsideration was denied on November 28, 1978. Beradio then filed a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 to the Supreme Court. The Solicitor General was asked to comment. The Supreme Court granted due co...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the conviction of petitioner under Article 171(4) of the Revised Penal Code legal and proper?
- Could petitioner be legally and properly prosecuted for an offense committed while in office although she was no longer a public official at the time of prosecution?
- Was petitioner under a strict legal obligation to fill up and submit the daily time record?
- Do the statements in petitioner’s daily time records on the specified dates bear any color of truth?
- Is proof of damage to the government material to sustain a conviction for falsification of public or official documents? ...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)