Case Digest (G.R. No. 103911)
Facts:
Edgardo E. Lopez v. Sandiganbayan (Second Division), Office of the Special Prosecutor and Arnulfo M. Agleron, G.R. No. 103911, October 13, 1995, Supreme Court En Banc, Hermosísima, Jr., J., writing for the Court.The factual background begins on December 10, 1987, when the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), through its General Manager Fernando O. Carrascoso, executed a Deed of Donation of a cream-white Mitsubishi L-300 van “for use as an ambulance” in favor of the Municipality of Mati, Province of Davao Oriental; the donation was accepted in the Deed by Provincial Governor Leopoldo N. Lopez. The vehicle was shipped from Manila to Davao, freight was paid by Governor Lopez, and the Delivery Cargo Receipt listed Governor Lopez as consignee; the vehicle was insured and registered in the name of the Province of Davao Oriental and therefore was never formally turned over to the Municipality of Mati.
At the time of the donation Hon. Salvador R. Gutierrez served as Acting Mayor of Mati. When elected Mayor Edgardo E. Lopez assumed office on February 2, 1988 after taking his oath before Judge Roque A. Agton, Acting Mayor Gutierrez had not informed him of the ambulance. Governor Lopez was later purged and replaced by Acting Governor Teodoro Palma Gil, who understood the van was for the Davao Oriental Provincial Hospital located in Mati and asked the municipality to shoulder shipping and conversion expenses. On September 17, 1988, while en route to Davao City, the van was stopped in Lupon and burned by unidentified armed men.
Political opponents lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman charging Gov. Leopoldo Lopez, Mayor Edgardo Lopez, and others with violations of R.A. No. 3019. Provincial Prosecutor Salvador Bijis, acting as an Ombudsman prosecutor, dismissed the complaint for lack of merit. The Ombudsman later reopened the investigation, assigned Graft Investigator Gay Maggie Balajadia, and, on June 21, 1991, Balajadia recommended filing of an Information. An Information was filed on August 3, 1991 before the Sandiganbayan as Criminal Case No. 16987; after Gov. Leopoldo Lopez’s death (August 12, 1991) the prosecution filed an Amended Information charging Mayor Edgardo E. Lopez alone, alleging that on or about December 10, 1987 he, as Municipal Mayor, conspired with Gov. Lopez to misappropriate the ambulance and registered it in the provincial name.
Petitioner moved to quash the Amended Information on two principal grounds: (1) that the Sandiganbayan lacked jurisdiction because the date alleged (December 10, 1987) predated his incumbency as mayor (he only took oath on February 2, 1988), and (2) that criminal liability was extinguished or in any event the factual allegations implicated him only in respect of acts he did not commit. The Sandiganbayan (Second Division) denied the motion to quash, reasoning that the Amended Information alleged continuing participation by petitioner through acts up to July 15, 1988 and October 5, 1990 (letters allegedly waiving the municipality’s right), that conspiracy allegations preserved jurisdiction over a surviving co-conspirator notwithstanding a co-conspirator’s death (citing Articles 89 and 90 RPC), and that factual defenses were matters for trial.
...(Pro-only)Issues:
- Did the Sandiganbayan act arbitrarily in ruling that it had jurisdiction over the offense charged against petitioner despite the date in the Amended Information preceding his incumbency as municipal mayor?
- Could the Supreme Court take judicial notice — and treat as binding admissions — of the fact that petitioner took his oath and assumed the office of Mayor only on February 2, 1988, thereby rendering the allegation that he was mayor on December 10, 1987 false?
- If the prosecution admitted the relevant facts, should the Amended Information be qua...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)