Case Digest (G.R. No. L-40527)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Hermogenes Mariano and Hon. Ambrosio M. Geraldez, G.R. No. L-40527, June 30, 1976, First Division, Munoz Palma, J., writing for the Court. The petition for certiorari was filed by the Provincial Fiscal of Bulacan (through Asst. Provincial Fiscal Clemente G. Perfecto).
The People of the Philippines (petitioner) instituted Criminal Case No. SM-649 on December 18, 1974 in the Court of First Instance of Bulacan, accusing Hermogenes Mariano (respondent) of estafa for allegedly misappropriating USAID/NEC electrical cables totaling $717.50 (P4,797.35) while acting as liaison officer of the Municipality of San Jose del Monte between May 11 and June 8, 1971. The Information alleged misappropriation and conversion of the items entrusted to Mariano for delivery to the municipal mayor.
On February 19, 1975 Mariano filed a motion to quash the Information alleging (1) lack of jurisdiction of the court over the offense and the person, (2) that the criminal liability had been extinguished, and (3) that the averments, if true, constituted a legal excuse or justification. Mariano asserted that the same property had been the subject of a malversation prosecution against Mayor Constantino A. Nolasco before a Military Commission, and that Mayor Nolasco had been convicted and sentenced by that tribunal.
On March 14, 1975 the Presiding Judge of the Court of First Instance, Hon. Ambrosio M. Geraldez, granted the motion to quash solely on the ground that the Military Commission had already taken cognizance of and decided the malversation case involving the same subject matter, concluding that the CFI therefore lacked jurisdiction to pass upon the same subject matter anew. The judge did not rule on the other grounds in the motion to quash.
The People sought review by the Supreme Court via a petition treated as a special civil action (the Court's July 16, 1975 Resolution gave the petition due course). The Solicitor General filed a supporting memorandum; Mariano did not file an answer. The central legal question presented was whether civil courts and military commissio...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of First Instance lose jurisdiction over the estafa Information against Hermogenes Mariano because a Military Commission had earlier taken cognizance of and convicted another person for malversation involving the same property?
- At the time Criminal Case No. SM-649 was filed (December 18, 1974), were Military Commissions vested with jurisdiction to try estafa, such that concurrent jur...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)