Case Digest (G.R. No. 143618-41)
Facts:
Benjamin Kokoy Romualdez, G.R. Nos. 143618-41, July 30, 2002, the Supreme Court First Division, Ynares‑Santiago, J., writing for the Court (Davide, Jr., C.J., Vitug, Kapunan, and Austria‑Martinez, JJ., concur.), concerns the validity of informations filed in the Sandiganbayan and the latter's denial of petitioner's motion to quash.Petitioner was the subject of twenty‑four informations (Criminal Cases Nos. 13406–13429) for alleged failure to file statements of assets and liabilities covering 1962–1985, originally investigated by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). In an earlier petition (G.R. No. 105248), the Court held that the PCGG preliminary investigation of those offenses was invalid because the alleged offenses did not concern ill‑gotten wealth within the PCGG's purview, and thus the PCGG commissioner who conducted the investigation lacked jurisdiction to do so. The Court nonetheless ruled that the invalidity of the preliminary investigation did not in itself void the informations, directed suspension of proceedings in the Sandiganbayan, and ordered the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct a proper preliminary investigation.
Pursuant to that directive, the Sandiganbayan ordered reinvestigation and gave time for the parties to submit counter‑affidavits and for the Special Prosecutor to report. Petitioner was abroad and failed to submit counter‑affidavits; he returned and surrendered in April 2000 and posted bail. Special Prosecutor Evelyn T. Lucero set clarificatory hearings and sought time to complete reinvestigation. Petitioner filed a Motion to Quash on June 2, 2000, alleging that the PCGG commissioner who filed the informations had no authority to do so (a ground enumerated in Rule 117, Sec. 3[d], Rules of Court).
On June 8, 2000, the Sandiganbayan, in open court and without giving the prosecution time to oppose, denied the Motion to Quash, terminated Prosecutor Lucero's reinvestigation, and set arraignment (later reset). Petitioner obtained written copies of the orders on June 23, 2000 and filed the present petition to annul those orders and to enjoin his arraignment; he sought temporary injunctive relief and a temporary restraining order, and the Court directed maintenance of the status quo ante while respondents commented.
Respondents argued that the questions had been addressed in G.R. No. 105248 and that the absence of preliminary investigation ordinarily does not strip the trial court of jurisdiction but only requires suspension and...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Sandiganbayan act without jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion in denying petitioner’s Motion to Quash the informations because the PCGG commissioner who filed them had no authority to do so?
- Did the Sandiganbayan act without jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion in terminating the reinvestigation and failing to comply with the Court’s directive to have the Ombudsman conduct a proper preliminary investigation?
- Was petitioner denied due process because the Sandiganbayan prejudged the case and issued its June 8, 2000 orders in open court without affording the prose...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)