G.R. No. L-30485 - Aquino vs. Mariano

On October 9, 1968, Benjamin H. Aquino, the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal, filed an information in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, initiating Criminal Case No. 18425 against several individuals, including Lucio Adriano, Jr., for estafa through falsification of official documents.
The case arose from a resurvey and subdivision of a parcel of registered land in Muntinlupa, Rizal, which was approved by officials of the Land Registration Commission.
The case was assigned to Judge Pedro Revilla.

On October 27, 1968, Lucio Adriano, Jr. filed a petition for mandamus in the same court, seeking an order to compel Fiscal Aquino to include additional defendants, specifically Commissioner Antonio Noblejas, in the information filed in Criminal Case No. 18425.
The petition was assigned to Judge Herminio C. Mariano, who granted the petition on March 28, 1969, ordering Fiscal Aquino to include all persons against whom a prima facie case was found.

The petitioner, Benjamin H. Aquino, sought a review of the decision, arguing that he could not be compelled to include Commissioner Noblejas as an accused in the case.
Aquino had previously conducted a preliminary investigation and initially found a prima facie case against Noblejas but later concluded that any responsibility was administrative due to Noblejas's resignation.

The Revised Rules of Court define mandamus as an extraordinary remedy available when a tribunal or individual unlawfully neglects a duty or excludes someone from a right, and no other adequate remedy exists.
The petitioner must exhaust all ordinary remedies before seeking mandamus, which is only appropriate in cases of extreme necessity.

The court analyzed whether Adriano, Jr. should have filed a simple motion in Criminal Case No. 18425 instead of a petition for mandamus.
The court noted that had Adriano, Jr. requested Fiscal Aquino to include Noblejas and received a denial, he could have appealed to the Secretary of Justice, which would have been a more expedient remedy.