Title
People vs. Gabo
Case
G.R. No. 161083
Decision Date
Aug 3, 2010
Fire at Sanyoware warehouse led to arson accusations; RTC dismissed for lack of probable cause, affirmed by CA and SC, citing insufficient evidence and improper certiorari use.
dismissal of case
destructive arson
lack of probable cause

Case Summary (G.R. No. 161083)

Factual Background

On May 14, 2001, a fire destroyed Warehouse 2 of Sanyoware Plastic Products Manufacturing Corporation at Km. 8, McArthur Highway, Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan, a building partly occupied by Sanyoware and partly leased to New Unitedware Marketing Corporation. Investigations were conducted by the 3rd Regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the Inter-Agency Anti-Arson Task Force (IATF) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP). Multiple employees and security personnel executed sworn statements describing movements of goods and the presence of certain respondents prior to the conflagration, and alleging suspicious transfers of stock and possible orchestration of two simultaneous fires.

Investigations and Evidence

The prosecution relied on sworn statements of several Sanyoware employees and security personnel, including statements by a supervisor who alleged two separate simultaneous fires and later claimed threats and inducements to alter testimony. Other witnesses reported transfers of goods shortly before the fire and sightings of respondents at the premises. Conversely, official fire investigation reports from the Bocaue Fire Station, the Provincial Fire Marshall and the Office of the Regional Fire Marshall concluded that faulty electrical wiring was the origin of the fire. A chemistry report from the Bulacan Provincial Crime Laboratory found specimens negative for flammable substances. These official reports were not rebutted in the record.

Prosecutorial Action and the Information

Following preliminary investigation, State Prosecutor Carlos C. Pormento issued a resolution recommending the filing of an Information for Destructive Arson against Wilson Cua Ting, Edward Ngo Yao, Willy So Tan and Carol F. Ortega, while dismissing the charge against Samson Cua Ting for lack of evidence and remanding ancillary matters involving certain fire officers for further probe. An Information for Arson was thereafter filed, alleging conspiracy and malicious burning to conceal other violations, bankruptcy and to collect insurance.

Trial Court Proceedings

Upon filing of the Information, the respondents moved for a hearing to determine probable cause and to hold issuance of arrest warrants in abeyance. On February 27, 2002, the RTC dismissed the Information for lack of probable cause pursuant to Section 6, Rule 112, Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, applying what it characterized as the equipoise rule because of contradictions among sworn statements and the official reports. The RTC denied the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration on March 25, 2002.

Court of Appeals Proceedings

Petitioner sought relief in the Court of Appeals by petition for certiorari, which the CA denied in a July 24, 2003 Decision and again by Resolution dated October 3, 2003. The CA concluded that the RTC did not commit grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the information and affirmed the RTC’s evaluation of the evidence under Section 6, Rule 112.

Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

The petition to the Supreme Court contended that the CA grossly abused its discretion by endorsing the RTC’s application of the equipoise rule at the stage when the Information was filed, arguing that the equipoise rule properly applies only after the parties have completed presentation of evidence at trial and that the judge must instead determine whether the prosecutor’s evidence established probable cause sufficient to support an arrest.

Petitioners’ Arguments

Petitioner asserted that the CA wrongly upheld the RTC’s dismissal premised on the equipoise rule, contending that the judge must perform a proper determination of probable cause at the time of filing of the Information and that application of a rule more appropriate to the proof-at-trial stage (where preponderance and proof beyond reasonable doubt are considered) was improper and amounted to grave abuse.

Respondents’ Arguments

Respondents argued that certiorari was not the appropriate remedy because the prosecution had a plain, speedy and adequate remedy by way of appeal under Rule 45 and that petitioner had allowed that remedy to lapse. Respondents also defended the RTC’s factual assessment and reliance on official fire investigation reports and the apparent contradictions and infirmities in the witnesses’ sworn statements.

Supreme Court’s Procedural Ruling on Certiorari

The Supreme Court first ruled that petitioner’s certiorari was procedurally defective because petitioner allowed an available appeal under Rule 45 to lapse. The Court observed that petitioner received the CA Resolution on October 10, 2003 and had until October 25, 2003 to file a petition for review under Rule 45, but failed to do so; certiorari cannot substitute for a lost appeal as held in Bernardo v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 106153, July 14, 1997. On this procedural ground alone, the petition was dismissed.

Supreme Court’s Analysis of the Equipoise Rule and Probable Cause

Notwithstanding the procedural bar, the Court addressed the merits. It affirmed the settled distinction between the judge’s task in a preliminary inquiry to determine probable cause for issuance of an arrest warrant and the prosecutor’s function in a preliminary investigation to determine probable cause to hold for trial. The Court acknowledged that the equipoise rule is ordinarily applied after trial evidence is closed, citing authorities such as Abarquez v. People, Tin v. People and People v. Leano, and therefore the RTC’s reliance on that rule at the information stage was misplaced insofar as doctrinal application is concerned.

Supreme Court’s Legal Reasoning and Authorities

Despite the misapplication of the equipoise rule, the Court held that the RTC’s dismissal did not amount to grave abuse of discretion as defined in the rules governing certiorari and jurisprudence. The Court found that the RTC complied with the mandate of Section 6, Rule 112 to personally evaluate the prosecutor’s resolution and supporting evidence and that its conclusions were not capricious or arbitrary. The Court emphasized the high probative value of physical and official investigative reports, noting the chemistry report negative for flammable substances and consistent findings of faulty wiring by fire officials, and stressed the presumption that government officials performed their duties regularly, citing Transport Corporation vs. CA and Tata vs. Garcia, Jr. The Court further observed that alleged suspicious conduct of respondents prior to and

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