Title
People vs. Sandiganbayan
Case
G.R. No. 156394
Decision Date
Jan 21, 2005
Municipal employees' appointments revoked by new mayor; legal battle ensued over reinstatement, back wages, and alleged violation of anti-graft law; Sandiganbayan quashed charges, upheld by Supreme Court.
petition for certiorari
quash charges
public official

Case Summary (G.R. No. 198594)

Factual Background

The Court recited that on 22 June 1998 several private complainants were appointed to municipal positions in San Andres, Quezon, but that upon assuming office on 01 July 1998 Sergio F. Emprese, Sr., then municipal mayor, revoked those appointments. The complainants filed with the Civil Service Commission, Regional Office No. IV a complaint for illegal termination and nonpayment of salaries, and the CSCRO-IV ordered reinstatement with back wages on 05 March 1999. Sergio F. Emprese, Sr. appealed to the CSC Central on 04 May 1999, and the CSC Central reversed the regional order on 29 February 2000. The complainants sought reconsideration, were denied, and ultimately secured a favorable decision from the Court of Appeals on 31 July 2001, which reversed the CSC Central and reinstated the regional order on the ground that the CSC Central acted without jurisdiction because the regional order had become final and executory.

Initiation of Criminal Proceedings

The Court noted that an Urgent Motion for Execution of the Court of Appeals decision was filed with the CSC on 22 October 2001. While that motion remained pending, the Office of the Ombudsman, through the Office of the Special Prosecutor, filed an Information with the Sandiganbayan on 28 January 2002 charging Sergio F. Emprese, Sr. with violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019; the case was docketed as Criminal Case No. 27136. The Urgent Motion for Execution was granted by the CSC on 20 February 2002, and the CSC Central later denied the accused’s motion for reconsideration in an order dated 23 April 2002.

Motions, Manifestations and Affidavits

The Court described that Sergio F. Emprese, Sr. filed a Motion to Quash the Information on 09 May 2002, asserting that the acts charged did not constitute a violation of Section 3(e) and that the Information failed to conform substantially to the form required by Section 3(d) of Rule 117. The accused manifested to the Ombudsman on 13 June 2002 that the complainants had been reinstated and had begun receiving partial back wage payments. On 19 June 2002 he filed a supplemental manifestation attaching a Joint Affidavit of Desistance dated 11 June 2002, and on the same date the Ombudsman dismissed the administrative case for lack of interest to prosecute. The accused informed the Sandiganbayan of the affidavit of desistance on 25 June 2002.

Sandiganbayan’s Resolution and Reasoning

The Fourth Division of the Sandiganbayan granted the Motion to Quash in a 02 August 2002 Resolution and denied the petitioner’s motion for reconsideration on 11 September 2002. The Sandiganbayan reasoned that it “strained reason” to criminally charge the accused for failure to enforce a decision when execution of that decision had been sought from the CSC, and that the accused had shown good faith by reinstating the complainants after the CSC denied his motion for reconsideration. The Sandiganbayan dismissed the Information, cancelled the accused’s cash bail bond, and lifted the Hold Departure Order.

Petition to the Supreme Court and the Issue Framed

The petitioner filed a petition for certiorari under Rule 65, Rules of Court with the Supreme Court on 10 January 2003, alleging grave abuse of discretion and lack or excess of jurisdiction by the Sandiganbayan in quashing the Information and denying reconsideration. The single issue articulated was whether the Sandiganbayan acted without jurisdiction, in excess of jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion in quashing Criminal Case No. 27136. The petitioner argued that the affidavit of desistance was executed by only one of eight complainants and therefore could not support dismissal as to the others, and that the Sandiganbayan concluded the accused acted in good faith without evidence and without affording the petitioner an opportunity to rebut. The accused countered that the remedy invoked was improper because the Sandiganbayan’s Resolution was a final order reviewable under Rule 45; he also maintained that the Information was quashed because the acts charged did not constitute a violation of Section 3(e) and that the prosecution was rendered moot by the subsequent reinstatement of complainants pursuant to CSC execution.

Court’s Analysis on Procedural Properness of the Petition

The Supreme Court held that the petition under Rule 65 was an inappropriate remedy because the Sandiganbayan’s Resolution was a final order subject to review by a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45. The Court recited Sections 1 and 2 of Rule 45 and Section 7 of Presidential Decree No. 1606, as amended by Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7975, and observed that the petitioner received the denial of reconsideration on 13 November 2002 and had until 28 November 2002 to file a Rule 45 petition. Instead, the petitioner filed the present Rule 65 petition on 10 January 2003, forty-three days after the reglementary period had lapsed. The Court reiterated the settled principle that certiorari under Rule 65 is unavailable where a plain, speedy and adequate remedy by appeal exists, that appeal and certiorari are mutually exclusive, and that a petition under Rule 65 will not be treated as one under Rule 45 where it is filed well beyond the reglementary period without justification.

Court’s Merits Analysis on Alleged Grave Abuse of Discretion

The Court further addressed the substantive contention and found no grave abuse of discretion. It explained that grave abuse exists only where the tr

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