G.R. No. 2371. November 11, 1905

In a complaint filed February 24, 1904, Maximo Austria and Angel
Manajan, among others whose names appear therein,were charged with the
crime of brigandage, in that between the dates of November 15, 1902,
and November 15, 1903, they entered into a conspiracy in the Provinces
of Rizal, La Laguna, and Bulacan, with Luciano San Miguel, Julian
Santos, Ciriaco Contreras and others, some of them unknown, and formed
a band of outlaws with the object of stealing carabaos and other
personal property by means of force and violence, and thus confederated
and united in a band, and provided with deadly weapons, committed
robbery of carabaos and other personal property.

After the case had been presented, the court, as a result of the
trial, dismissed the complaint with respect to one of the defendants,
acquitted six others, and sentenced the said defendants Manajan and
Austria, the former to twenty years’ imprisonment, and the latter to
twenty-five years’ imprisonment, both at hard labor.

From the evidence adduced during the trial it appears that said
Austria and Manajan formed a part of a considerable band of malefactors
led by Luciano San Miguel, in which the former figured as a colonel who
had charge of providing food supplies for the subsistence of the band,
and who as a chief, was provided with a revolver, and the latter as a
private soldier armed with a rifle.

The persons composing the band, sometimes collectively, and
sometimes in smaller divisions, engaged in highway robbery and
marauding in certain pueblos of the said provinces and had engagements
with the Constabulary and other agents of the authorities whenever they
were met by them.

The case offers no evidence as to whether the defendants in their
incursions as bandits penetrated the territory of the city of Manila,
or whether they committed therein any of the acts of robbery and
outlawry in which they were engaged, nor is it shown that they were at
any time arrested, especially the two appellants Austria and Manajan,
within the city limits.

It is proved, however, that they were arrested and held in the
pueblo of Tinajeros in the Province of Rizal, and hence the Court of
First Instance of Manila has no jurisdiction in the present case, the
jurisdiction over which belongs to the court of Rizal.

Section 3, Act No. 518, says:

“Persons guilty of the crime defined in section one
may be punished therefor in the Court of First Instance in any province
in which they may be taken or from which they may have fled.”

None of these acts of detention or flight took place within the
territory of the city of Manila, and consequently if it is not within
the competence or jurisdiction of any judge of this capital to hear
this case or render legal judgment therein, all legal proceedings thus
far formulated are null, and it becomes proper to dismiss the
proceedings.

In view of section 23 of General Orders, No. 58, this case is declared dismissed with the costs de oficio,
without prejudice to the filing of a new complaint in the Court of
First Instance of Rizal, this action to be communicated to both judges
and to the Solicitor-General. The case will be returned to the court of
its origin with a certified copy of this decision and of the action
which will be taken at the proper time for its execution. So ordered.

Arellano, C. J., Mapa, Carson, and Willard, JJ., concur.

Johnson, J., dissents.