AMENDING THE PERTINENT PROVISIONS OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1606 AND BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 129 RELATIVE TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE SANDIGANBAYAN AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 has simplified the rules on
Jurisdiction by, among others, abolishing the concurrent jurisdiction of the
Sandiganbayan and the regular courts;

WHEREAS, Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 expanded the exclusive
original jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan over the offenses enumerated in
Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 1606, to embrace all such offenses
irrespective of the imposable penalty;

WHEREAS, there has been a proliferation and marked increase
in the filing of cases before the Sandiganbayan where the offense charged is
punishable by a penalty not higher than prision correccional or its
equivalent;

WHEREAS, unless otherwise authorized by its Presiding
Justice, the Sandiganbayan holds its sessions at its principal office in Metro
Manila, so that public officials accused of offenses punishable by a penalty not
higher than prision correccional or its equivalent and their witnesses, have
undergo the inconvenience of and incur unnecessary expenses in attending
hearings before the Sandiganbayan:

WHEREAS, considering that cases where the offense charged is
punishable by a penalty not exceeding prision correccional or its equivalent are
not of a serious nature, it would be more expeditious and less cumbersome for
the parties and witnesses if the cases are tried by the proper Regional Trial
Court, Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court or Municipal Circuit
Trial Court; the Revised Penal Code, whether simple or complexed

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
order and decree as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 1606 is
hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 4. Jurisdiction. — The Sandiganbayan shall
have the jurisdiction over:

“(a) Violations of Republic Act No. 3019, as amended, otherwise known as the
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Republic Act No. 1379;

“(b) Crimes committed by public officers and employees, including those
employed in government-owned or controlled corporations, embraced in Title VII
of the Revised Penal Code, whether simple or complexed with other crimes;
and

“(c) Other crimes or offenses committed by public officers or employees,
including those employed in government-owned or controlled corporations, in
relation to their office.

“The jurisdiction herein conferred shall be original and exclusive if the
offense charged is punishable by a penalty higher than prision correccional or
its equivalent. In all other offenses, original and exclusive jurisdiction shall
vest in the appropriate court in accordance with the provisions of Batas
Pambansa Blg. 129.

“In case private individuals are charged as co-principals, accomplices or
accessories together with the public officers or employees, including those
employed in government-owned or controlled corporations, they shall be tried
jointly with said public officers and employees.

“Where an accused is tried of any of the above offenses and the evidence is
insufficient to establish the offense charged, he may nevertheless be convicted
of and sentenced for the offense proved, included in that which is charged.

“Any provision of law or the Rules of Court to the contrary notwithstanding,
the criminal action and the corresponding civil action for the recovery of civil
liability arising from the offense charged shall at all times be simultaneously
instituted with, and jointly determined in the same proceeding by, the
Sandiganbayan or the appropriate court. The filing of the criminal action shall
be deemed to necessarily carry with it the filing of the civil action, and no
right to reserve the filing of such civil action separately from the criminal
action shall be recognized; Provided, however, That, in cases within the
exclusive original jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan, where the civil action had
been filed separately with a regular court but judgment therein has not been
rendered and the criminal case is hereafter filed with the Sandiganbayan, said
civil action shall be transferred to the Sandiganbayan for consolidation and
joint determination with the criminal action, otherwise, the criminal action may
no longer be filed with the Sandiganbayan, its exclusive jurisdiction over the
same notwithstanding, but may be filed and prosecuted only in ‘the regular
courts of competent jurisdiction.”

SEC. 2. Section 20 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 is hereby
modified accordingly to reflect the above amendment.

SEC. 3. The provisions of this decree notwithstanding, the
Office of the Tanodbayan shall continue to have the exclusive authority to
conduct preliminary investigation, file the necessary information, and direct
and control the prosecution of all cases enumerated in Section 4 of Presidential
Decree No. 1606, whether such cases be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Sandiganbayan or the regular courts in accordance with the provisions of
Presidential Decree 1630.

SEC. 4. All other laws, orders, promulgations, rules and
regulations or parts thereof, which are inconsistent herewith are hereby
amended, repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 5. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 14th day of January, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-three.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA
		Presidential Executive Assistant