THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLANT, VS. TEODORICO DACO, ET AL., DEFENDANT AND APPELLEE.

A complaint for assault upon an agent of a person in authority was filed on
September 13, 1959 by the Chief of Police of Busuanga, Palawan, against Isidro,
Eustaquio, Teodorico, Isaias, all surnamed Daco, and Mario Edonga in the Justice
of the Peace Court of said municipality. It alleged that on or about 11:00 p.m.
of September 12, 1959, at sitio Bangohon, Municipality of Busuanga, province of
Palawan, the accused, confederating with one another, wilfully, unlawfully and
feloniously attacked Porfirio Feloteo, a policeman of said municipality, while
in the performance of his official duty, causing him to suffer less serious
physical injuries.

After receiving the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense,
during the preliminary investigation, the Justice of the Peace Court rendered a
“decision” elevating the case, as against Isidro Daco, to the Court of First
Instance, but convicting the other four accused for slight physical injuries and
sentencing each of them to 10 days imprisonment. The “decision” notwithstanding,
the provincal fiscal of Palawan filed an information with the Court of First
Instance of said province charging all the five accused with assault upon an
agent of a person in authority, with physical injuries. The defendants—except
Isidro Daco—moved to quash the information on the ground of double jeopardy,
alleging that the crime charged therein necessarily included the crime of slight
physical injuries of which they had been convicted and for which they had served
sentence.

The court sustained the motion to quash and dismissed the case. Hence the
present appeal.

The question to be determined is whether the “decision” of the Justice of the
Peace Court of Busuanga mentioned heretofore is valid or a nullity. If valid,
defendants’ plea of jeopardy should be sustained, but the same should be
overruled if it is otherwise.

That Justice of the Peace Courts have no jurisdiction to entertain a case of
assault against a person in authority or of assault upon an agent of a person in
authority-except for preliminary investigation—has been repeatedly held
heretofore. (Article 148, Revised Penal Code; Salab-salo, et al., vs. Ang Koy,
et al., 108 Phil., 649; 58 Off. Gaz. [35] 5733; Villanueva etc. vs. Hon. Ortiz,
et al., 108 Phil., 493; 58 Off. Gaz. [7] 1318; People vs. Romualdo, 90 Phil.,
739). As a matter of fact, the record of the present case case shows positively
that the Justice of the Peace Court of Busuanga heard the case only to conduct
the corresponding preliminary investigation.

The conviction of Eustaquio, Teodorico, Isaias, all surnamed Daco, and Mario
Edonga by the Justice of the Peace Court of Busuanga being a nullity, their plea
of double jeopardy can not be sustained, one of its essential elements—a
judgment or final order rendered or issued by a competent court—not being
present.

Wherefore, the order of dismissal appealed from is set aside and this case is
remanded to the lower court for further proceedings in accordance with law.
Costs de officio.

Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J. B. L., Barrera,
Paredes, Regala, and Makalintal, JJ., concur.