PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. RODOLFO MONTINOLA, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

This is an appeal by the accused Rodolfo Montinola
from two Orders of May 28, 1976
and July 15, 1976 of the
civil Circuit Criminal Court of Negros Occidental
ordering the transfer to the military tribunal, upon joint motion of May 25, 1976 of the Provincial Fiscal
and the Constabulary Judge Advocate, of Criminal Case No. CCC-XII-927 docketed
with it against the said accused for frustrated murder.  The appeal was certified to this Court by the
Eighth Division* of the Court
of Appeals per its resolution of October
16, 1978 as involving purely questions of law and jurisdiction.

On July 7, 1979,
the accused filed a motion stating inter alia
that

“1.     On February 2, 1979,
the Chief, Prosecution Division, Military Tribunals, for the Judge Advocate
General, AFP, transmitted the illegal possession charge (Violation of General
Orders Nos. 6 and 7 in relation to Presidential Decree 9) filed against him to
the Provincial Fiscal of Negros Occidental ‘pursuant
to Presidential Letter of Instruction No. 772, dated November 27, 1978;’

“2.     On June 28, 1979, the
Provincial Fiscal of Negros Occidental filed the
corresponding information for ‘Violation of General Orders Nos. 6 and 7, in
relation to Presidential Decree No. 9’ in the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, where it was docketed as Criminal Case
No. 3484;

“3.     He was allowed to post
bail for his provisional liberty;

“4. There seems no reason why the related frustrated homicide
charge filed against him should not now be also transferred to the civil courts
from the military tribunals pursuant to the same Presidential Letter of
Instruction No. 772 dated November 27, 1978 – save for the circumstance that
its transfer by the civil Court of First Instance of Negros
Occidental to the Military Tribunals was challenged by him in the
above-entitled appeal which is pending;

x        x          x

“8. With the promulgation of Presidential Letter of
Instruction No. 772 on November 27, 1978, however, there is no reason why the
instant frustrated murder case should not be included within the purview of
‘the announced policy towards normalization’ that.  ‘All criminal cases to be filed by the Judge
Advocate General or by any personnel of the Ministry of National Defense and/or
the military establishment shall be referred in the first instance to the Civil
Courts and no longer to the Military Commission.'”

The accused prayed that “plaintiff-appellee
be directed to inform the Court whether or not the above-entitled frustrated
murder case will be transferred to the civil courts pursuant to Presidential
Letter of Instruction No. 772 and, with an affirmative reply from the
plaintiff-appellee, that the above-entitled appeal be
declared moot and academic and therefore dismissed.”

Solicitor General Estelito P. Mendoza,
pursuant to the Court’s Resolution of July
25, 1979, filed his comment on October 12, 1979, concurring with the accused’s
motion and stating inter alia that

“Because of the appeal of accused-appellant, the orders of the
Circuit Criminal Court directing the transfer of his case to the military
tribunal have not been implemented.

x        x          x

“Pertinent portion of Presidential Letter of Instruction No.
772 dated November 27, 1978,
provides as follows:

‘In line with the announced policy towards normalization,
henceforth:

‘1. All criminal cases to be filed by the Judge Advocate General or
by any personnel of the Ministry of National Defense and/or the military
establishment shall be referred in the first instance to the Civil Courts and
no longer to the Military Commission.’

“The foregoing Letter of Instruction covers all criminal cases
which as of its date have not been filed in the Military Commission.  The case for frus­trated murder against
herein accused-appellant has not been filed with the Military Commission.  It is still docketed as Criminal Case No.
CCC-XII-927 in the Circuit Criminal
Court of Bacolod City.  Evidently, LOl 772
now bars the remand of the case to the Military Commission where it has not
been filed up to the present.  Thus, the
Civil Court has jurisdiction over the case against accused-appellant for
frustrated murder.”

In his prayer, the Solicitor General submitted that “the Circuit
Criminal Court, Bacolod
City, has jurisdiction to try and
decide Criminal Case No. CCC-XII-927 against herein accused-appellant (for
frustrated murder), and the instant appeal from the questioned or­ders of said
court may be considered moot and academic.”

ACCORDINGLY, with the Solicitor General’s submittal that
the remand to the Military Commission of Criminal Case No. CCC-XII-927 of the
Circuit Criminal Court at Bacolod
City against the accused is now
barred by LOI 772, the instant appeal from the questioned orders of May 28, 1976 and July 15, 1976 may be declared moot and academic
and dismissed, as prayed for by the parties. 
Said orders have been rendered moot and ineffective by the provisions of
Presidential LOI No. 772 dated November
27, 1978.  Let the said case
remain with the Circuit Criminal Court at Bacolod City
for trial and disposition on the merits.

SO ORDERED.

Makasiar, Fernandez, Guerrero, De
Castro, and Melencio-Herrera,
JJ., concur.

* Composed then
of Melencio-Herrera, J., ponente,
and Relova and Gopengco, JJ.