TOMAS MALLORCA, PETITIONER AND APPELLEE, VS. NICOLAS C. ADOLFO, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OF SUBIC, ZAMBALES, AND ZACARIAS V. MENDOZA, CHIEF OF POLICE AND JAIL WARDEN OF THE MUNICIPA…

A complaint filed on August 24, 1960 by the Chief of Police in the
Justice of the Peace Court of the Municipality of Subic, Zambales,
charged petitioner-appellee Tomas Mallorca and two others with the
crime of theft of property belonging to the United States, valued at
$1,478.05 or P4,655.86, committed “on or about the 18th day of August,
1960, in the U.S. Naval Base, Subic Bay, Subic, Zambales”. Upon its
being docketed as Criminal Case No. 929, the Justice of the Peace of
Subic issued the corresponding warrant of arrest (Exhibit 2), and on
the strength thereof and of the commitment order (Exhibit 3),
petitioner Mallorca was taken into custody of the Chief of Police, who
is concurrently the Jail Warden.

Mallorca petitioned the Court of First Instance for a writ of habeas corpus, praying for his release, on the ground that the Justice of the Peace of Subic
had no jurisdiction to take cognizance of the case, because the place
where the alleged crime was committed was outside the territorial
jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace Court that issued the warrant.
After answer of the Provincial Fiscal, controverting the allegations of
the petition, and due hearing, the Court of First Instance found that
the alleged crime was committed within the territorial jurisdiction of
the Justice of the Peace Court of the Municipality of Olongapo, and thereupon granted the writ and ordered petitioner’s release. The fiscal then appealed to this Court on points of law.

There is no question that formerly, Olongapo was only a barrio
of the Municipality of Subic. Even then, however, Olongapo had its own
justice of the Peace who, since 1947, exercised criminal jurisdiction
over offenses committed within the boundaries of the former U. S. Naval
Base in Subic Bay. On December 7, 1959, Olongapo was constituted into a
separate municipality, with territory comprising only that part of the
former Naval Base Area known as the “Community of Olongapo”. (Exec.
Order No. 366).

The prosecution contends that the territorial jurisdiction of a
Municipal Justice of the Peace Court is only coextensive with that of
the municipality itself; and since the place where the theft was
committed, according to the terms of the charge, lay in the portion of
the former Naval Base outside the boundary limits of the municipality
of Olongapo, it was outside the jurisdiction of the Justice of the
Peace Court of said town, and within that of Subic. This argument would
be tenable if it were not the undisputed fact that since 1947, long
before the separation from Subic, it was the Justice of the Peace of
Olongapo that already exercised jurisdiction over the entire territory
of the Naval Base. The governing provision after the separation of both
towns in Article 69 of the Judiciary Act (R.A. 296 as amended), which
provides:

“SEC. 3. Jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace as Affected by Territorial Changes.—When
a new political division affecting the territorial jurisdiction of the
justice of the peace is formed or the boundaries limiting the case are
changed, the President of the Philippines may, in the absence of
special provision, designate which of the justices and auxiliary
justices within the territory affected by the change shall continue in
office; and the powers of any other therein shall cease.”

As correctly pointed out by the Court of First Instance in its
appealed decision, the import of this section is that the Justice of
the Peace exercising jurisdiction over a specified territory before the
new political division is formed should continue exercising it until
contrary designation by the President. No such designation having taken
place when the crime here charged was committed in 1960, the same
should be taken cognizance of by the Justice of the Peace of Olongapo,
who exercised jurisdiction over the place before the new town was
formed. It follows that the warrant of arrest and order of commitment
(Exhibits 2 and 3) issued by the Justice of the Peace of Subic were
issued without jurisdiction and are null and void. Hence, the Court
below correctly ordered the release of the appellee.

The decision appealed from is affirmed, but without prejudice to
the refiling of the complaint in the Justice of the Peace Court of
Olongapo. No costs.

Bengzon, C. J., Padilla, Concepcion, Barrera, Paredes, Dizon, De Leon, and Natividad, JJ., concur.
Labrador, J., took no part.