G.R. No. 19052. December 29, 1962
MANUEL F. CABAL, PETITIONER, VS. HON. RUPERTO KAPUNAN, JR. AND THE CITY FISCAL OF MANILA, RESPONDENTS.
injunction, to restrain the Hon. Ruperto Kapunan, Jr., as Judge of the Court of
First Instance of Manila, from further proceeding in Criminal Case No. 60111 of
said court, and to set aside an order of said respondent, as well as the whole
proceedings in said criminal case.
On or about August 2, 1961, Col. Jose C. Maristela of the Philippine Army
filed with the Secretary of National Defense a letter-complaint charging
petitioner Manuel F. Cabal, then Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines, with “graft, corrupt practices, unexplained wealth, conduct
unbecoming of an officer and gentleman, dictatorial tendencies, giving false
statements of his assets and liabilities in 1958 and other equally reprehensible
acts”. On September 6, 1961, the President of the Philippines created a
committee of five (5) members, consisting of former Justice Marceliano R.
Montemayor, as Chairman, former Justices Buenaventura Ocampo and Sotero Cabahug,
and Generals Basilio J. Valdez and Guillermo B. Francisco, to investigate the
charge of unexplained wealth contained in said letter-complaint and submit its
report and recommendations as soon as possible. At the beginning of the
investigation, on September 15, 1961, the Committee, upon request of
complainant, Col. Maristela, ordered petitioner herein to take the witness stand
and be sworn to as witness for Maristela, in support of his aforementioned
charge of unexplained wealth. Thereupon, petitioner objected, personally and
through counsel, to said request of Col. Maristela and to the aforementioned
order of the Committee, invoking his constitutional right against
self-incrimination. The Committee insisted that petitioner take the witness
stand and be sworn to, subject to his right to refuse to answer such questions
as may be incriminatory. This notwithstanding, petitioner respectfully refused
to be sworn to as a witness or take the witness stand. Hence, in a communication
dated September 18, 1961, the Committee referred the matter to respondent City
Fiscal of Manila, for such action as he may deem proper. On September 28, 1961,
the City Fiscal filed with the Court of First Instance of Manila a “charge”
reading as follows:
“The undersigned hereby charges Manuel F. Cabal with contempt under section
580 of the Revised Administrative Code in relation to sections 1 and 7, Rule 64
of the Rules of Court, committed as follows:‘That on or about September 15, 1961, in the investigation conducted at the
U.P. Little Theater, Padre Faura, Manila, by the Presidential Committee, which
was created by the President of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance
with law to investigate the charges of alleged acquisition by respondent of
unexplained wealth and composed of Justice Marceliano Montemayor, as Chairman,
and Justices Buenaventura Ocampo and Sotero Cabahug and Generals Basilio Valdez
and Guillermo Francisco, as members, with the power, among others, to compel the
attendance of witnesses and take their testimony under oath, respondent who was
personally present at the time before the Committee in compliance with a
subpoena duly issued to him, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and
contumaciously, without any justifiable cause or reason, refuse and fail and
stil refuse and fail to obey the lawful order of the Committee to take the
witness stand, be sworn and testify as witness in said investigation, in utter
disregard of the lawful authority of the Committee and thereby obstructing and
degrading the proceedings before said body.’“WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that respondent be summarily adjudged
guilty of contempt of the Presidential Committee and accordingly disciplined as
in contempt of court by imprisonment until such time as he shall obey the
subject order of said Committee.”
This charge, docketed as Criminal Case No. 60111 of said court, was assigned
to Branch XVIII thereof, presided over by respondent Judge. On October 2, 1961,
the latter issued an order requiring petitioner to show cause and/or answer the
charge filed against him within ten (10) days. Soon thereafter, or on October 4,
1961, petitioner filed with respondent Judge a motion to quash the charge and/or
order to show cause, upon the ground: (1) that the City Fiscal has neither
authority nor personality to file said charge and the same is null and void,
for, if criminal, the charge has been filed without a preliminary investigation,
and, if civil, the City Fiscal may not file it, his authority in respect of
civil cases being limited to representing the City of Manila; (2) that the facts
charged constitute no offense, for section 580 of the Revised Administrative
Code, upon which the charge is based, violates due process, in that it is vague
and uncertain as regards the offense therein defined and the fine imposable
therefor and that it fails to specify whether said offense shall be treated as
contempt of an inferior court or of a superior court; (3) that more than one
offense is charged, for the contempt imputed to petitioner is sought to be
punished as contempt of an inferior court, as contempt of a superior court and
as contempt under section 7 of Rule 64 of the Rules of Court; (4) that the
Committee had no power to order and require petitioner to take the witness stand
and be sworn to, upon the request of Col. Maristela, as witness for the latter,
inasmuch as said order violates petitioner’s constitutional right against
self-incrimination.
By resolution dated October 14, 1961, respondent Judge denied said motion to
quash. Thereupon, or on October 20, 1961, petitioner began the present action
for the purpose adverted to above, alleging that, unless restrained by this
Court, respondent Judge may summarily punish him for contempt, and that such
action would not be appealable.
In their answer, respondents herein allege, inter alia, that the
investigation being conducted by the Committee above referred to is
administrative, not criminal, in nature; that the legal provision relied upon by
petitioner in relation to preliminary investigations (Section 38-C, Republic Act
No. 409, as amended by Republic Act No. 1201) is inapplicable to contempt
proceedings; that, under section 580 of the Revised Administrative Code,
contempt against an administrative officer is to be dealt with as contempt of a
superior court; that petitioner herein is charged with only one offense; and
that, under the constitutional guarantee against self-incrimination, petitioner
herein may refuse, not to take the witness stand, but to answer incriminatory
questions.
At the outset, it is not disputed that the accused in a criminal case may
refuse, not only to answer incriminatory questions, but, also, to take the
witness stand (3 Wharton’s Criminal Evidence, pp. 1959-1960; 98 C.J.S., p. 264).
Hence, the issue before us boils down to whether or not the proceedings before
the aforementioned Committee is civil or criminal in character.
In this connection, it should be noted that, although said Committee was
created to investigate the administrative charge of unexplained wealth, there
seems to be no question that Col. Maristela does not seek the removal of
petitioner herein as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As a
matter of fact he no longer holds such office. It seems, likewise, conceded that
the purpose of the charge against petitioner is to apply the provisions of
Republic Act No. 1379, as amended, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft Law, which
authorizes the forfeiture to the State of property of a public officer or
employee which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary as such public
officer or employee and his other lawful income and the income from legitimately
acquired property. Such forfeiture has been held, however, to partake of the
nature of a penalty.
“In a strict signification, a forfeiture is a divestiture of property without
compensation, in consequence of a default or an offense, and the term is used in
such a sense in this article. A forfeiture, as thus defined, is imposed by way
of punishment, not by the mere convention of the parties, but by the
lawmaking power, to insure a prescribed course of conduct. It is a method deemed
necessary by the legislature to restrain the commission of an offense and to
aid in the prevention of such an offense. The effect of such a forfeiture is
to transfer the title to the specific thing from the owner to the sovereign
power (23 Am. Jur. 599) (Italics ours.)“In Black’s Law Dictionary a ‘forfeiture’ is defined to be ‘the incurring of
a liability to pay a definite sum of money as the consequence of violating the
provisions of some statute or refusal to comply with some requirement of law.’
It may be said to be a penalty imposed for misconduct or breach of duty.’
” (Com. vs. French, 114 S.W. 255.)
As a consequence, proceedings for forfeiture of property are deemed criminal
or penal, and, hence, the exemption of defendants in criminal case from the
obligation to be witnesses against themselves are applicable thereto.
“Generally speaking, informations for the forfeiture of goods that seek no
judgment of fine or imprisonment against any person are deemed to be civil
proceedings in rem. Such proceedings are criminal in nature to the
extent that where the person using the res illegally is the owner or rightful
possessor of it, the forfeiture proceeding is in the nature of a punishment.
They have been held to be so far in the nature of criminal proceedings
that a general verdict on several counts in an information is upheld if one
count is good. According to the authorities such proceedings, where the owner
of the property appears, are so far considered as quasi-criminal proceedings as
to relieve the owner from, being a witness against himself and to prevent the
compulsory production of his books and papers. * * *” (23 Am. Jur. 612;
Italics ours.)“Although the contrary view formerly obtained, the later decisions are
to the effect that suits for forfeitures incurred by the commission of offenses
against the law are so far of a quasi-criminal nature as to be within the
reason of criminal proceedings for all purposes of * * * that portion of
the Fifth Amendment which declares that no person shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself. * * * It has frequently been
held upon constitutional grounds under the various State Constitution that a
witness or party called as a witness cannot be made to testify against himself
as to matters which would subject his property to forfeiture. At early common
law no person could be compelled to testify against himself or to answer
any question which would have had a tendency to expose his property to a
forfeiture, or to form a link in a chain of evidence for that purpose, as
well as to incriminate him. Under this common-law doctrine of protection against
compulsory disclosures which would tend to subject the witness to a forfeiture,
such protection was claimed and availed of in some early American cases without
placing the basis of the protection upon constitutional grounds.” (23 Am, Jur.
616; Italics ours.)“Proceedings for forfeitures are generally considered to be civil and in the
nature of proceedings in rem. The statute providing that no judgment or
other proceedings in civil causes shall be arrested or reversed for any defect
or want of form is applicable to them. In some aspects, however suits for
penalties and forfeitures are of quasi-criminal nature and within the reason of
criminal proceedings for all the purposes of * * * that portion of the
Fifth Amendment which declares that no person shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself. The proceeding is one against the
owner, as well as against the goods; for it i’s his breach of the laws which has
to be proved to establish the forfeiture and his property is sought to be
forfeited.” (15 Am. Jur., Sec. 104, p. 368; Italics ours.)“The rule protecting a person from being compelled to furnish evidence which
would incriminate him exists not only when he is liable criminally to
prosecution and punishment, but also when his answer would tend to expose
him to a * * * forfeiture. * * *.” (58 Am. Jur., Sec. 43, p. 48;
Italics ours.)“As already observed, the various constitutions provide that no person shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. This
prohibition against compelling a person to take the stand as a witness against
himself applies only to criminal, quasi-criminal, and penal proceedings,
including a proceeding civil in form for forfeiture of property by reason of
the commission of an offense, but not a proceeding in which the penalty
recoverable is civil or remedial in nature, * * *.” (58 Am. Jur., Sec. 44, p.
49; Italics ours.)“The privilege of a witness not to incriminate himself is not infringed by
merely asking the witness a question which he refuses to answer. The privilege
is simply an option of refusal, and not a prohibition of inquiry. A question is
not improper merely because the answer may tend to criminate, but, where a
witness exercises his constitutional right not to answer, a question by counsel
as to whether the reason for refusing to answer is because the answer may tend
to incriminate the witness is improper.“The possibility that the examination of the witness will be pursued to the
extent of requiring self-incrimination will not justify the refusal to answer
questions. However, where the position of the witness is virtually that of an
accused on trial, it would appear that he may invoke the privilege in support of
a blanket refusal to answer any and all questions.” (98 C.J.S., p. 252;
Italics ours.)“A person may not be compelled to testify in an action against him for a
penalty or to answer any question as a witness which would subject him to a
penalty or forfeiture, where the penalty or forfeiture is imposed as a
vindication of the public justice of the state.“In general, both at common law and under a constitutional provision against
compulsory self-incrimination, a person may not be compelled to answer any
question as a witness which would subject him to a penalty or forfeiture,
or testify in an action against him for a penalty.“The privilege applies where the penalty or forfeiture is recoverable, or is
imposed in vindication of the public justice of the state, as a statutory fine
or penalty, or a fine or penalty for violation of a municipal ordinance, even
though the action or proceeding for its enforcement is not brought in a criminal
court but is prosecuted through the modes of procedure applicable to an ordinary
civil remedy.” (98 C.J.S., pp. 275-6)
Thus, in Boyd vs. U.S. (116 U.S. 616, 29 L. ed. 746), it was held that the
information, in a proceeding to declare a forfeiture of certain property because
of the evasion of a certain revenue law, “though technically a civil
proceeding, is in substance and effect a criminal one“, and that
suits for penalties and forfeitures are within the reason of criminal
proceedings for the purposes of that portion of the Fifth Amendment of the
Constitution of the U.S. which declares that no person shall be compelled in a
criminal case to be a witness against himself. Similarly, a proceeding for the
removal of an officer was held, in Thurston vs. Clark (107 Cal. 285, 40 P 435,
437), to be in substance criminal, for said portion of the Fifth
Amendment applies “to all cases in which the action prosecuted is not to
establish, recover or redress private and civil rights, but to try and
punish persons charged with the commission of public offenses” and “a criminal
case is an action, suit or cause instituted to punish an infraction of the
criminal laws, and, with this object in view, it matters not in what form a
statute may clothe it; it is still a criminal case * * *. This view was, in
effect confirmed in Lees vs. U.S. (37 L. ed. 1150-1151). Hence, the Lawyers
Reports Annotated (Vol. 29, p. 8), after an extensive examination of pertinent
cases, concludes that said constitutional provision applies whenever the
proceeding is not “purely remedial“, or intended “as a redress for a
private grievance”, but primarily to punish “a violation of
duty or a public wrong and to deter others from offending in a like manner *
* *”.
We are not unmindful of the doctrine laid down in Almeda vs. Perez, L-18428
(August 30, 1962) in which the theory that, after the filing of respondents’
answer to a petition for forfeiture under Republic Act No. 1379, said petition
may not be amended as to substance pursuant to our rules of criminal procedure,
was rejected by this Court upon the ground that said forfeiture proceeding is
civil in nature. This doctrine refers, however, to the purely procedural
aspect of said proceeding, and has no bearing on the substantial rights of the
respondents therein, particularly their constitutional right against
self-incrimination.
Wherefore, the writ prayed for is granted and respondent Judge hereby
enjoined permanently from proceeding further in Criminal Case No. 60111 of the
Court of First Instance of Manila. It is so ordered.
Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Reyes, J. B. L., Barrera, Paredes,
Dizon, Regala, and Makalintal, JJ., concur.