PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PETITIONER, VS. HON. ERNESTO M. MENDOZA, PRESIDING JUDGE, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF MALAYBALAY, BUKIDNON, BRANCH 10, AND JUAN MAGALOP Y SALVACION, RESPO…

This is a petition for certiorari and mandamus
filed by the Office of the Provincial Fiscal (now Provincial Prosecutor) of
Malaybalay, Bukidnon, in behalf of the People of the Philippines, assailing the
judgment of respondent Judge Ernesto M. Mendoza in Crim. Case No. 4264
acquitting accused Juan Magalop y Salvacion, private respondent herein, of the
crime of robbery with force upon things notwithstanding his plea of guilt. Petitioner prays that respondent Judge be
ordered to reverse his judgment exonerating Magalop and, instead, to impose
upon him the proper penalty for the offense to which he pleaded guilty.

The evidence discloses that on 20 January 1987, the storeroom of
the Bukidnon National School of Home Industries (BNSHI) in Maramag, Bukidnon,
was ransacked. After an on-the-spot
investigation, the police found themselves at a loss as to the identity of the
culprit or culprits. The value of the
missing articles was estimated at P15,298.15.

Eventually, responsibility for the robbery with force upon things
was laid on accused Juan Magalop y Salvacion, Petronilo Fernandez y Cano and
Ricarte Dahilan alias Ricky. All three
(3) were represented by District Citizens Attorney Isidro L. Caracol. At the arraignment on 23 June 1987, Magalop
pleaded “guilty” while Fernandez pleaded “not guilty.” The
arraignment of Dahilan was
deferred as he was “not
mentally well.”

Instead of pronouncing judgment on Magalop, the court a quo conducted trial. The prosecution presented Pat. Jakosalem,
INP, who investigated the break-in, as well as a clerk and a storekeeper of the
BNSHI. The prosecution likewise offered
in evidence colored pictures of the ransacked storeroom, a pair of ordinary
pliers colored blue, a pair of long-nose pliers colored red, and a coping saw. The last three items were said to have been
recovered by the police.

The defense having opted to waive its right to present evidence,
the case was submitted for decision.

On 8 October 1987, respondent Judge acquitted accused Fernandez
as well as Magalop who earlier pleaded guilty to the charge. The two-paged, single-spaced judgment is
quoted hereunder for careful scrutiny and better appreciation. Thus –

This is a case where three accused were allegedly responsible for
forcibly taking things from the storeroom of the Bukidnon National School of
Home Industries.

It was established by the prosecution that the storeroom of the
Bukidnon National School of Home Industries at Maramag, Bukidnon, on January
20, 1987 was ransacked as shown by the testimonies of the policemen and by the
keepers of the storeroom. After on the
spot investigation, the policemen were at a loss to identify the person or
persons responsible thereof.

Except for the accused Juan Magalop who pleaded guilty, the
identity of the perpetrators remained a problem. Accused Ricarte Dahilan is mentally deranged; hence the trial was
separate for accused Petronilo Fernandez and Juan Magalop.

As shown by the evidence of the prosecution, some of the stolen
things were in the possession of a certain Babie Tan, consisting of two pliers
and a saw, and these were all allegedly sold to said Babie Tan who refused to
testify on the matter.

The evidence of the prosecution failed to prove that the three
accused were responsible for stealing these three articles or tools.

Although Juan Magalop pleaded guilty, it was not shown who
(how?) they conspired and helped each other in the commission of the crime
charged. To the Court, the plea of Juan
Magalop was not intelligently done. In
the course of the proceedings, it was not established how Juan Magalop and
Petronilo Fernandez participated in the looting. No evidence was introduced to show that the accused sold the
stolen things to Babie Tan, which the prosecution could have proved to show
that the possessors of the stolen things could have been identified as the
thief or thieves; hence, the prosecution utterly failed to prove the guilt of
the accused beyond doubt (underscoring supplied).

PREMISES CONSIDERED, the accused Petronilo Fernandez and Juan
Magalop are hereby ACQUITTED. With
respect to Ricarte Dahilan, let this case be held in abeyance until he is
mentally well.^[1]

Its motion for reconsideration having been denied, petitioner is
now before us contending that the decision of 8 October 1987 and the order of 4
November 1987 denying reconsideration are “purely capricious and
arbitrary, made for no proper reason at all and rendered without legal
authority whatsoever, thereby amounting to lack of jurisdiction and/or grave
abuse of discretion, and curtailed the power of the state to punish
criminals.”^[2]

Petitioner submits that the accused Magalop, who was assisted by
counsel, had voluntarily, spontaneously and intelligently pleaded guilty to the
crime of robbery with force upon things. Thus, the trial court had no alternative but to pronounce judgment and
impose the proper penalty.

Parenthetically, petitioner interposed no objection to the
acquittal of accused Fernandez.

It may be stressed that the petition is defective since it was
filed by the Provincial Fiscal and Assistant Provincial Fiscal of Malaybalay,
Bukidnon, and not by the Solicitor General. We have already ruled in a number of cases that only the Solicitor
General may bring or defend actions on behalf of the People of the Philippines
once such actions are brought before the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.^[3]
As a matter of fact, in his Manifestation filed with this Court on 8 June 1989,
the Solicitor General steered away from the case, explaining that the petition
was filed directly by the Provincial Fiscal of Malaybalay, Bukidnon,
“without coursing it through the OSG,” as a consequence of which it
should be the fiscal who should submit the required pleadings.

Nonetheless, even if we overlook this procedural lapse and treat
the case on the merits, the petition should, just the same, be dismissed.

Petitioner would have this Court set aside the acquittal of
Magalop, insisting that with his voluntary plea of guilt, the trial court had
no other recourse but to pronounce judgment and impose the proper penalty.

The essence of a plea of guilty is that the accused admits his
guilt freely, voluntarily and with full knowledge and understanding of the
precise nature of the crime charged in
the information as well as the consequences of his plea.^[4] It is an unconditional admission of guilt
with respect to the offense charged. It
forecloses the right to defend oneself from said charge and leaves the court
with no alternative but to impose the penalty fixed by law under the
circumstances.^[5] Thus, under the 1985 New Rules on Criminal
Procedure, as amended, when the accused pleads guilty to a non-capital offense,
the court may receive evidence from the parties to determine the penalty to be
imposed.^[6]

This rule is at most directory. It will certainly be a clear abuse of discretion on the part of the
judge to persist in holding the accused bound to his admission of guilt and
sentencing him accordingly when the totality of the evidence points to his
acquittal. There is no rule which
provides that simply because the accused pleaded guilty to the charge that his
conviction automatically follows. Additional evidence independent of the plea may be considered to
convince the judge that it was intelligently made.

Here it is evident, even from the start, that the case of the prosecution
against the three (3) accused was virtually non-existent as the asported
articles were found in the possession of a certain Babie Tan and yet, quite
inexplicably, the prosecution did not summon him to the witness stand. Babie Tan could have positively identified
those who sold him the stolen articles if called to testify. Or, he could very well have been the
perpetrator of the crime himself. In
the absence of an explanation of how one has come into possession of stolen
effects, the possessor is presumed to be the author of the crime of robbery.^[7]

Indeed, not even the testimonies and the mute exhibits introduced
during the trial could breathe life into the moribund state of the case for the
prosecution. While the loss of articles
in the storeroom of the BNSHI was established, there was nothing, independent
of the acknowledgment of guilt, which could link accused Magalop to the
robbery. As the trial court succinctly
put it, “the plea of Juan Magalop was not intelligently done.”

Admittedly, the procedure followed by respondent judge was not
the normal course, as the better procedure would have been that set forth in
People v. Padernal,^[8]
where the court sustained the exoneration of the accused notwithstanding his
plea of guilt. In that case, in view of
the exculpatory testimony of the accused who had earlier pleaded guilty to the
charge of homicide, the trial court correctly considered the plea as withdrawn and, in its place,
ordered a plea of not guilty entered. This was not done by respondent judge. For even after finding that the plea of Magalop was not intelligently
made, Judge Mendoza proceeded to pass judgment without requiring Magalop to
plead anew to the charge. Applying the
principle laid down in the Padernal case, it can fairly be concluded that there
was no standing plea at the time the court rendered its judgment of acquittal
hence said acquittal was a nullity.

Be that as it may, however, in the interest of substantial
justice, we cannot allow such procedural error to prevail over the
constitutional right of the accused to be presumed innocent until the contrary
is proved. In fairness to Magalop,
outside of his improvident plea of guilt, there is absolutely no evidence
against him – presented or forthcoming. From the evidence of the prosecution, there is no way by which accused
Magalop could have been implicated. It
is for this fundamental reason that, even pro hac vice, his acquittal must be sustained. Interdum evenit ut exceptio quae prima
facie justa videtur, tamen inique noceat. It may sometime happen that a plea which on its face seem just,
nevertheless is injurious and inequitable. It is so in this instance.

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the petition is
DISMISSED for lack of merit and the acquittal of the accused-respondent JUAN
MAGALOP Y SALVACION is sustained.

SO ORDERED.

Cruz, J., (Chairman), see
concurrence.

Davide, Jr., Quiason, and Kapunan,
JJ., concur.

^[1]
Annex “C”, Rollo, p. 9.

^[2]
Petition, pp. 3-4.

^[3]
People v. Eduarte, G. R. No. 88232, 26 February 1990, 182 SCRA 750; People
v. Nano, G. R. No. 94639, 13 January 1992, 205 SCRA 155.

^[4]
People v. Formentera, No. L-30892, 29 June 1984, 130 SCRA 114.

^[5]
People v. Balicasan, No. L-26376, 31 August 1966, 17 SCRA 1119; People v. Ng Pek, 81 Phil. 563
(1948).

^[6]
Rule 116, Sec. 4.

^[7]
Sec. 5, par. (j), Rule 131, Rules of Court; People v. Kagui Malasugui, 63 Phil. 221 (1936).

^[8]
No. L-26734, 5 September 1967, 21 SCRA 34, 40.

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