G.R. No. L-37396. April 30, 1979.
MARCELINO LONTOK, JR., petitioner, vs. HON. ALFREDO GORGONIO, as Presiding Judge of the Municipal Court of San Juan, Rizal, respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Marcelino Lontok, Jr. was charged in the Municipal Court of San Juan, Rizal, with the complex crime of “reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property and multiple physical injuries.” The information alleged that on November 14, 1972, his reckless driving caused damage to a jeepney amounting to P780 and caused slight physical injuries to three passengers. Lontok filed a motion to quash the portion of the information charging slight physical injuries (lesiones leves) through reckless imprudence, arguing that this light offense had already prescribed, as it prescribes in two months from November 14, 1972. The municipal court denied his motion.
Lontok pleaded not guilty but, instead of proceeding to trial, filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, seeking an order to amend the information by deleting the charge for slight physical injuries. The Solicitor General, in his comment, agreed with Lontok’s substantive position that the offenses could not be complexed and that the light offense had prescribed, but argued the petition was improper as it raised no jurisdictional issue.

ISSUE

Whether the petitioner can be validly tried on a single information charging the complex crime of damage to property and slight physical injuries, both resulting from reckless imprudence.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioner. It held that the municipal court committed grave abuse of discretion in not quashing the portion of the information charging slight physical injuries. The legal logic is anchored on the proper construction of Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code regarding complex crimes. As amended by Commonwealth Act No. 4000, a complex crime exists only when a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies. A light felony cannot be a component of a complex crime.
Here, damage to property through reckless imprudence (with damage of P780, punishable by a fine up to P2,340) is a less grave felony. However, slight physical injuries through reckless imprudence is a light offense. Consequently, these two offenses resulting from a single act of negligence do not constitute a complex crime under Article 48. They are separate offenses that should be charged in separate informations. Since the light offense of slight physical injuries prescribes in two months, and the information was filed beyond this period (on March 29, 1973, for a November 14, 1972 incident), the petitioner’s criminal liability for that offense had already been extinguished by prescription.
The Court distinguished its prior ruling in Angeles vs. Jose, which involved a complex crime of less grave physical injuries and damage to property (both less grave felonies). The trial court’s orders were set aside. The case was remanded with the instruction to try Lontok only for damage to property through reckless imprudence, as his liability for the slight physical injuries had prescribed.