GR 45618; (October, 1938) (Digest)
G.R. No. 45618 ; October 18, 1938
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellant, vs. ESMINIA PUDOL and ALBERTO REYES, defendants. ALBERTO REYES, appellee.
FACTS
An information was filed charging Esminia Pudol and Alberto Reyes with perjury. The provincial fiscal moved to discharge Pudol to utilize her as a state witness against Reyes. The court granted the motion and dismissed the case against Pudol. Reyes then moved to dismiss the case against him, arguing that (1) with Pudol’s discharge as the alleged principal, there was no ground to prosecute him as a suborner, and (2) the Revised Penal Code no longer penalizes subornation of perjury, as the old law (Act No. 1697) was expressly repealed. The trial court sustained the first ground and dismissed the case against Reyes. The fiscal appealed.
ISSUE
1. Whether the order of dismissal is appealable.
2. Whether the dismissal of the case against the alleged principal (Pudol) necessitates the dismissal of the case against the alleged inducer/cooperating principal (Reyes).
3. Whether subornation of perjury remains a crime under the Revised Penal Code.
RULING
1. Yes, the order is appealable. The dismissal was not an acquittal on the merits, as Reyes had withdrawn his plea, and the case had not been tried.
2. No, the dismissal against Pudol does not bar prosecution against Reyes. Pudol’s discharge as a state witness under Act No. 2709 (to testify for the prosecution) does not restore a presumption of her innocence nor affect Reyes’s criminal liability. The fiscal’s motion indicated Pudol’s testimony could be corroborated, not that the perjury could not be proven.
3. Yes, subornation of perjury remains a crime. Although the Revised Penal Code does not have a specific provision on subornation, Article 17 considers as principals those who directly induce others to commit a crime. Reyes was charged not merely as a suborner but as a principal by induction and by cooperation in the commission of perjury. Therefore, the act is punishable.
The appealed order was reversed. The case was remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
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