G.R. No. L-47521; April 8, 1941
PEDRO REMOCAL, petitioner, vs. THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.

FACTS

On May 5, 1939, between 12 and 3 p.m., Fernando Tolentino, a prisoner in the municipal jail of Guimba, Nueva Ecija, requested petitioner Pedro Remocal, the only police officer on duty, for permission to use the toilet. Petitioner granted the request, unlocked the jail, and let the prisoner out. After the prisoner returned from the toilet, and as petitioner was about to lock him back in the jail, the prisoner asked for permission to fetch water from a nearby well. Petitioner told him to wait for another policeman. At that moment, the telephone rang repeatedly. Instead of locking the prisoner back in the jail, petitioner told the prisoner to keep close to him while he answered the telephone call. The prisoner took advantage of this situation, ran away, and escaped.

ISSUE

Whether, upon the stated facts, petitioner may properly be held guilty of negligence in the custody of the escaped prisoner.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court held petitioner guilty of negligence. The Court did not agree with petitioner’s contention that his order for the prisoner to keep close to him while answering the telephone was sufficient precaution under the circumstances. The adequate precaution petitioner should have taken was to lock the prisoner back in the jail before answering the telephone call. There was nothing in the telephone call that necessitated giving it preference over his official duty to secure the prisoner. Postponing the answer to the call was the safest course of action. The judgment of conviction was affirmed.