G.R. No. 105607 June 21, 1993
HECTOR VILLANUEVA, petitioner, vs. SANDIGANBAYAN (Second Division) AND THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Hector C. Villanueva, the OIC-Mayor of Bais City, was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The information charged that in January 1987, he denied William Fleischer’s application for renewal of a mayor’s permit to operate the Bais City Cockers Cockpit and instead issued the permit to Milagros Donio-Teves, operator of Jumils Octagonal Garden Cockpit, despite knowing Teves was not legally entitled to it, thereby causing undue injury to Fleischer. The controversy stemmed from a long-standing dispute over the sole cockpit franchise in Bais City. Teves owned Jumils cockpit, which was located in a prohibited zone per a 1977 zoning ordinance. In 1981, then-Mayor Genar Goñi refused to renew Teves’s permit and issued it to Fleischer for his newly built Bais cockpit. The Philippine Gamefowl Commission (PGC) ruled in January 1983 that Teves had the right to relocate her cockpit to an allowable site and was given a “reasonable time” to do so, and it cancelled Fleischer’s permit since the city could only have one cockpit. The Court of Appeals affirmed this decision in January 1985. In July 1985, the PGC fixed the “reasonable time” at one year from February 8, 1985, warning that failure would be deemed a waiver of her right. Teves failed to relocate. Subsequently, Mayor Goñi granted Fleischer a mayor’s permit for 1986. When petitioner became OIC-Mayor in May 1986, he initially advised Fleischer to desist from operating pending PGC resolution, but after Fleischer’s counsel furnished a copy of a registration certificate, petitioner, upon seeking advice from the City Fiscal, granted Teves a permit on January 21, 1987, subject to conditions, which the City Council confirmed by resolution on January 27, 1987.

ISSUE

Whether petitioner Hector C. Villanueva is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by acting with manifest partiality or evident bad faith in issuing a mayor’s permit to Milagros Donio-Teves, thereby causing undue injury to William Fleischer.

RULING

The Supreme Court REVERSED the Sandiganbayan’s decision and ACQUITTED petitioner Hector C. Villanueva. The Court found that the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The elements of the offense require that the accused acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence. The Court held that petitioner did not act with evident bad faith or manifest partiality. He sought and followed the advice of the City Fiscal, who opined that Teves’s application could be granted subject to compliance with PGC rules and the Court of Appeals decision. Furthermore, the Court noted that under PD 1535, cockpit owners were given two years from its effectivity (June 11, 1978) to comply with zoning requirements, and petitioner’s issuance of the permit in January 1987 could be considered within a permissible period reckoned from the finality of the Court of Appeals decision in 1985. Bad faith implies a dishonest purpose or moral obliquity, which was not present, as petitioner acted based on legal advice and conditional approval. Therefore, his actions did not constitute the offense charged.