GR 161950; (December, 2006) (Digest)
G.R. No. 161950 ; December 19, 2006
Florencio B. Campomanes, petitioner, vs. People of the Philippines, respondent.
FACTS
The petitioner, Florencio B. Campomanes, then President of the Federation Internationale Des Echecs (FIDE), was charged with violating Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code (Failure of an Accountable Officer to Render Accounts) in relation to Article 222. The case stemmed from the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) bid to host the 1992 Chess Olympiad in Manila. The PSC, through its Chairman Cecilio G. Hechanova, remitted a total of P12,876,008.00 to FIDE, received by Campomanes as FIDE President, to fund the event. A Commission on Audit (COA) report later found that these funds were disbursed without the required official acknowledgment receipts from FIDE and without subsequent liquidation reports detailing how the money was spent.
The Sandiganbayan acquitted Hechanova for lack of proof of conspiracy but convicted Campomanes. It found that as the recipient of the government funds, he was an accountable officer duty-bound to render accounts. The court initially imposed imprisonment but later reduced the penalty to a fine of P6,000.00 due to Campomanes’ advanced age. Campomanes appealed, arguing he was not a public officer accountable under the Revised Penal Code.
ISSUE
Whether Florencio B. Campomanes, as President of FIDE, a private international organization, qualifies as an “accountable officer” under Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code, making him criminally liable for failure to render accounts for the PSC funds he received.
RULING
The Supreme Court REVERSED the Sandiganbayan and ACQUITTED Campomanes. The Court held that for a person to be criminally liable under Article 218, they must be a “public officer” who, by law or regulation, is accountable for government funds or property. The provision specifically applies to “any public officer” who fails to render accounts upon demand. Campomanes, as President of FIDE, was not a public officer but a private individual heading a private international organization. The funds, while sourced from the government, were remitted to FIDE for a specific international event. Upon receipt, the money became FIDE’s private funds, and Campomanes’ accountability was to FIDE, not to the Philippine government as a public officer.
The Court clarified that his duty to liquidate the funds was contractual or civil in nature, arising from the PSC’s bid offer and FIDE’s acceptance, not from a public office he held. Criminal liability under Article 218 is personal to public officers; it cannot be extended to private individuals without a clear legal basis. Since the prosecution failed to prove Campomanes was a public officer accountable under the law, all elements of the crime were not established, warranting his acquittal.