G.R. No. 224679, February 12, 2020
Jonah Mallari y Samar, Petitioner, v. People of the Philippines, Respondent.

FACTS

An Information was filed charging Jonah Mallari y Samar (Mallari) with Direct Assault upon an Agent of a Person in Authority. The prosecution alleged that on January 12, 2007, in Olongapo City, while Police Officer 2 (PO2) Richard Navarro, a uniformed police officer, was in the actual performance of his official duty of pacifying an altercation, Mallari, who was visibly drunk, willfully assaulted him by grabbing his collar, slapping his cheek, and kicking his legs several times. PO2 Navarro sustained a swollen cheekbone. Mallari pleaded not guilty. During trial, Mallari testified that after the initial altercation, she obeyed the police order to board the patrol car but alighted when her companions did not. She claimed that PO2 Navarro then pushed her back in, grabbed her ankles, and pulled her down, causing her to hit her head and sustain injuries, and that she did not slap or kick him. The Municipal Trial Court and the Regional Trial Court found Mallari guilty. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. Mallari filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari before the Supreme Court.

ISSUE

Whether or not petitioner Jonah Mallari y Samar is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of direct assault upon an agent of a person in authority.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the ruling of the Court of Appeals. The Court affirmed the lower courts’ factual findings that Mallari slapped and kicked PO2 Navarro while he was performing his official duty. However, the Court held that the acts committed by Mallari did not constitute the crime of Direct Assault under Article 148 of the Revised Penal Code. The Court explained that for Direct Assault to exist, the force employed must be of a serious character (i.e., dangerous, grave, or severe). The acts of slapping and kicking, under the circumstances, were not of such a serious character. Instead, Mallari’s acts constituted the lesser offense of Resistance and Disobedience to an Agent of a Person in Authority under Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, as she used force to resist a lawful order. Consequently, the Supreme Court found Mallari guilty of the crime of Resistance and Disobedience to an Agent of a Person in Authority under Article 151(1) and imposed the penalty of arresto mayor (one month and one day to six months) and a fine not exceeding P500.00.