G.R. No. 248652 , June 19, 2024
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. ANTONIO M. TALAUE, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

FACTS

Accused-appellant Antonio M. Talaue, the Municipal Mayor of Sto. Tomas, Isabela, was charged under an Information dated June 9, 2010, for violation of Section 52(g) in relation to Section 6(b) of the GSIS Act of 1997. The Information alleged that he, along with other municipal officers, willfully failed to remit GSIS premium contributions of municipal employees amounting to PHP 22,436,546.10 for the period from January 1, 1997, to January 31, 2004, within thirty (30) days from the date the payment became due and demandable.

ISSUE

Whether accused-appellant Antonio M. Talaue should be acquitted of the charge of failure to remit GSIS premiums.

RULING

Yes, accused-appellant should be acquitted. The concurring opinion agrees with the ponencia‘s ruling for acquittal on two primary grounds. First, the prosecution failed to prove that the accused-appellant, as municipal mayor, had the positive duty to personally remit the GSIS premiums of the employees. The Local Government Code does not include such remittance as part of a mayor’s duties. Second, the prosecution failed to prove any overt act or nonfeasance on the part of the accused-appellant regarding the failure to remit. The records showed no instruction from him to subordinates not to remit, and he was under the belief that premiums were being remitted, partly because the Department of Budget and Management had previously withheld PHP 5,000,000.00 from the municipal budget for that purpose. While the offense is malum prohibitum, dispensing with the need to prove criminal intent, the prosecution must still prove the accused’s volition or intent to perpetrate the prohibited act. Here, the prosecution did not establish how the accused-appellant actively participated in the transgression. The inaccuracy in the Information regarding the period when he was not mayor was a matter of defense and did not violate his right to be informed of the accusation.