G.R. No. 38948 ; November 18, 1933
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. TOMAS MANANSALA, ET AL., defendants. GALICANO ALON and RICARDO CABRALES, appellants.

FACTS

Appellants Galicano Alon and Ricardo Cabrales, together with others, were charged with estafa. They defrauded Perfecto Abordo by falsely representing they had 600 tins of opium for sale. They induced Abordo to pay P600 in advance for the opium, delivering to him a gasoline can represented to contain the opium. The can actually contained only six small tins of a black substance (molasses) and sand. After trial, the Court of First Instance of Manila convicted Alon and Cabrales of estafa under Article 354, No. 2 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended. They were sentenced to imprisonment, ordered to indemnify Abordo, and to pay costs. They appealed the conviction.

ISSUE

Whether the appellants can be validly convicted of the crime of estafa given that the transaction involved the purported sale of opium, an illegal substance.

RULING

Yes, the conviction is valid. The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. The crime committed is estafa (swindling). The illegality of the object of the contract (opium) does not negate the criminal liability for the deceit. The appellants employed false pretenses and fraudulent representations to defraud Abordo of his money. The fact that Abordo was himself participating in an illegal transaction does not absolve the appellants from criminal liability for the separate and distinct crime of estafa. The court cited the principle that while a party to an illegal contract may not seek civil relief (in pari delicto), this does not preclude the state from prosecuting a crime committed in the course of such illegal transaction. The deceit and damage are present, constituting the crime of estafa.

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