GR L 10969; (March, 1958) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-10969; March 31, 1958
DALMACIO DE LOS ANGELES, petitioner, vs. THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
FACTS
The petitioner, Dalmacio de los Angeles, a lawyer, was convicted of attempted bribery by the Court of First Instance of Manila. He offered and delivered a total of P2,300 to Epifanio T. Villegas, a district agent of the National Bureau of Investigation, to induce him to refrain from investigating the petitioner’s clients for smuggling aliens. The trial court sentenced him to 6 months and 1 day of destierro and ordered the confiscation of the P2,300. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty to two years, four months, and one day of destierro and a fine of P2,300, with subsidiary destierro in case of insolvency. The petitioner sought a review, challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court. He argued that since the consummated crime of bribery is penalized with arresto mayor (within the jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace and Municipal Courts), the attempted crime, penalized with destierro (a lesser penalty), should also fall under the jurisdiction of those lower courts. The Solicitor General and the Court of Appeals held that the additional penalty of fine for consummated bribery (not less than the value of the bribe and not more than three times such value), when reduced by two degrees for the attempted crime, could still exceed P200, thus placing the case within the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance under the Judiciary Act of 1948.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of First Instance of Manila had original jurisdiction to try the case of attempted bribery, considering the penalties of destierro and fine imposable.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance. It held that for the consummated crime of bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code, the penalty includes a fine of not less than the value of the gift and not more than three times such value. For the attempted crime, this fine is reduced by two degrees. Applying Article 75 of the Revised Penal Code, the reduction for each degree is by one-fourth of the maximum amount prescribed by law for the consummated crime, without changing the minimum. Thus, for the maximum fine of P6,900 (three times P2,300), a two-degree reduction involves deducting one-fourth of P6,900 twice, resulting in a maximum fine of P3,450. Since this maximum fine exceeds P200, the case falls within the original jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance under Republic Act No. 296 . The Court rejected the petitioner’s argument that the fine is inapplicable to attempted bribery, noting that the gift or bribe money is present and is an essential element in both consummated and attempted bribery. The penalty imposed by the Court of Appeals was within the range prescribed by law.