GR L 3907; (March, 1908) (Digest)
March 4, 2026GR L 3975; (March, 1908) (Digest)
March 4, 2026G.R. No. L-3968
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MARCOS LOPEZ, ET AL., defendants, MARCOS LOPEZ, appellant.
March 21, 1908
FACTS:
Marcos Lopez, a municipal treasurer and deputy provincial treasurer, along with two clerks, was charged with estafa. He was accused of knowingly, maliciously, and criminally, by means of deceit, collecting from several residents of Escalante, Occidental Negros, greater fees than those prescribed by Act No. 1147 for branding and registering cattle, to the prejudice of the owners, amounting to P174.50. The complaint against the clerks was dismissed so they could be used as witnesses against Lopez. The lower court found Marcos Lopez guilty of estafa and sentenced him to pay a fine of P150, suffer twelve years of special temporary disqualification under Article 541 in its relation with Article 399 of the Penal Code, and return P118.60. Lopez appealed, arguing that the offense committed should have been qualified as illegal exaction, defined and punished under Article 398 of the Penal Code, instead of estafa.
ISSUE:
Whether the lower court erred in qualifying the offense committed by Marcos Lopez as estafa instead of illegal exaction.
RULING:
No. The Supreme Court affirmed that the acts committed by Marcos Lopez, as charged and proven, constitute the crime of estafa and not illegal exaction. The Court cited legal authority (VII Viada, 394; sentence of the Supreme Court of Spain, October 10, 1893) to support this distinction.
The Court modified the sentence of the lower court, finding Marcos Lopez guilty of estafa punishable under paragraph 1 of Article 535 in its relation with Article 534, further in relation with Article 399 of the Penal Code. He was sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of one year, one month, and eleven days of presidio correccional, twelve years of special temporary disqualification, to return the sum of P118.60 to the various persons mentioned in the decision, and to pay the costs, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.
