G.R. No. L-47880 April 30, 1979
WILSON AGBAYANI, CARMELO BAUTISTA, PABLO PASCUAL and RENATO ROMEO DUGAY, petitioners, vs. HON. SOFRONIO G. SAYO, Presiding Judge of Court of First Instance of Nueva Vizcaya, Branch I, the PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES And CONRADO B. MAHINAN, respondents.

FACTS

Conrado B. Mahinan, a lawyer and manager of the GSIS Cagayan Valley Branch stationed in Cauayan, Isabela, filed a complaint for written defamation against his subordinates—Wilson Agbayani, Carmelo Bautista, Pablo Pascual, and Renato Romeo Dugay—with the fiscal’s office in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. The alleged libel was based on affidavits and reports executed by the accused in October 1975, which were signed in Cauayan, Isabela, and Manila, and which depicted Mahinan in a derogatory manner. The provincial fiscal of Nueva Vizcaya subsequently filed an information in the Court of First Instance of that province, alleging the libel was committed “on or about February 17, 1976 in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.”
The accused petitioners moved to quash the information, contending the Court of First Instance of Nueva Vizcaya lacked jurisdiction. They argued that under Article 360 of the Revised Penal Code, as Mahinan was a public officer holding office in Cauayan, Isabela, at the time of the alleged offense, the proper venue should be Isabela. The trial court denied the motion, reasoning that Mahinan was not a public officer because GSIS’s insurance business was not an inherently governmental function, and thus venue was properly based on his alleged residence in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of First Instance of Nueva Vizcaya has jurisdiction over the criminal action for written defamation, or if the proper venue is Isabela where the offended public officer held office.

RULING

The Supreme Court ruled that the Court of First Instance of Nueva Vizcaya has no jurisdiction; the proper venue is Isabela. The legal logic is anchored on the mandatory rules of venue for written defamation under Article 360 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended. The provision explicitly states that if the offended party is a public officer who does not hold office in Manila, the criminal action shall be filed in the Court of First Instance of the province or city where he held office at the time of the offense or where the libelous article was printed and first published.
The Court found Mahinan unquestionably a public officer as a GSIS branch manager, a status he did not contest. Since his official station was Cauayan, Isabela, the venue rule specifically applicable to public officers controls. The allegation in the information that the libel was committed in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya is insufficient to confer jurisdiction because the quoted defamatory documents themselves show they were executed in Isabela and Manila, with no reference to Nueva Vizcaya. Venue in criminal cases is jurisdictional; the information failed to demonstrate that the alleged offense had any substantive connection to Nueva Vizcaya as required by Article 360. Consequently, the provincial fiscal of Nueva Vizcaya lacked authority to conduct the preliminary investigation and file the information there. The trial court’s order was set aside, and the libel case was dismissed without prejudice to refiling in the proper court in Isabela.