GR L 9111 3; (August, 1956) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-9111-9113; August 28, 1956.
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, petitioner-appellant, vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS and SILVESTRE DOMALAON, respondent-appellees.
FACTS
Three criminal cases for violation of Republic Act No. 145 were filed against Silvestre Domalaon in the Court of First Instance of Sorsogon, presided over by Judge Anatolio C. Mañalac. After trial and submission of the cases for decision, Judge Mañalac, who had applied for retirement under Republic Act No. 660 , went on terminal leave. He was authorized by the Secretary of Justice to decide in Manila the cases he had tried in Sorsogon that were pending decision. Judge Mañalac requested that his retirement be effective on September 13, 1954. Meanwhile, on June 21, 1954, Genaro Tan Torres was appointed ad interim Judge of the district and qualified and assumed office on July 1, 1954. Under his authority, Judge Mañalac drafted his judgments, placed them in an envelope addressed to the Clerk of Court of Sorsogon, and deposited said envelope in the Manila Post Office on July 1, 1954. The envelope was received by the clerk of court on July 3, 1954, and the judgments, dated June 12, 1954 and signed by Judge Mañalac, were promulgated on that same date, July 3. The accused appealed his conviction.
ISSUE
Whether the decisions rendered by Judge Anatolio C. Mañalac were validly promulgated, given that they were received and promulgated by the clerk of court on July 3, 1954, after Judge Genaro Tan Torres had qualified and assumed office as the presiding judge of the court on July 1, 1954.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the resolution of the Court of Appeals annulling the decisions. The Court ruled that the authority of Judge Mañalac to decide the cases ended upon the qualification of the new judge on July 1, 1954. Legally, the decisions were promulgated on July 3, 1954, the date they were received by the clerk of court and entered in the criminal docket, not on July 1 when they were mailed. Promulgation in courts of first instance requires, under Rule 116, Section 6, the reading of the judgment in the presence of the defendant and the judge, or by the clerk if the judge is absent. Since Judge Mañalac had left the bench before July 3, his decisions had no binding effect. The cases were ordered returned to the Court of First Instance of Sorsogon for adjudication based on the evidence already introduced, without a new trial.