People Vs Pangilinan

PEOPLE vs.
PANGILINAN
G.R. No. 152662
June 13, 2012
Prescription (Act No. 3326)
This case is a review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the decision of the Court of Appeals.
FACTS:
On 16 September 1997, Virginia C. Malolos (private complainant) filed an affidavitcomplaint for estafa and violation of BP Blg. 22 against Ma. Theresa Pangilinan (respondent)
with the Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP) of QC. The complaint alleges that respondent
issued 9 checks with an aggregate amount of Php 9,658,592.00 in favor of private complainant
which were dishonored upon presentment for payment.
On 5 December 1997, respondent filed a civil case for accounting, recovery of
commercial documents, enforceability and effectivity of contract and specific performance
against private complainant before the RTC of Valenzuela City.
On 10 December 1997, respondent filed a Petition to Suspend Proceedings on the
Ground of Prejudicial Question before the OCP of QC, citing as basis the pendency of the civil
action she filed with the RTC of Valenzuela City.
On 2 March 1998, Asst. City Prosecutor Ruben Catubay recommended the suspension of
the criminal proceedings pending the outcome of the civil action. The recommendation was
approved by the City Prosecutor of QC. Aggrieved, private complainant raised the matter before
the DOJ.
On 5 January 1999, then DOJ Secretary Serafin P. Cuevas reversed the resolution of the
City Prosecutor of QC and ordered the filing of informations for violation of BP Blg. 22 against
respondent for 2 of the 9 checks. The estafa and violation of BP Blg. 22 charges involving the
7 other checks included in the affidavit-complaint filed on 16 September 1997 were, however,
dismissed. The two counts for violation of BP Blg. 22 were filed against respondent on
3 February 2000 before the Office of the Clerk of Court, MeTC QC.
On 17 June 2000, respondent filed an Omnibus Motion to Quash the Information and to
Defer the Issuance of Warrant of Arrest before MeTC. She alleged that her criminal liability has
been extinguished by reason of prescription. The presiding judge granted the motion and the case
was raffled to the RTC.
The RTC ruled that the action has not prescribed having filed with the OCP on
16 September 1997. On respondents appeal, the CA ruled that the action has prescribed. The
commencement of the period started in 1995 and, pursuant to Section 1 of Act 3326, as amended,
petitioner had 4 years therefrom or until the latter part of 1999 to file her complaint or
information against the petitioner before the proper court. Section 2 of Act 3326, as amended,
provides that prescription shall be interrupted when proceedings are instituted against the guilty
person. In the case of Zaldivia vs. Reyes Jr.1 the Supreme Court held that the proceedings
referred to in Section 2 of Act No. 3326, as amended, are judicial proceedings, which means
the filing of the complaint or information with the proper court. Otherwise stated, the running of
the prescriptive period shall be stayed on the date the case is actually filed in court and not on
any date before that. The informations were only filed with the MeTC on 3 February 2000.
1 This case involved a violation of a municipal ordinance.
ISSUE: Whether the filing of the affidavit-complaint for estafa and violation of BP Blg. 22
against respondent with the OCP of QC on 16 September 1997 interrupted the period of
prescription of such offense.
HELD:
YES. Act No. 3326 entitled An Act to Establish Prescription for Violations of Special Acts and
Municipal Ordinances and to Provide When Prescription Shall Begin, as amended, is the law
applicable to BP Blg. 22 cases. Appositely, the law reads:
SECTION 1. Violations penalized by special acts shall, unless otherwise
provided in such acts, prescribe in accordance with the following rules: (a) xxx
(b) after four years for those punished by imprisonment for more than one month,
but less than two years (c) xxx.
SECTION 2. Prescription shall begin to run from the day of the commission
of the violation of the law, and if the same be not known at the time, from the
discovery thereof and the institution of judicial proceedings for its investigation
and punishment.
The prescription shall be interrupted when proceedings are instituted against
the guilty person, and shall begin to run again if the proceedings are dismissed
for reasons not constituting jeopardy.
BP Blg. 22 is a special law that imposes a penalty of imprisonment of not less than 30
days but not more than one year or by a fine for its violation, it therefor prescribes in 4 years in
accordance with the aforecited law. The running of the prescriptive period, however, should be
tolled upon the institution of proceedings against the guilty person.
It has been held in People vs. Olarte that the filing of the complaint in the Municipal
Court even if it be merely for purposes of preliminary examination or investigation interrupts the
period of prescription of criminal responsibility. In Francisco, et al. v. Court of Appeals, et al.
the filing of the complaint with the Fiscals Office also suspends the running of the prescriptive
period of a criminal offense.
Respondents contention that a different rule should be applied to cases involving special
laws is bereft of merit. There is no more distinction between cases under the RPC and those
covered by special laws with respect to the interruption of the period of prescription. The ruling
in Zaldivia v. Reyes, Jr. is not controlling in special laws. In Llenes v. Dicdican, Ingco, et al. v.
Sandiganbayan, Brillante v. CA, and Sanrio Company Limited v. Lim, cases involving special
laws, this Court held that the institution of proceedings for preliminary investigation against the
accused interrupts the period of prescription. In Securities and Exchange Commission v.
Interport Resources Corporation, et al., the Court even ruled that investigations conducted by
the SEC for violations of the Revised Securities Act and the Securities Regulations Code
effectively interrupts the prescription period because it is equivalent to the preliminary
investigation conducted by the DOJ in criminal cases.
In fact, in the case of Panaguiton, Jr. v. Department of Justice, which is in all fours with
the instant case, this Court categorically ruled that commencement of the proceedings for the
prosecution of the accused before the OCP effectively interrupted the prescriptive period for the
offenses they had been charged under BP Blg. 22.
In light of all the foregoing, the instant petition was GRANTED.

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