Article 171 171 Falsifcation Falsifcation o public ocer ocer Article 172 172 Falsifcation Falsifcation by private individual individuals s and use o alsifed documents Plea bargaining Daan vs. Sandiganbayan Joselito Raniero J. Daan, petitioner petitioner vs. The Hon. Sandiganbayan (Fourth Division), respondent
GR Nos. 163972-77 March 28, 2008 on!n"!# $%s"ria-Mar"in!&, '. Na"%r! o( "h! )as!# Certiorari and prohibition *ri!( : etitioner, a!!used "ith the !ri#e o$ #alversation o$ publi! $unds by $alsi%!ati $alsi%!ation, on, &uestions the denial denial o$ the Sandiganbaya Sandiganbayan n o$ his plea bargaining proposal. The Supre#e Court reversed the de!ision o$ the Sandiganbayan. +ac"s: etitioner, together "ith 'ayor uion "ere !harged $or three !ounts o$ #alversation o$ publi! $unds by $alsi$ying the ti#e boo* and payrolls $or given given period period #a*ing #a*ing it appear appear that so#e so#e labore laborers rs "or*e "or*ed d on the !onstr !onstru!t u!tion ion o$ the ne" #uni!i #uni!ipal pal hall hall buildi building ng o$ +ato, +ato, eyte. eyte. -n addition to the !harge $or #alversation, the a!!used "ere also indi!ted $or three !ounts o$ $alsi%!ation o$ publi! do!u#ent by a publi! o!er or e#ployee. -n the $alsi%!ation !ases, the a!!used o/ered to "ithdra" their plea o$ not guilty and substitute the sa#e "ith a plea o$ guilty, provided, the #itigating !ir!u#stan!es o$ !on$ession or plea o$ guilt and voluntary surrender surrender "ill be appre!iat appre!iated ed in their $avor. $avor. In the alternative, if such proposal is not acceptable, said accused proposed instead to substitute their plea of not guilty to the crime of falsication of public document by a public ocer or employee with a plea of guilty, but to the lesser crime of falsication of a public document by a private individual. 0n the other hand, in the #alversation !ases, the a!!used o/ered to substitute their
plea o$ not guilty thereto "ith a plea o$ guilty, but to the lesser !ri#e o$ $ailure o$ an a!!ountable o!er to render a!!ounts. -nso$ar as the $alsi%!ation !ases are !on!erned, the prose!ution $ound as a!!eptable the proposal o$ the a!!used to plead guilty to the lesser !ri#e o$ $alsi%!ation o$ publi! do!u#ent by a private individual $or it "ill strengthen the !ases against the prin!ipal a!!used, 'ayor uion "ho appears appears to be the #aster#ind #aster#ind o$ these !ri#inal a!ts. Ho"ever, Ho"ever, the Sandiganbay Sandiganbayan an denied denied petitioner1 petitioner1s s 'otion to lea +argain, +argain, despite $avorable re!o##endation by the prose!ution, on the #ain ground that no !ogent !ogent reason reason "as presented presented to 2usti$y 2usti$y its approval. approval. i*e"ise, i*e"ise, it denied petitioner3s 'otion $or Re!onsideration.
ss%!# 4hether the lesser o/ense o$ $alsi%!ation o$ a publi! do!u#ent by a private individual is ne!essary in!luded in the !ri#e o$ $alsi%!ation o$ publi! do!u#ent by a publi! o!er, hen!e petitioner # ay plead guilty to the $or#er $c"ions o( "h! )o%r"# 0!e o$ the Spe!ial rose!utor: 5ranted Sandiganbayan: Denied SC: 5ranted )o%r" Ra"iona!# 6es. 6es. The lesse lesserr o/ens o/enses es o$ Fal Falsi% si%!atio !ation n by riv rivate ate -nd -ndiv ividu idual als s and Fai Failur lure e to Rende Renderr 7!!ount by an 7!!ountable 0!er are ne!essarily in!luded in the !ri#es o$ Falsi%!ation o$ ubli! Do!u#ents and 'alversation o$ ubli! Funds, respe!tively, "ith "hi!h petitioner "as originally !harged. 7n o/ense #ay be said to ne!essarily in!lude another "hen so#e o$ the essent essential ial ele#ents ele#ents or ingred ingredien ients ts o$ the $or#er $or#er as allege alleged d in the !o#plaint or in$or#ation !onstitute the latter. 7nd vi!e versa, an o/ense #ay be said to be ne!essarily in!luded in another "hen the essential ingredients o$ the $or#er !onstitute or $or# part o$ those !onstituting the latter (Art. 171 visavis Art. 17!". #nder Article 171, paragraph $ of the %evised &enal 'ode, for the crime of alsication of &ublic )ocuments through an untruthful narration of facts to be established, the following elements must concur* (a" the o+ende o+enderr maes maes in a docume document nt untrut untruthfu hfull statem statement ents s in a narration of facts-
(b" the o+ender has a legal obligation to disclose the truth of the facts narrated(c" the facts narrated by the o+ender are absolutely false- and (d" the perversion of truth in the narration of facts was made with the wrongful intent of inuring a third person. alsication by &rivate Individuals penali/ed under Article 17!, paragraph 1 of the %evised &enal 'ode has the following elements* (a" the o+ender is a private individual or a public ocer or employee who did not tae advantage of his ocial position(b" the o+ender committed any of the acts of falsication enumerated under Article 171 of the %evised &enal 'ode- and (c" the falsication was committed in a public or ocial or commercial document.
'oreover, petitioner is not an a!!ountable o!er in that the nature o$ his duty as $ore#an8ti#e*eeper does not per#it or re&uire possession or !ustody o$ lo!al govern#ent $unds, not to #ention that petitioner has already restituted the a#ount o$9,;<.<< involved in this !ase.
S) R%ing# 4H=R=F0R=, the petition is 5R7>T=D. The Resolutions dated 'ar!h ?@, ?<
&lea bargaining in criminal cases is a process whereby the accused and the prosecution wor out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subect to court approval. It usually involves the defendant0s pleading guilty to a lesser o+ense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that for the graver charge.
