Granting a demurrer to evidence..

Supreme Court Reinstates Dismissal of Libel Cases Due to Procedural Defect

Posted: November 9, 2012; By Bianca M. Padilla

The Supreme Court has recently ordered the reinstatement of the portion of the order of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Mandaluyong, Branch 212, which dismissed the libel suits filed by singer-actress Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan against petitioners Lito Bautista and Jimmy Alcantara for the alleged defamatory articles against her published in the tabloid Bandera. Bautista and Alcantara are Bandera’s Editor and Assistant Editor, respectively. Also charged with libel is Pete G. Ampoloquio, the author of the articles.

The RTC Mandaluyong had ordered the libel suits dismissed insofar as petitioners are concerned after granting the Demurrer to Evidence filed by them alleging that the prosecution had failed to prove their participation as conspirators of the crime charged. Respondent Cuneta-Pangilinan then filed a petition for certiorari to the Court of Appeals (CA) which the latter granted. The CA also ordered the cases against petitioners to be remanded to the trial court.

In a 19-page decision penned by Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, the Court's Third Division unanimously granted petitioners’ petition for review of the CA’s decision. The Court held that petitioners “can no longer be held liable in view of the procedural infirmity that the petition for certiorari [filed by Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan] was not undertaken by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), but instead by respondent in her personal capacity. Moreover, although the conclusion of the trial court may be wrong, to reverse and set aside the Order granting the demurrer to evidence would violate petitioners’ constitutionally enshrined right against double jeopardy.”

The Court reiterated the ruling in People v. Santiago that “[i]n criminal cases where the offended party is the State, the interest of the private complainant or private offended party is limited to the civil liability… If a criminal case is dismissed by the trial court or if there is an acquittal, an appeal therefrom on the criminal aspect may be taken only by the State through the Solicitor General… However, the said offended party or complainant may appeal the civil aspect of the case despite the acquittal of the accused.” The Court found that in this case, the petition filed before the CA by Cuneta-Pangilinan essentially questioned the criminal aspect of the RTC’s order of dismissal.

The Court stressed that the granting of a Demurrer to Evidence is tantamount to a dismissal of the case on the merits and a “review of the order granting the demurrer to evidence will place the accused in double jeopardy.” (GR No. 189754, Bautista v. Cuneta-Pangilinan, October 24, 2012)