WHEREAS,
Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 has simplified the rules on jurisdiction by,
among others, abolishing the concurrent jurisdiction of the
Sandiganbayan and the regular courts; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 expanded the exclusive original
jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan over the offenses enumerated in
Section 4 of the Presidential Decree No. 1606, to embrace all such
offenses irrespective of the imposable penalty;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, there has been a proliferation and marked increased in the
filing of cases before the Sandiganbayan where the offense charged is
punishable by a penalty not higher than prision correccional or its
equivalent;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, unless otherwise authorized by its Presiding Justice, the
Sandiganbayan holds its sessions at its principal office in Metro
Manila, so that public officials accused of offenses punishable by a
penalty not higher than prision correccional or its equivalent, and
their witnesses, have to undergo the inconvenience of and incur
unnecessary expenses in attending hearings before the Sandiganbayan;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, considering that cases where the offense charged is punishable
by a penalty not exceeding prision correccional or its equivalent are
not of a serious nature, it would be more expeditious and less
cumbersome for the parties and witnesses if the cases are tried by the
proper Regional Trial Court, Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial
Court or Municipal Circuit Trial Court.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order
and decree as follows:cralaw:red
Section 1. Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 1606
is hereby amended to read as follows: chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"Sec. 4. Jurisdiction. — The Sandiganbayan shall have
jurisdiction over:cralaw:red
"(a) Violations of Republic Act No. 3019, as amended,
otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and
Republic Act No. 1379;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"(b) Crimes committed by public officers and
employees, including those employed in government-owned or controlled
corporations, embraced in Title VII of the Revised Penal Code, whether
simple or complexed with other crimes; and
"(c) Other crimes or offenses committed by public officers or
employees, including those employed in government-owned or controlled
corporations, in relation to their office.
"The jurisdiction herein conferred shall be original and exclusive if
the offense charged is punishable by a penalty higher than prision
correccional or its equivalent. In all other offenses, original and
exclusive jurisdiction shall vest in the appropriate court in
accordance with the provisions of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129.
"In case private individuals are charged as co-principals, accomplices
or accessories together with the public officers or employees,
including those employed in government-owned or controlled
corporations, they shall be tried jointly with said public officers and
employees.
"Where an accused is tried of any of the above offenses and the
evidence is insufficient to establish the offense charged, he may
nevertheless be convicted of and sentenced for the offense proved,
included in that which is charged. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"Any provision of law or the Rules of Court to the contrary
notwithstanding, the criminal action and the corresponding civil action
for the recovery of civil liability arising from the offense charged
shall at all times be simultaneously instituted with, and jointly
determined in the same proceeding by, the Sandiganbayan or the
appropriate court. The filing of the criminal action shall be deemed to
necessarily carry with it the filing of the civil action, and no right
to reserve the filing of such civil action separately from the criminal
action shall be recognized; PROVIDED, however, That, in cases within
the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan, where the
civil action had been filed separately with a regular court but
judgment therein has not been rendered and the criminal case is
hereafter filed with the Sandiganbayan, said civil action shall be
transferred to the Sandiganbayan for consolidation and joint
determination with the criminal action, otherwise, the criminal action
may no longer be filed with the Sandiganbayan, its exclusive
jurisdiction over the same notwithstanding, but may be filed and
prosecuted only in the regular courts of competent jurisdiction."
Section 2. Section 20 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 is
hereby modified accordingly to reflect the above amendment.
Section 3. The provisions of this decree
notwithstanding, the Office of the Tanodbayan shall continue to have
the exclusive authority to conduct preliminary investigation, file the
necessary information, and direct and control the prosecution of all
cases enumerated in Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 1606, whether
such cases be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan or
the regular courts in accordance with the provisions of Presidential
Decree No. 1630.
Section 4. All other laws, orders, promulgations,
rules and regulations or parts thereof, which are inconsistent herewith
are hereby amended, repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 5. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 14th day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
eighty-three.
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