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 Presidential Decree No. 1606, to embrace all such offenses
irrespective of the imposable penalty;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, there has been a proliferation and marked increase 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; and
WHEREAS, to insure that the prosecution of offenses committed by public
officers and employees, including those employed in government-owned or
controlled corporations, shall be as inexpensive and as expeditious as
possible, and in keeping with the constitutional mandate constituting
the Sandiganbayan as a special court to try cases involving graft and
corruption, and other offenses committed by public officers and
employees in relation to their office, it is necessary and desirable
that certain cases shall be triable by the appropriate courts, with
appellate jurisdiction over these cases to be vested in the
Sandiganbayan. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the 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:cralaw:red
"Sec. 4. Jurisdiction. — The Sandiganbayan shall
exercise:cralaw:red
"(a) Exclusive original jurisdiction in all cases
involving:cralaw:red
(1) Violations of Republic Act No. 3019, as amended,
otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Republic
Act No. 1379, and Chapter II, Section 2, Title VII of the Revised Penal
Code;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
(2) Other offenses or felonies committed by public
officers and employees in relation to their office, including those
employed in government-owned or controlled corporations, whether simple
or complexed with other crimes, where the penalty prescribed by law is
higher than prision correccional or imprisonment for six (6) years, or
a fine of P6,000.00: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that offenses or felonies
mentioned in this paragraph where the penalty prescribed by law does
not exceed prision correccional or imprisonment for six (6) years or a
fine of P6,000.00 shall be tried by the proper Regional Trial Court,
Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court and Municipal Circuit
Trial Court. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"(b) Exclusive appellate jurisdiction:cralaw:red
(1) On appeal, from the final judgments, resolutions
or orders of the Regional Trial Courts in cases originally decided by
them in their respective territorial jurisdiction.
(2) By petition for review, from the final judgments,
resolutions or orders of the Regional Trial Courts in the exercise of
their appellate jurisdiction over cases originally decided by the
Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit
Trial Courts, in their respective jurisdiction. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
"The procedure prescribed in Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, as well as the
implementing rules the Supreme Court has promulgated and may
hereinafter promulgate, relative to appeals/petitions for review to the
Intermediate Appellate Court shall apply to appeals and petitions for
review filed with the Sandiganbayan. In all cases elevated to the
Sandiganbayan, the Office of the Tanodbayan shall represent the People
of the Philippines.
"In case private individuals are charged as co-principals, accomplices
or accessories 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. 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 courts, the filing of the criminal action being 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 where the civil
action had heretofore been filed separately but judgment therein has
not yet been rendered, and the criminal case is hereafter filed with
the Sandiganbayan or the appropriate court, said civil action shall be
transferred to the Sandiganbayan or the appropriate court, as the case
may be, for consolidation and joint determination with the criminal
action, otherwise the separate civil action shall be considered
abandoned."
Section 2. All cases pending in the Sandiganbayan or
in the appropriate courts as of the date of the effectivity of this
Decree shall remain with and be disposed of by the courts where they
are pending. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
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 original/appellate jurisdiction of
the Sandiganbayan or the appropriate 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. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 5. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 23rd day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
eighty-three.
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