September 2011 - Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions
[G.R. No. 196246 : September 05, 2011]
MARIANO SANTIAGO, JR. V. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL
G.R. No. 196246 (Mariano Santiago, Jr. v. People of the Philippines, represented by the Office of the Solicitor General). - For resolution is the motion for reconsideration filed by Mariano Santiago, Jr. (petitioner) against the Court's Minute Resolution dated June 15, 2011 which dismissed his petition for certiorari for lack of merit. The petitioner moves to reconsider our ruling by reiterating that grave abuse of discretion was committed by the Second Division of this Court, as:
- There is conflict in the resolution of the Honorable Court, through its Second Division, dated September 1, 2008 which merits the attention of the Honorable Court En Banc;
- There is a grave and reversible error in the disposition of the Honorable Court, through its Second Division, in its resolutions which denied the petition for relief filed by the petitioner as well as his motion for reconsideration thereon because an Entry of Judgment dated October 30, 2008 had already been issued; and
- The petitioner is either entitled to the dismissal of the criminal case against him and/or remand of the case back to the trial court in order to give the petitioner the opportunity to present evidence and/or at least cross-examine his co-accused who testified against him.
We deny the motion for the following reasons:
First, the motion advances the exact same arguments that the petitioner raised in the petition which had already been duly considered by the Court in arriving at its earlier ruling of dismissal.
Second, the arguments in the motion for reconsideration did not address the procedural infirmity in the petition which was one of the grounds for the denial of the petition.
And third, the finality and immutability of the final judgment have set in and preclude the Court from disturbing its final ruling on the propriety of the petitioner's conviction.
ACCORDINGLY, we DENY the Motion for Reconsideration with finality for lack of merit.
Reyes, J., on official leave; Mendoza, J., designated additional member per Special Order No. 1066 dated August 23, 2011.
SO ORDERED.
Very truly yours,
(Sgd.) MA. LUISA L. LAUREA
Division Clerk of Court