Manuel Martinez vs Jesus Morfe

44 SCRA 22 – Political Law – The Legislative Department – Immunity from Arrest under
the 1935 Constitution

Manuel Martinez and Fernando Bautista, Sr. were delegates to the 1972 Constitutional
Convention. Both were facing criminal prosecutions. Martinez was charged for
falsification of a public document before the sala of Judge Jesus Morfe. While
Bautista was charged for violation of the Revised Election Code. The two were later
arrested, this is while the Constitutional Convention was still in session. They now assail
the validity of their arrest. They contend that under the 1935 Constitution, they are
immune from arrest because the charges upon which they were arrested are within the
immunity.

ISSUE: Whether or not Martinez and Bautista are immune from arrest.

HELD: No. There is, to be sure, a full recognition of the necessity to have members of
Congress, and likewise delegates to the Constitutional Convention. They are accorded the
constitutional immunity of senators and representatives from arrest during their
attendance at the sessions of Congress and in going to and returning from the same
except in cases of treason, felony and breach of the peace. In the case at bar, the
crimes for which Martinez and Bautista were arrested fall under the category 0f “breach
of peace”. Breach of the peace covers any offense whether defined by the Revised Penal
Code or any special statute. Therefore, Martinez and Bautista cannot invoke the privilege
from arrest provision of the Constitution.

NOTE: Under the 1987 Constitution:

A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses

punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest
while the Congress is in session. No member shall be questioned nor be held liable in
any other place for any speech or debate in Congress or in any committee thereof.