G.R. No.

125865 - March 26, 2001

JEFFREY LIANG (HUEFENG), Petitioner, v. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.

YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:

FACTS:

This case has its origin in two criminal Informations for grave oral defamation filed against
petitioner, a Chinese national who was employed as an Economist by the Asian Development
Bank (ADB), alleging that on separate occasions on January 28 and January 31, 1994, petitioner
allegedly uttered defamatory words to Joyce V. Cabal, a member of the clerical staff of ADB.

On April 13, 1994, the Metropolitan Trial Court of Mandaluyong City, acting pursuant to an advice
from the Department of Foreign Affairs that petitioner enjoyed immunity from legal processes,
dismissed the criminal Informations against him.

On a petition for certiorari and mandamus filed by the People, the Regional Trial Court of Pasig
City, Branch 160, annulled and set aside the order of the Metropolitan Trial Court dismissing the
criminal cases.

Petitioner, thus, brought a petition for review with this Court. On January 28, 2000, the court
rendered the assailed Decision denying the petition for review.

Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration.

ISSUE:

W/N the petitioner is covered by immunity under the Agreement between ADB and Government of
the Philippines.

HELD:

NO. Under the provisions of Section 45 (a) of the "Agreement Between the Asian Development
Bank and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines Regarding the Headquarters of the
Asian Development Bank," to wit:
Officers and staff of the Bank, including for the purpose of this Article experts and consultants
performing missions for the Bank, shall enjoy the following privileges and immunities:
(a) Immunity from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity
except when the Bank waives the immunity.

The court ruled, in essence, that the immunity granted to officers and staff of the ADB is not
absolute; it is limited to acts performed in an official capacity. Furthermore, the court held that the
immunity cannot cover the commission of a crime such as slander or oral defamation in the name
of official duty.

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the Motions for Reconsideration filed by petitioner and
intervenor Department of Foreign Affairs are DENIED with FINALITY.
CONCURRING OPINION: Puno J.

The immunity provided for under Section 45(a) of the Headquarters Agreement is subject to the
condition that the act be done in an "official capacity"; that slandering a person cannot be said to
have been done in an "official capacity" and, hence, it is not covered by the immunity agreement;
under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a diplomatic agent, assuming petitioner is
such, enjoys immunity from criminal jurisdiction of the receiving state except in the case of an
action relating to any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent in the
receiving state outside his official functions; the commission of a crime is not part of official duty;
and that a preliminary investigation is not a matter of right in cases cognizable by the Metropolitan
Trial Court.

Petitioner cannot also seek relief under the mantle of "immunity from every form of legal process"
accorded to ADB as an international organization. The immunity of ADB is absolute whereas the
immunity of its officials and employees is restricted only to official acts.

Considering that bank officials and employees are covered by immunity only for their official acts,
the necessary inference is that the authority of the Department of Affairs, or even of the ADB for
that matter, to certify that they are entitled to immunity is limited only to acts done in their official
capacity. Stated otherwise, it is not within the power of the DFA, as the agency in charge of the
executive department's foreign relations, nor the ADB, as the international organization vested
with the right to waive immunity, to invoke immunity for private acts of bank officials and
employees, since no such prerogative exists in the first place. If the immunity does not exist, there
is nothing to certify.