GR No.

141624, 2004-08-17

PEOPLE v. HERNANDO B. DELIZO,

Facts:
Arsenio T. Ng filed a criminal complaint for estafa against the respondent with the Office
of the City Prosecutor of Mandaluyong City,... the above-named accused, being then
President and Chairman of Mediserv, Inc., by means of deceit, false pretenses and...
fraudulent representation, executed prior to or simultaneously with the commission of
the fraud, succeeded in inducing herein complainant, Arsenio T. Ng to give the amount of
P12 Million, to the accused on his pretext that said amount will be converted by him into
shares of... stock (120,000 shares of stocks) and in order to complement such false
pretenses or fraudulent acts, he (respondent) even showed a Board Resolution defining
his authority to contract loan from the complainant and the conversion of such loan into
shares of stock,... Ambulatory Health Care Institute, Inc. (AHCII), also known as Clinica
Manila (CM)... filed a Complaint on October 22, 1997 with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) against the respondent... for injunction and damages.
During the said meeting, the stockholders elected a new board of directors, replacing the
respondent as CM president.
Thereafter, at 3:00 p.m. of October 13, 1997, the respondent and an unidentified
companion arrived at the CM office at SM Megamal... announced that he was... still the
president, and rallied the officers and employees against the new board of directors.
He, thereafter, wrote the China Banking Corporation, the depository bank of CM,...
requesting it not to honor any change in the authorized signatories for CM, and
appended thereto a falsified General Information Sheet (GIS) to show that he was still a
member of the board of directors and president of CM. It was prayed that, after due
proceedings, judgment be... rendered:
October 23, 1997, AHCII, Mediserv, Inc. (MI) and the respondent, filed a Complaint with
the SEC against Arsenio T. Ng, Kelly S. Salvador, Antonio Roberto M. Abaya, Bartolome
C. Felipe, Jr., Joel Abanilla and Nonette C. Mina. The complainants alleged, inter alia,
that... they had been stockholders of AHCII since August 1995... and represented a
majority of the outstanding capital stock, owning 52.37% and 6.08%, respectively... and
there was no quorum during the stockholders' meeting of October 9, 1997;... new set of
board of directors and officers were, elected was in violation of the by-laws of the
complainant
Mediserv, Inc., represented by its president, the respondent, and its treasurer,... Marissa
D. Delizo, filed a complaint with the RTC of Manila, Branch 29, against the China Banking
Corporation, the Landheights (Iloilo) Development Corporation, Notary Public Romeo
A. Ignacio, Jr. and the Registrar of Deeds for the City of Manila.
hat MI received a loan from the bank in the amount of P9,820,000, later increased to
P11,200,000. To secure the payment of the said... loan, MI executed a real estate
mortgage and amendment to real estate mortgage
MI also executed a promissory note on October 5, 2000 in favor of the bank in the
amount... of P11,200,000.
The petitioner asserts that the issues involved in Criminal Case No. 167-MD for estafa
are entirely different from and unrelated to the issues in the SEC cases and in Civil Case
No. 97-86152 pending before the RTC of Manila.
civil action is instituted ahead of the criminal action, under Section 2,... In case the civil
action is instituted ahead of the criminal action, under Section 2, Rule 111 of the Rules of
Court, the civil action shall be suspended in whatever
Issues:
WoN THE CRIMINAL, CIVIL AND SEC CASES ARE BASED ON THE SAME
TRANSACTION.
WoN THE CASES FILED WITH THE SEC AND THE CIVIL CASE FILED WITH THE RTC
RAISE PREJUDICIAL QUESTIONS WHICH WOULD NECESSITATE THE SUSPENSION
OF THE CRIMINAL ACTION FOR ESTAFA.
Ruling:
In case the civil action is instituted ahead of the criminal action, under Section 2, Rule
111 of the Rules of Court, the civil action shall be suspended in whatever stage it may be
found before judgment on the merits upon the commencement of the criminal action.
Such criminal... action has precedence over the civil action to enforce the civil liability of
the accused arising from the delict. An exception is where the prejudicial question exists,
under Sections 5 and 6, Rule 111 of the Rules of Court, as amended.
stion exists, under Sections 5 and 6, Rule 111 of the Rules of Court, as amended.
In his petition with the CA, the respondent alleged that in the SEC cases, the MI insisted
that the P12,000,000 received by him was a mere loan; that he would not be liable of
estafa if he could prove the same
The transaction subject of the civil case is the loan procured by the MI in the amount of
P9,820,000, later increased to P11,200,000, from the China Banking Corporation, the
payment of which was secured by a real estate mortgage and amended real estate
mortgage over its property... in Sampaloc, Manila. The MI sought to nullify the
extrajudicial foreclosure of the said mortgage and the sale of its property at public
auction, on its allegation that it did not breach its contract with the bank.
The CA thus erred in granting the petition of the respondent and nullifying the assailed
orders of the trial court.
Principles:
Sec. 5. Elements of prejudicial question. The two (2) essential elements of a prejudicial
question are: (a) the civil action involves an issue similar or intimately related to the issue
raised in the criminal action; and (b) the resolution of such issue determines whether or...
not the criminal action may proceed.
The petitioner asserts that the issues involved in Criminal Case No. 167-MD for estafa
are entirely different from and unrelated to the issues in the SEC cases and in Civil Case
No. 97-86152 pending before the RTC of Manila.
A prejudicial question is one based on a fact distinct and separate from the crime because
if both actions arose from the same fact or... transaction, the civil case does not
constitute a prejudicial question to the determination of the criminal action.