G.R. No. L-3971.

February 3, 1908

THE UNITED STATES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HILARIO BRAGANZA AND MARTIN

SALIBIO, Defendants-Appellants

FACTS

The defendants were municipal officials at the time when they seized and
arrested Father Feliciano Gomez. They made him pass through the door of the vestry
and afterwards took him to the municipal building and there told him that he was under
arrest. The defendants accused Father Gomez, not by reason of a crime but arbitrarily.
Father Gomez went there to celebrate mass as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church,
and this question also refers to a Roman church that he is said to own.
ISSUE

Whether or not the defendants is guilty of Arbitrary Detention

RULING

Yes. A public functionary who, except by reason of a crime, detains a person

without authority of law or of general regulations in force in the Islands, is punishable
under article 200 of the Penal Code as for an act of arbitrary detention. In this case, the
defendants were both public officers when they detained Father Gomez without reason
of crime. The defendants were both public officers when they detained Father Gomez
without reason of crime. Therefore, the defendants are guilty of Arbitrary Detention.