FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 132893. August 13, 1999]
PETER C. CHUA LAO, petitioner, vs. ALFREDO N. MACAPUGAY,
in his capacity as Quezon City Building Official, ALFREDO D. ZAMORA, JR., in
his capacity as Quezon City Assistant Building Official, JOSE L. R. REYES in
his capacity as Quezon City Legal Officer, FRANCISCO M. ITLIONG, in his
capacity as Quezon City Chief of Enforcement Division, and SPOUSES VENANCIO and
PAULINA TAY, respondents.
D E C I S I O N
PARDO, J.:
This petition for certiorari
assails the resolution[1] of the Ombudsman dismissing the charges leveled by
petitioner Peter Chua Lao against respondents building official, the assistant
building official, the Quezon City Legal Officer, the Chief, Enforcement
Division, and respondent-spouses Venancio Tay and Paulina Tay, as well as the
resolution[2] denying reconsideration of the dismissal, on the
ground that there was no showing that the questioned acts of respondents public
officials were motivated by bad faith and thus, there was no probable cause to
file a criminal case against them.
The facts are as follows:
Petitioner is the owner of RC
Building, located at the corner of Tolentino Street and Del Monte Avenue,
Quezon City. Adjacent to this building
is the property of private respondents.
On September 23, 1994, the Office
of the Building Official (OBO) of Quezon City issued a building permit to
private respondents for the construction of a 4 storey commercial building with
a roof deck on their property adjacent to petitioner’s building. While construction was under way, private
respondents found out that the 5th and 6th floors of petitioner’s building encroached on their
property by .40 centimeters.
On April 5, 1995, private
respondents filed with the OBO a complaint against the petitioner for illegal
encroachment, docketed as OBO Case No. 95-35.
In turn, on August 14, 1995,
petitioner filed with the same office a complaint[3] for revocation of private respondent’s building
permit, docketed as OBO Case No. 95-35-A.
On June 26, 1995, respondent
Alfredo N. Macapugay, the City Engineer, issued a resolution[4] in OBO Case No. 95-35 ordering petitioner to
undertake the necessary adjustment to rectify the encroachment on private
respondents’ property. Petitioner’s
motion for reconsideration[5] was denied in a resolution dated August 22, 1995[6] signed by respondent Macapugay and the other public
respondents, viz: Francisco M. Itliong
(Chief, Enforcement Division), Atty. Jose L.R. Reyes (Legal Officer III) and
Alfredo D. Zamora (Accounting Assistant Building Official).
Thereafter, petitioner appealed to
the Department of Public Works and Highways.
During the pendency of the appeal, petitioner filed a criminal complaint[7] before the Office of the Ombudsman charging the
respondents with violation of Sections 3 (e & j) and 4 (b) of Republic Act
No. 3019, as amended, and Articles 171 (2), 204, 206 and 207 of the Revised
Penal Code.
On April 2, 1997, the Department
of Public Works and Highways issued a resolution disposing of petitioner’s
appeal in his favor. The decretal
portion of the resolution decrees:
“1. The OBO’s decision insofar as Appellee’s complaint against appellant for alleged illegal encroachment on the portion of the area which the former claims to be part of her property is hereby declared null and void for lack of jurisdiction;
“2. The OBO is advised to initiate a motu propio investigation on both appellant and appellee’s buildings for violation of the provisions of the NBC for extending the construction of their buildings up to sixth (sic) floors without approved permits; and
“3. The order of the OBO
dated March 11, 1996 denying Appellant’s Motion for Reconsideration of its
Resolution dated June 26, 1995 is hereby declared null and void, the OBO having
lost jurisdiction already over the case by virtue of appellant’s appeal to us. Consequently, all subsequent
orders/issuances of the said office relative to the case are also declared
without force and effect.”[8]
On November 21, 1997, the
Ombudsman issued the assailed resolution dismissing the charges filed by
petitioner against respondents, for lack of probable cause. The Ombudsman denied petitioner’s motion for
reconsideration of the resolution in an order dated February 16, 1998.
Hence, this petition.
In private respondents’ Comment[9] to the petition filed on April 5, 1999, they bring to
the Court’s attention a Compromise Agreement[10] dated June 22, 1998, executed by petitioner and
private respondents whereby they mutually agreed to settle amicably their
dispute and to cause the dismissal of all pending cases filed by one party against
the other by filing a joint motion to dismiss.
They filed the Compromise Agreement with the Regional Trial Court,
Quezon City, on June 23, 1998.
"A compromise is a bilateral act or transaction that is
expressly acknowledged as a juridical agreement by the Civil Code."[11] Thus,
Article 2028 of the Civil Code provides that:
“A compromise is a contract whereby the parties by making reciprocal concessions, avoid a litigation or put an end to one already commenced.”
“The Civil Code not only defines and authorizes compromises, it in
fact encourages them in civil actions.”[12] “Compromises are generally to be favored and
cannot be set aside if the parties acted in good faith and made reciprocal
concessions to each other in order to terminate a case.”[13]
However, the compromise agreement
cannot affect the charges of violation of R.A. 3019, Section 3 (e) and (j), and
Section 4 (b); Revised Penal Code, Articles 171 and 172, par. 2, Articles 206
and 207, filed against respondents. The
law abhors settlement of criminal liability.
Nonetheless, we agree with the Ombudsman that there was no “probable
cause” as the act complained of, that respondent building officials’ approval
of a building permit in favor of private respondents, despite alleged patent
errors in the plan and specifications, constitutes error of judgment,[14] not necessarily a violation of the anti-graft law, or
the Revised Penal Code.
WHEREFORE, the Court hereby DISMISSES the petition, for lack of
merit.
No costs.
SO ORDERED.
Davide, Jr., C.J., (Chairman), Puno,
Kapunan, and Ynares-Santiago, JJ., concur.
[1] Rollo, annex “C”, pp. 147-150.
[2] Rollo, Annex “D”, pp. 152-154.
[3] Rollo, pp. 117-126.
[4] Rollo, pp. 63-64.
[5] Rollo, pp. 65-67.
[6] Rollo, p. 81.
[7] Rollo, pp. 21-52.
[8] Resolution, DPWH, Exh. V, Rollo, pp.
143-146, at p. 146.
[9] Rollo, pp. 189-195.
[10] Rollo, Annex “A” of Private
Respondents’ Comment, pp. 192-195.
[11] Galay vs. Court of Appeals, 250 SCRA 629, 635
[1996].
[12] Osmeña vs. Commission on Audit, 238
SCRA 463,470 [1994].
[13] Amarante vs. Court of Appeals, 232
SCRA 104, 108 [1994].
[14] See Comment of public respondents, Rollo,
pp. 171-178, at p. 175.