G.R. No. 139930

EN BANC

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, G.R. No. 139930

Petitioner,

Present:

CARPIO,

VELASCO, JR.,

LEONARDO-DE CASTRO,

BRION,

- versus - PERALTA,

BERSAMIN,

DEL CASTILLO,

ABAD,

VILLARAMA, JR.,

PEREZ,

MENDOZA,

SERENO,

REYES, and

PERLAS-BERNABE, JJ.

EDUARDO M. COJUANGCO, JR., JUAN PONCE ENRILE, MARIA CLARA LOBREGAT, JOSE ELEAZAR, JR., JOSE CONCEPCION, ROLANDO P. DELA CUESTA, EMMANUEL M. ALMEDA, HERMENEGILDO C. ZAYCO, NARCISO M. PINEDA, IAKI R. MENDEZONA, DANILO S. URSUA, TEODORO D. REGALA, VICTOR P. LAZATIN, ELEAZAR B. REYES, EDUARDO U. ESCUETA, LEO J. PALMA, DOUGLAS LU YM, SIGFREDO VELOSO and JAIME GANDIAGA,

Respondents. Promulgated:

June 26, 2012

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DECISION

ABAD, J.:

This case, which involves another attempt of the government to recover ill-gotten wealth acquired during the Marcos era, resolves the issue of prescription.

The Facts and the Case

On April 25, 1977 respondents Teodoro D. Regala, Victor P. Lazatin, Eleazar B. Reyes, Eduardo U. Escueta and Leo J. Palma incorporated the United Coconut Oil Mills, Inc. (UNICOM)[1] with an authorized capital stock of P100 million divided into one million shares with a par value of P100 per share. The incorporators subscribed to 200,000 shares worth P20 million and paid P5 million.

On September 26, 1978 UNICOM amended its capitalization by (1) increasing its authorized capital stock to three million shares without par value; (2) converting the original subscription of 200,000 to one million shares without par value and deemed fully paid for and non-assessable by applying the P5 million already paid; and (3) waiving and abandoning the subscription receivables of P15 million.[2]

On August 29, 1979 the Board of Directors of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) composed of respondents Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile, Maria Clara L. Lobregat, Jose R. Eleazar, Jr., Jose C. Concepcion, Rolando P. Dela Cuesta, Emmanuel M. Almeda, Hermenegildo C. Zayco, Narciso M. Pineda, Iaki R. Mendezona, and Danilo S. Ursua approved Resolution 247-79 authorizing UCPB, the Administrator of the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CII Fund), to invest not more than P500 million from the fund in the equity of UNICOM for the benefit of the coconut farmers.[3]

On September 4, 1979 UNICOM increased its authorized capital stock to 10 million shares without par value. The Certificate of Increase of Capital Stock stated that the incorporators held one million shares without par value and that UCPB subscribed to 4 million shares worth P495 million.[4]

On September 18, 1979 a new set of UNICOM directors, composed of respondents Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile, Maria Clara L. Lobregat, Jose R. Eleazar, Jr., Jose Concepcion, Emmanuel M. Almeda, Iaki R. Mendezona, Teodoro D. Regala, Douglas Lu Ym, Sigfredo Veloso, and Jaime Gandiaga, approved another amendment to UNICOMs capitalization. This increased its authorized capital stock to one billion shares divided into 500 million Class A voting common shares, 400 million Class B voting common shares, and 100 million Class C non-voting common shares, all with a par value of P1 per share. The paid-up subscriptions of 5 million shares without par value (consisting of one million shares for the incorporators and 4 million shares for UCPB) were then converted to 500 million Class A voting common shares at the ratio of 100 Class A voting common shares for every one without par value share.[5]

About 10 years later or on March 1, 1990 the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a complaint for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act (R.A.) 3019[6] against respondents, the 1979 members of the UCPB board of directors, before the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). The OSG alleged that UCPBs investment in UNICOM was manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government since UNICOM had a capitalization of only P5 million and it had no track record of operation. In the process of conversion to voting common shares, the governments P495 million investment was reduced by P95 million which was credited to UNICOMs incorporators. The PCGG subsequently referred the complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman in OMB-0-90-2810 in line with the ruling in Cojuangco, Jr. v. Presidential Commission on Good Government,[7] which disqualified the PCGG from conducting the preliminary investigation in the case.

About nine years later or on March 15, 1999 the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) issued a Memorandum,[8] stating that although it found sufficient basis to indict respondents for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019, the action has already prescribed. Respondents amended UNICOMs capitalization a third time on September 18, 1979, giving the incorporators unwarranted benefits by increasing their 1 million shares to 100 million shares without cost to them. But, since UNICOM filed its Certificate of Filing of Amended Articles of Incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 8, 1980, making public respondents acts as board of directors, the period of prescription began to run at that time and ended on February 8, 1990. Thus, the crime already prescribed when the OSG filed the complaint with the PCGG for preliminary investigation on March 1, 1990.

In a Memorandum[9] dated May 14, 1999, the Office of the Ombudsman approved the OSPs recommendation for dismissal of the complaint. It additionally ruled that UCPBs subscription to the shares of stock of UNICOM on September 18, 1979 was the proper point at which the prescription of the action began to run since respondents act of investing into UNICOM was consummated on that date. It could not be said that the investment was a continuing act. The giving of undue benefit to the incorporators prescribed 10 years later on September 18, 1989. Notably, when the crime was committed in 1979 the prescriptive period for it had not yet been amended. The original provision of Section 11 of R.A. 3019 provided for prescription of 10 years. Thus, the OSG filed its complaint out of time.

The OSG filed a motion for reconsideration on the Office of the Ombudsmans action but the latter denied the same;[10] hence, this petition.

Meanwhile, the Court ordered the dismissal of the case against respondent Maria Clara L. Lobregat in view of her death on January 2, 2004.[11]

The Issue Presented

The pivotal issue in this case is whether or not respondents alleged violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 already prescribed.

The Courts Ruling

Preliminarily, the Court notes that what Republic of the Philippines (petitioner) filed in this case is a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45. But the remedy from an adverse resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman in a preliminary investigation is a special civil action of certiorari under Rule 65.[12] Still, the Court will treat this petition as one filed under Rule 65 since a reading of its contents reveals that petitioner imputes grave abuse of discretion and reversible jurisdictional error to the Ombudsman for dismissing the complaint. The Court has previously treated differently labeled actions as special civil actions for certiorari under Rule 65 for acceptable reasons such as justice, equity, and fair play.[13]

As to the main issue, petitioner maintains that, although the charge against respondents was for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, its prosecution relates to its efforts to recover the ill-gotten wealth of former President Ferdinand Marcos and of his family and cronies. Section 15, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution provides that the right of the State to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or employees is not barred by prescription, laches, or estoppel.

But the Court has already settled in Presidential Ad Hoc Fact-Finding Committee on Behest Loans v. Desierto[14] that Section 15, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution applies only to civil actions for recovery of ill-gotten wealth, not to criminal cases such as the complaint against respondents in OMB-0-90-2810. Thus, the prosecution of offenses arising from, relating or incident to, or involving ill-gotten wealth contemplated in Section 15, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution may be barred by prescription.[15]

Notably, Section 11 of R.A. 3019 now provides that the offenses committed under that law prescribes in 15 years. Prior to its amendment by Batas Pambansa (B.P.) Blg. 195 on March 16, 1982, however, the prescriptive period for offenses punishable under R.A. 3019 was only 10 years.[16] Since the acts complained of were committed before the enactment of B.P. 195, the prescriptive period for such acts is 10 years as provided in Section 11 of R.A. 3019, as originally enacted.[17]

Now R.A. 3019 being a special law, the 10-year prescriptive period should be computed in accordance with Section 2 of Act 3326,[18] which provides:

Section 2. Prescription shall begin to run from the day of the commission of the violation of the law, and if the same be not known at the time, from the discovery thereof and the institution of judicial proceedings for its investigation and punishment.

The above-mentioned section provides two rules for determining when the prescriptive period shall begin to run: first, from the day of the commission of the violation of the law, if such commission is known; and second, from its discovery, if not then known, and the institution of judicial proceedings for its investigation and punishment.[19]

Petitioner points out that, assuming the offense charged is subject to prescription, the same began to run only from the date it was discovered, namely, after the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Thus, the charge could be filed as late as 1996.

In the prosecution of cases of behest loans, the Court reckoned the prescriptive period from the discovery of such loans. The reason for this is that the government, as aggrieved party, could not have known that those loans existed when they were made. Both parties to such loans supposedly conspired to perpetrate fraud against the government. They could only have been discovered after the 1986 EDSA Revolution when the people ousted President Marcos from office. And, prior to that date, no person would have dared question the legality or propriety of the loans.[20]

Those circumstances do not obtain in this case. For one thing, what is questioned here is not the grant of behest loans that, by their nature, could be concealed from the public eye by the simple expedient of suppressing their documentations. What is rather involved here is UCPBs investment in UNICOM, which corporation is allegedly owned by respondent Cojuangco, supposedly a Marcos crony. That investment does not, however, appear to have been withheld from the curious or from those who were minded to know like banks or competing businesses. Indeed, the OSG made no allegation that respondent members of the board of directors of UCPB connived with UNICOM to suppress public knowledge of the investment.

Besides, the transaction left the confines of the UCPB and UNICOM board rooms when UNICOM applied with the SEC, the publicly-accessible government clearing house for increases in corporate capitalization, to accommodate UCPBs investment. Changes in shareholdings are reflected in the General Information Sheets that corporations have been mandated to submit annually to the SEC. These are available to anyone upon request.

The OSG makes no allegation that the SEC denied public access to UCPBs investment in UNICOM during martial law at the Presidents or anyone elses instance. Indeed, no accusation of this kind has ever been hurled at the SEC with reference to corporate transactions of whatever kind during martial law since even that regime had a stake in keeping intact the integrity of the SEC as an instrumentality of investments in the Philippines.

And, granted that the feint-hearted might not have the courage to question the UCPB investment into UNICOM during martial law, the second elementthat the action could not have been instituted during the 10-year period because of martial lawdoes not apply to this case. The last day for filing the action was, at the latest, on February 8, 1990, about four years after martial law ended. Petitioner had known of the investment it now questions for a sufficiently long time yet it let those four years of the remaining period of prescription run its course before bringing the proper action.

Prescription of actions is a valued rule in all civilized states from the beginning of organized society. It is a rule of fairness since, without it, the plaintiff can postpone the filing of his action to the point of depriving the defendant, through the passage of time, of access to defense witnesses who would have died or left to live elsewhere, or to documents that would have been discarded or could no longer be located. Moreover, the memories of witnesses are eroded by time. There is an absolute need in the interest of fairness to bar actions that have taken the plaintiffs too long to file in court.

Respondents claim that, in any event, the complaint against them failed to show probable cause. They point out that, prior to the third amendment of UNICOMs capitalization, the stated value of the one million shares without par value, which belonged to its incorporators, was P5 million. When these shares were converted to 5 million shares with par value, the total par value of such shares remained at P5 million. But, the action having prescribed, there is no point in discussing the existence of probable cause against the respondents for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019.

WHEREFORE, the Court DENIES the petition and AFFIRMS the Memorandum dated May 14, 1999 of the Office of the Ombudsman that dismissed on the ground of prescription the subject charge of violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 against respondents Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose R. Eleazar, Jr., Jose C. Concepcion, Rolando P. Dela Cuesta, Emmanuel M. Almeda, Hermenegildo C. Zayco, Narciso M. Pineda, Iaki R. Mendezona, Danilo S. Ursua, Teodoro D. Regala, Victor P. Lazatin, Eleazar B. Reyes, Eduardo U. Escueta, Leo J. Palma, Douglas Lu Ym, Sigfredo Veloso, and Jaime Gandiaga.

SO ORDERED.

ROBERTO A. ABAD

Associate Justice

WE CONCUR:

ANTONIO T. CARPIO

Associate Justice

PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR. TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO