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‘Pag mali ang jurisdiction ng court ng venue mali na lahat gagawin. Pati warrant of arrest na na-issue, invalid na ‘yon,’ Senator Francis Tolentino warns about the implications of the wrong venue of the case
MANILA, Philippines – The graft case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo was transferred from the Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court to the Valenzuela City RTC.
Supreme Court (SC) spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting told reporters on Friday, September 13, that the case’s venue was transferred in pursuant to a circular of the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).
“There was no request to transfer the venue of Alice Guo’s case from the Capas RTC to the Valenzuela RTC. The transfer was made pursuant to OCA Circular No. 10-2024, entitled ‘Uniform Guidelines Concerning Cases Where the Accused or One of the Accused is a Local Official,’” Ting said.
“Under paragraph (a), where the accused is a public official, the case shall be forwarded to the nearest RTC of the nearest judicial region from the judicial region where the official holds public office, pursuant to Sec. 2 of RA 10660, amending the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan. In this case, the nearest RTC of the nearest judicial region from Capas is in Valenzuela,” she added.
In usual cases, the prosecution may file a request to the SC to transfer cases from one judicial region to another. This happened in the case of alleged trafficker Apollo Quiboloy, as his child and sexual abuse cases originally filed in Davao were transferred to Quezon City. The Department of Justice cited security concerns and Quiboloy’s influence in the area in requesting the transfer.
On Friday morning, Senator Francis Tolentino announced the transfer of Guo’s case.
“Hawak ko transmittal letter ng Criminal Case ni Alice Guo, No. 10060-24, na naglalaman na papunta na po ang dokumento ng kaso sa Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela…. ‘Pag nagkaroon [ng] raffle, doon pa lang malaman aling branch [ang magko-conduct ng] arraignment at trial,” Tolentino said.
(I have the transmittal letter of Alice Guo’s Criminal Case No. 10060-24, which states that the case documents will be transferred to the Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela…. Once the raffle is done, that’s when we’ll know the court branch and which branch will conduct the arraignment and trial.)
Why is the venue of Guo’s graft case a big deal? Tolentino explained its possible implications.
“‘Pag mali ang jurisdiction ng court, ng venue, mali na lahat gagawin. Pati warrant of arrest na na-issue, invalid na ‘yon. ‘Yung judge ng Valenzuela magre-issue ng warrant at kung saan niya gusto i-detain kung saan man. Itatama [ang] mali,” he senator explained.
(If the jurisdiction and court venue is wrong, everything else will be wrong as well. Including the warrant of arrest issued, that’s invalid. The Valenzuela judge will re-issue a warrant and a commitment order on where he/she wants to detain Guo. This will rectify things.)
Of Guo’s long list of complaints, the first criminal charge and arrest warrant against her came from her home turf for two counts of graft filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The graft complaint was filed because the Bamban POGO was still given a permit even though it lacked the necessary requirements under Guo’s watch.
The DILG said Guo should have revoked the POGO’s business permit after the expiration of the license issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
The venue of Guo’s case has been a point of contention as there were many interpretations about the rules. Generally, the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan handles corruption cases, but there’s Republic Act No. 10660, which states that RTCs can also hold cases as long as the damage to the government is not more than P1 million or the case does not indicate the extent of damage.
The problem is that this law has a caveat. A closer look at RA No. 10660 would reveal that there’s a specific provision that states that “cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Court under this section shall be tried in a judicial region other than where the official holds office.”
University of the Philippines College of Law professor and former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te told Rappler that it’s correct that Guo’s case falls under the RTC, but should not be within Tarlac. – Rappler.com
