Source: http://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=30494:g-r-nos-44555-56-may-14,-1990-edilberto-munsayac,-et-al-v-guillermo-p-villasor,-et-al&amp;catid=1263&amp;Itemid=566
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 21:50:13+00:00

Document:
EDILBERTO MUNSAYAC AND NENA MUNSAYAC, Petitioners, v. HON. GUILLERMO P. VILLASOR, Presiding Judge of the Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch XV and LEONOR P. ENRIQUEZ, Respondents.
Angel R. Gonzales, for Petitioners.
Francisco R. Capistrano and Edgardo M. Tamoria for Private Respondents.
In this original action for certiorari, petitioners assail as having been issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction, the order of respondent judge in Criminal Cases Nos. 21928 and 21929, directing petitioners to answer the motion for restitution filed therein by the complainant after the cases were dismissed.
In an undated criminal information, 1 Eduardo Asuncion alias Edwin Zaraus and/or Edna Madrigal, were charged with the crime of theft of jewelries worth P37,000.00. The case was docketed as Criminal Case No. 21928 and was raffled to Br. XV of the then CFI (now RTC) of Manila. In another information 2 dated June 27, 1975, the same accused was charged of similar offense this time for stealing away gold coins worth P2,000.00. The case was docketed as Criminal Case No. 21929 and was raffled to BR. XIX of the same court. In both cases, the complainant was herein private Respondent. When the accused in Criminal Case No. 21928 was arraigned on July 11, 1975, he pleaded not guilty. Before the accused in Criminal Case 21929 could be arraigned the presiding judge of Branch XIX on August 4, 1975 ordered the consolidation of the case with Criminal Case No. 21928 because they arose from the same incident.
Petitioners contend that respondent judge, in issuing the assailed order committed reversible error tantamount to grave abuse of discretion. They allege that since private respondent had reserved the right to file a separate civil action pursuant to Rule III of the Rules of Court, she has waived her interest in the cases and she cannot therein directly or indirectly participate except to testify as a witness for the State; that the dismissal of the case before evidence was adduced and even before arraignment of the accused in Criminal Case No. 21929 erased not only the criminal liability of the accused but also the crime itself and so there is no civil liability to speak of or at least, the same was condoned by private respondent; that even assuming that civil liability existed, it can no longer be pursued in dismissed criminal cases and that to require them to answer a motion filed in non-existing cases is not sanctioned by the rules. According to them, private respondents should have filed a separate civil action by observing the requirements of Section 3, Rule 6 of the Rules of Court. They maintain that the case of People v. Alejano, supra, has no application to the cases at bar because in that case, there was a trial on the merits and in the end the accused was acquitted for the reason that although the offense was proven, his identity was not established. They also branded the order as a judgment rendered without due process of law.
ACCORDINGLY, the writ prayed for is GRANTED. The challenged order is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Costs against Respondent.
10.	Valera v. Finnick, 9 Phil. 482; Del Rosario v. Lucera, 8 Phil. 535; Varela v. Matute, 9 Phil. 479; Reyes v. Ruiz, 27 Phil. 458; U.S. v. Soriano and Villalobos, 12 Phil. 512; U.S. v. Sotelo, 28 Phil. 147.

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