DIGEST: HRS. BURGOS vs. CA, G.R. No. 169711, February 8, 2010

 
Facts: Co is charged with murder and frustrated murder. Co pleaded not guilty. Thereafter, respondent Co filed a petition for admission to bail. After hearing, the RTC granted bail on the ground that the evidence of guilt of respondent Co was not strong. Heirs of petitioner moved for reconsideration but the RTC, now presided over by another judge, denied the same. This prompted the victim’s heirs to file a special civil action of certiorari with prayer for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction before the CA. The CA however dismissed the petition for having been filed without involving the Office of the Solicitor General(OSG), in violation of jurisprudence and the law, specifically, Section 35, Chapter 12, Title III, Book IV of the Administrative Code.

Issue: Whether or not the CA correctly dismissed the special civil action of certiorari, which questioned the RTC’s grant of bail to respondent Co, for having been filed in the name of the offended parties and without the OSG’s intervention. [CA CORRECTLY dismissed the petition.]

Ratio: The purpose of a criminal action, in its purest sense, is to determine the penal liability of the accused for having outraged the state with his crime and, if he be found guilty, to punish him for it. In this sense, the parties to the action are the People of the Philippines and the accused. The offended party is regarded merely as a witness for the state. Also in this wise, only the state, through its appellate counsel, the OSG, has the sole right and authority to institute proceedings before the CA or the Supreme Court.

As a general rule, the mandate or authority to represent the state lies only in the OSG. The interpretation of Sec. 35 of the Administrative Code provides that it is mandatory upon the OSG to “represent the Government of the Philippines, its agencies and instrumentalities and its officials and agents in any litigation, proceeding, investigation or matter requiring the services of a lawyer.” For that reason, actions essentially involving the interest of the state, if not initiated by the Solicitor General, are, as a rule, summarily dismissed. Here, the question of granting bail to the accused is but an aspect of the criminal action, preventing him from eluding punishment in the event of conviction.