G.R. No. 70332-43 – 145 SCRA 508 – Legal Ethics – Prosecutor Must Recommend Dismissal of Case If There is No Ground To Sustain It
Trieste was the mayor of Numancia, Aklan. In 1980, during his term, the Municipality of Numancia purchased construction materials from Trigen Agro-Industrial Development Corporation. Trieste was allegedly the president of said corporation. Trieste was then sued for allegedly violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act particularly for willfully and unlawfully having financial or pecuniary interest in a business, contract or transaction in connection with which said accused intervened or took part in his official capacity and in which he is prohibited by law from having any interest.
Trieste, in defense, said that he already divested his interest from the corporation when he took his office as mayor; that he sold his shares to his sister; he presented evidence to that effect. The Solicitor General doubted said sale because it was not registered in the Securities and Exchange Commission. Further, the advertisement of Trigen in the local rotary club shows that Trieste is the president of the corporation.
In time, the old Sol-Gen was replaced by a new one. The new Sol-Gen gave credit to the arguments presented by Trieste as it recommended the dismissal of the case on the ground that Trieste did divest his interest from the corporation by virtue of his selling his shares to his sister; that said sale cannot be doubted simply because it was not reported to the SEC; that sales of stocks are not required to be reported in the SEC.
ISSUE: Whether or not the recommendation of the Solicitor General is correct.
HELD: Yes. The Solicitor General is well within his rights to make such recommendation. A public prosecutor should not hesitate to recommend to the court the accused’s acquittal if the evidence in his possession shows that the accused is innocent. If on appeal by the accused from a conviction by the trial court he finds no legal basis to sustain the conviction, he should not also hesitate to recommend that the accused be acquitted.
