Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
*
A.M. No. RTJ-03-1767. March 28, 2003.
(OCA-IPI No. 01-1314-RTJ)
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* FIRST DIVISION.
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RESOLUTION
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
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4 Resolution, Rollo, p. 5.
5 Rollo, p. 9.
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6 Rollo, p. 12.
7 Rollo, p. 20.
8 Rollo, p. 23.
9 Rollo, p. 24.
10 Dericto v. Bautista, A.M. No. MTJ-99-1205, 29 November 2000, 346
SCRA 226, 227; Basco v. Rapatalo, supra, at 219-220; People v. Cabral,
362 Phil. 697, 708-709; 303 SCRA 361 [1999].
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11
tion. It must be stressed that the grant or the denial of
bail in cases where bail is a matter of discretion hinges on
the issue of whether or not the evidence on the guilt of the
accused is strong, and the determination of whether or not
the evidence is strong is a matter of judicial discretion
which remains with the judge. In order for the latter to
properly exercise his discretion, he must first conduct a
hearing12 to determine whether the evidence of guilt is
strong. 13
In Santos v. Ofilada it was held that the failure to
raise or the absence of an objection on the part of the
prosecution in an application for bail does not dispense
with the requirement of a bail hearing. Thus—
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grant and fix bail, the court may ask the prosecution such
questions as would ascertain the strength of the State’s evidence
or judge the adequacy of the amount of the bail. Irrespective of
respondent judge’s opinion that the evidence of guilt against the
accused is not strong, the law and settled jurisprudence demand
that a hearing be conducted before bail may be fixed for the
temporary release of the accused, if bail is at all justified.
Thus, although the provincial prosecutor had interposed no
objection to the grant of bail to the accused, the respondent judge
therein should nevertheless have set the petition for bail for
hearing and diligently ascertain from the prosecution whether the
latter was not in fact contesting the bail application. In addition,
a hearing was also necessary for the court to
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11 Te v. Perez, supra.
12 Marzan-Gelacio v. Flores, A.M. No. RTJ-99-1488, 20 June 2000, 334 SCRA 1,
12; citing Aleria, Jr. v. Velez, 359 Phil. 141; 298 SCRA 611 [1998]; Basco y.
Rapatalo, supra; Almeron v. Sardido, 346 Phil. 424; 281 SCRA 415 [1997].
13 315 Phil. 11, 21; 245 SCRA 56 [1995]; citing Aguirre v. Belmonte, A.M. No.
RTJ-93-1052, 27 October 1994, 237 SCRA 778; Borinaga v. Tamin, A.M. No. RTJ-
93-936, 10 September 1993, 226 SCRA 206; Libarios v. Dabalos, A.M. No. RTJ-89-
286, 11 July 1991, 199 SCRA 48; Tucay v. Domagas, supra, note 2.
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take into consideration the guidelines set forth in the then Section
6, Rule 114 of the 1985 Rules of Criminal Procedure for the fixing
of the amount of the bail. Only after respondent judge had
satisfied himself that these requirements have been met could he
then proceed to rule on whether or not to grant bail.
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17 People v. Cabral, supra at 716; citing People v. San Diego, 135 Phil.
514; 26 SCRA 522 [1968].
18 People v. Gako, Jr., G.R. No. 135045, 15 December 2000, 348 SCRA
334, 351; citing People v. Cabral, supra.
19 Id., citing Narciso v. Sta. Romana-Cruz, G.R. No. 134504, 17 March
2000, 328 SCRA 505.
20 Tabao v. Barataman, A.M. No. MTJ-10-1384, 11 April 2002, 380
SCRA 396.
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21
In Dericto v. Bautista, the Court imposed a fine of
P5,000.00 on the respondent Judge for granting bail
without conducting a bail hearing. We explained therein
that although the Rules of Court authorize the
investigating judge to determine the amount of bail, such
authority does not include the outright granting of bail
without a preliminary hearing on the matter, more so in
cases where the crime charged is punishable with death,
reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment. And while it may
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