8/9/2019 People vs. Orcullo

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/people-vs-orcullo 1/2

8/9/2019 People vs. Orcullo

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/people-vs-orcullo 2/2

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agai nst public  morals, of moral  degeneracy  f ar  

ex c eed i ng that  i nvol ved  i n the mai ntenanc e of ad ul ter ous r elat i ons. 

It appear ing f r om the r ecital of the infor mationthat the alleged defamator y r emar k by the

accused specifically imputed upon the offendedpar ty the commission of pr ostitution, which is a

public cr ime that can be pr osecuted de oficio,the infor mation filed under  the signatur e of the

Assistant City Fiscal duly conferr ed jur isdictionupon the lower  cour t to tr y the case. (Emphasis

supplied)

This r uling is a mer e r eiter ation of pr eviouspr onouncements made by this Honor able Cour t

in Peopl e v . Santos, 98 Phil. 11 and Mangila v . Lant ik, 30 SCRA 82. Still for  another   r eason,

assuming ar guendo that adulter y which is a pr ivatecr ime, and pr ostitution which is a public cr ime, ar e

both imputed to complainant, cr iminal action maystill be instituted without her  complaint because

public inter est, which is always par amount topr ivate inter est, so r equir es (People v. Yu, 1 SCRA

199).

It must be noted that it is only when der ogator yr emar ks clear ly and categor ically r eflect the

elements constituting adulter y would the complaintfor  libel by the offended par ty be necessar y to

commence pr osecution (People v. Padilla, 105 Phil.45). In this case, however , the der ogator y r emar ks

of accused-r espondent, not only do not clear ly showthe elements of adulter y, but on the contr ar y, such

r emar ks indubitably impute the cr ime of pr ostitution. Ther efor e, the infor mation for  libel can

be filed without the complaint of the offendedpar ty. 5 

The submission of the Solicitor  Gener al is well taken.

Indeed, the wor ds quoted in the infor mation ar eindubitably an imputation of the cr ime of pr ostitution

which can be pr osecuted de of ici o.

WHEREFORE, the petition is gr anted, the or der  dismissing Cr iminal Case No. 40117 of the City Cour t of 

Cagayan de Or 

o City is set aside, and ther 

espondent  judge, Hon. Antonio A. Or cullo, is or der ed to r einstate

said cr iminal case and to tr y the same on the mer its.

SO ORDERED.