Zafiro L. Respicio (petitioner) appeals the October 13, 2006 Decision and July 3, 2007 Resolution of the Sandiganbayan ¹ which found him guilty of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 ² and of falsification under Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code.

From the six-volume records of the cases, the following facts are gathered:

Petitioner was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) when 11 Indian nationals (the Indians), ³ who were facing criminal charges for drug trafficking, left the country on August 12, 1994 on the basis of a BID Self-Deportation Order (SDO) No. 94-685 dated August 11, 1994

SDO No. 94-685 (the Order) reads:

O R D E R

It appears that on 09 August 1994, respondents filed their respective requests for self-deportation.  They attached their airline tickets and travel documents.

The Bureau has not received any prior written request to hold the departure of the respondents from any government enforcement agency nor from any private person.  Moreover, there is no indication from the records that the respondents are the subject of any written complaints before any government agency nor before any private person.  Hence, the Board of Commissioners subject to the Immigration Act, Sections 38 and 229-A, hereby authorizes the respondents’ requests for self-deportation on the following conditions:

1) The respondents shall exhibit their outbound tickets prior to their release from detention;

2) The respondents shall pay an overtime fee in the amount of One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) each which shall be remitted to the Bureau's Trust Fund; and

3) The respondents shall be escorted to the NAIA by authorized officers of the Bureau, the former being barred from returning to the Philippines.

x x x x (emphasis, italics and underscoring supplied),

The Order was signed by petitioner and then Associate Commissioners Bayani Subido, Jr. (Subido) and Manuel C. Roxas (Roxas). ⁴

The issuance by petitioner, Subido and Roxas of the Order resulted in the filing before the Sandiganbayan by the Office of the Special Prosecutor of Information dated October 10, 1994 against them, docketed as Criminal Case No. 21545, charging them of falsification of official document under Art. 171 of the Revised Penal Code as follows:

That on or about August 9, 1994, prior or subsequent thereto at the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation with its office situated in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the following accused officials of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, namely:  then Commissioner ZAFIRO L. RESPICIO; Associate Commissioner BAYANI M. SUBIDO, JR.; and Associate Commissioner MANUEL C. ROXAS, conspiring and confederating with each other, while in the performance of their officials [sic] functions, taking advantage of their official positions, and committing the crime in relation to their office, did then and there falsify Self-Deportation Order No. 84-685 dated August 9, 1994, a public document granting deportation of the eleven (11) Indian Nationals, by stating therein that “there is no indication from the records that the respondents eleven (11) Indian nationals are subject of any written complaints before any government agency,' when in truth and in fact as above-named public officials are fully aware, a preliminary investigation is being conducted by State Prosecutor Reynaldo Lugtu against said eleven (11) Indian nationals for violation of Republic Act 6425, as amended (Dangerous Drugs Act), which case was ultimately filed before the Regional Trial Court of Las Pi[ñ]as, Metro Manila, last July 29, 1994, the truth thereof they have a duty to disclose, to the damage and prejudice of the government. ⁵

Contrary to law.  (emphasis and underscoring supplied)

Petitioner Subido and Roxas were likewise, by Information also dated October 10, 1994, docketed as Criminal Case No. 21546, charged, together with them National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director and Chief of the Intelligence Service Arturo Figueras (Figueras) and John Does, of violating Section 3(e) ⁶ of Republic Act No. 3019 as follows:

That on or about August 9 to 11, 1994, prior or subsequent thereto, in the City of Manila, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused officials of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, in Intramuros Manila namely: then Commissioner ZAFIRO L. RESPICIO; Associate Commissioner BAYANI M. SUBIDO, JR.; Associate Commissioner MANUEL C. ROJAS, ARTURO A. FIGUERAS, Deputy Director and Chief of the Domestic Intelligence Service, National Bureau of Investigation, Manila; and JOHN DOES, while in the performance of their official functions as such, acting with evident bad faith and manifest partiality, conspiring and confederating with each other, did then and there, willfully and criminally issue BID Self-Deportation Order No. 94-685 dated August 9, 1994 authorizing the release of the following eleven (11) Indian nationals, namely:  PRAMOD SHIRIAD JOGDEO, SHAIK EASAF, SUNKAVALIVENKATA LAKSHIMANARAYA, AUGUSTINE RAJESH, NAGAYYA VANAM, MOHAMMAD RAFIQUE, KAUSAR ALI, NABI PASHAKHAN GULAM, MENGESH BENDU JADHAV, LAXMAN KUSHABA KADAM, CAJETAN MERWYN MLVARES who, with the prior knowledge of the aforenamed accused, were all facing criminal charges for violation of RA 6425, as amended (Dangerous Drugs Act), a heinous crime punishable with death, before the Regional Trial Court of Las Piñas, Metro Manila, and held without bail and placed in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation “ Domestic Intelligence Service (NBI-DIS), headed by accused ARTURO A. FIGUERAS, thereby giving unwarranted benefits to the above-named eleven (11) Indian nationals and depriving the government the right to prosecute them, to the prejudice of the public interest and the government.

CONTRARY TO LAW. ⁷ (emphasis and underscoring supplied)

The Indians, who were arrested and detained by the NBI for manufacturing methaqualone,  were, on July 5, 1994, charged for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act before the Department of Justice (DOJ) before which they were subjected to preliminary investigation. On even date, NBI Deputy Director Arturo Figueras (Figueras) wrote petitioner requesting

[i]n connection with the investigation [which] this Bureau is presently undertaking, [that the NBI] be furnished with a certification and/or all information in [the Bureau of Immigration] files concerning the status of the following Indian Nationals, to wit:

x x x x ⁸ (emphasis and underscoring supplied)

Atty. Ernesto Zshornack Jr. (Atty. Zshornack), counsel for the Indians, later requested, by letter of July 13, 1994, the Secretary of Justice to deport his clients as a protracted court investigation as to their culpability will serve no practical or useful purposeand will entail costs to our government