EN BANC
[G.R. No. 47956. August 5, 1942. ]
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. FERNANDO C. QUEBRAL, ET AL., Defendants-Appellees.
Assistant Solicitor-General Reyes and Acting Solicitor Torres, for Appellant.
Primicias, Abad, Mencias & Castillo, for Appellees.
SYLLABUS
1. CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; ASSAULT UPON A PERSON IN AUTHORITY; PRESIDENT OF A SANITARY DIVISION AS SUCH PERSON IN AUTHORITY. — The president of a sanitary division is a person in authority or, at least, an agent of such person. Under the law he is, in addition to other duties towards the protection and preservation of public health and sanitation, expressly vested with the power to enforce all sanitary laws and regulations applicable to his division and to cause all violations of the same to be duly prosecuted.
D E C I S I O N
PARAS, J.:
This is an appeal from order of the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan sustaining the motion to quash an information charging the defendants-appellees with the offense of assault upon a person in authority, it being alleged by the Solicitor-General that the lower court erred in holding that the president of a sanitary division is not a person in authority or, at least, an agent of a person in authority within the purview of article 148 of the Revised Penal Code.
The charge is that on or about the 12th day of July, 1940, the defendants-appellees feloniously assaulted and attacked Dr. Jose R. Sison, president of the 6th sanitary division, while he was engaged in the performance of his official duties, and caused upon him several physical injuries. We are of the opinion that such official is a person in authority or, at least, an agent of such person. Under the law he is, in addition to other duties towards the protection and preservation of public health and sanitation, expressly vested with the power to enforce all sanitary laws and regulations applicable in his division and to cause all violations of the same to be duly prosecuted. Though subject to the direction of the district health officer, the discharge of such legal duty is directly imposed by law upon him. Even if it be supposed, however, that the enforcement of all sanitary laws and regulations falls within the jurisdiction of the district health officer, the president of a sanitary division, in actually performing such duty in representation of the former, logically becomes his agent. Our conclusion finds a precedent in the case of People v. Marquez G. R. No. 41527, wherein it was held that a sanitary inspector is an agent of a person in authority. The appealed order is therefore reversed and set aside, and the case remanded to the court of origin for further proceedings, without costs.
Yulo, C.J., Moran and Bocobo, JJ., concur.
IMPERIAL, M., kasang-ayon: 1
Kasang-ayon ako ng nakararami ng Hukuman sa pagpapawalangbis
The charge is that on or about the 12th day of July, 1940, the defendants-appellees feloniously assaulted and attacked Dr. Jose R. Sison, president of the 6th sanitary division, while he was engaged in the performance of his official duties, and caused upon him several physical injuries. We are of the opinion that such official is a person in authority or, at least, an agent of such person. Under the law he is, in addition to other duties towards the protection and preservation of public health and sanitation, expressly vested with the power to enforce all sanitary laws and regulations applicable in his division and to cause all violations of the same to be duly prosecuted. Though subject to the direction of the district health officer, the discharge of such legal duty is directly imposed by law upon him. Even if it be supposed, however, that the enforcement of all sanitary laws and regulations falls within the jurisdiction of the district health officer, the president of a sanitary division, in actually performing such duty in representation of the former, logically becomes his agent. Our conclusion finds a precedent in the case of People v. Marquez G. R. No. 41527, wherein it was held that a sanitary inspector is an agent of a person in authority. The appealed order is therefore reversed and set aside, and the case remanded to the court of origin for further proceedings, without costs.
Yulo, C.J., Moran and Bocobo, JJ., concur.
Separate Opinions
IMPERIAL, M., kasang-ayon: 1
Kasang-ayon ako ng nakararami ng Hukuman sa pagpapawalangbis
