G.R. No. 14129.

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Republic of the Philippines

EN BANC

G.R. No. 14129 July 31, 1962

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellant,

Office of the Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellant.

REGALA, J.:

This is an appeal of the Solicitor General from the order of the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan dismissing the
information against the defendant.

The records show that the statement of the case and the facts, as recited in the brief of plaintiff-appellant, is
complete and accurate. The same is, consequently, here adopted, to wit:

In an information filed by the Provincial Fiscal of Pangasinan in the Court of First Instance of that Province,
defendant Guillermo Manantan was charged with a violation Section 54 of the Revised Election Code. A
preliminary investigation conducted by said court resulted in the finding a probable cause that the crime
charged as committed by defendant. Thereafter, the trial started upon defendant's plea of not guilty, the
defense moved to dismiss the information on the ground that as justice of the peace the defendant is one of
the officers enumerated in Section 54 of the Revised Election Code. The lower court denied the motion to
dismiss holding that a justice of the peace is within the purview Section 54. A second motion was filed by
defense counsel who cited in support thereof the decision of the Court of Appeals in People vs. Macaraeg,
(CA-G.R. No. 15613-R, 54 Off. Gaz., pp. 1873-76) where it was held that a justice of the peace is excluded
from the prohibition of Section 54 of the Revised Election Code. Acting on this second motion to dismiss, the
answer of the prosecution, the reply of the defense, and the opposition of the prosecution, the lower court
dismissed the information against the accused upon the authority of the ruling in the case cited by the
defense.

Both parties are submitting this case upon the determination of this single question of law: Is a justice the peace
included in the prohibition of Section 54 of the Revised Election Code?

Section 54 of the said Code reads:

No justice, judge, fiscal, treasurer, or assessor of any province, no officer or employee of the Army, no
member of the national, provincial, city, municipal or rural police force and no classified civil service officer or
employee shall aid any candidate, or exert any influence in any manner in a election or take part therein,
except to vote, if entitled thereto, or to preserve public peace, if he is a peace officer.

Defendant-appellee argues that a justice of the peace is not comprehended among the officers enumerated in
Section 54 of the Revised Election Code. He submits the aforecited section was taken from Section 449 of the
Revised Administrative Code, which provided the following:

SEC. 449. Persons prohibited from influencing elections. — No judge of the First Instance, justice of the
peace, or treasurer, fiscal or assessor of any province and no officer or employee of the Philippine
Constabulary, or any Bureau or employee of the classified civil service, shall aid any candidate or exert
influence in any manner in any election or take part therein otherwise than exercising the right to vote.

When, therefore, section 54 of the Revised Election Code omitted the words "justice of the peace," the omission
revealed the intention of the Legislature to exclude justices of the peace from its operation.

The above argument overlooks one fundamental fact. It is to be noted that under Section 449 of the Revised
Administrative Code, the word "judge" was modified or qualified by the phrase "of First instance", while under
Section 54 of the Revised Election Code, no such modification exists. In other words, justices of the peace were
expressly included in Section 449 of the Revised Administrative Code because the kinds of judges therein were
specified, i.e., judge of the First Instance and justice of the peace. In Section 54, however, there was no necessity
therefore to include justices of the peace in the enumeration because the legislature had availed itself of the more
generic and broader term, "judge." It was a term not modified by any word or phrase and was intended to
comprehend all kinds of judges, like judges of the courts of First Instance, Judges of the courts of Agrarian
Relations, judges of the courts of Industrial Relations, and justices of the peace.

It is a well known fact that a justice of the peace is sometimes addressed as "judge" in this jurisdiction. It is because
a justice of the peace is indeed a judge. A "judge" is a public officer, who, by virtue of his office, is clothed with
judicial authority (U.S. v. Clark, 25 Fed. Cas. 441, 422). According to Bouvier Law Dictionary, "a judge is a public
officer lawfully appointed to decide litigated questions according to law. In its most extensive sense the term
includes all officers appointed to decide litigated questions while acting in that capacity, including justices of the
peace, and even jurors, it is said, who are judges of facts."

A review of the history of the Revised Election Code will help to justify and clarify the above conclusion.

The first election law in the Philippines was Act 1582 enacted by the Philippine Commission in 1907, and which was
later amended by Act. Nos. 1669, 1709, 1726 and 1768. (Of these 4 amendments, however, only Act No. 1709 has
a relation to the discussion of the instant case as shall be shown later.) Act No. 1582, with its subsequent 4
amendments were later on incorporated Chapter 18 of the Administrative Code. Under the Philippine Legislature,
several amendments were made through the passage of Acts Nos. 2310, 3336 and 3387. (Again, of these last 3
amendments, only Act No. 3587 has pertinent to the case at bar as shall be seen later.) During the time of the
Commonwealth, the National Assembly passed Commonwealth Act No. 23 and later on enacted Commonwealth
Act No. 357, which was the law enforced until June 1947, when the Revised Election Code was approved. Included
as its basic provisions are the provisions of Commonwealth Acts Nos. 233, 357, 605, 666, 657. The present Code
was further amended by Republic Acts Nos. 599, 867, 2242 and again, during the session of Congress in 1960,
amended by Rep. Acts Nos. 3036 and 3038. In the history of our election law, the following should be noted:

Under Act 1582, Section 29, it was provided:

No public officer shall offer himself as a candidate for elections, nor shall he be eligible during the time that he
holds said public office to election at any municipal, provincial or Assembly election, except for reelection to
the position which he may be holding, and no judge of the First Instance, justice of the peace, provincial
fiscal, or officer or employee of the Philippine Constabulary or of the Bureau of Education shall aid any
candidate or influence in any manner or take part in any municipal, provincial, or Assembly election under the
penalty of being deprived of his office and being disqualified to hold any public office whatsoever for a term of
5 year: Provide, however, That the foregoing provisions shall not be construe to deprive any person otherwise
qualified of the right to vote it any election." (Enacted January 9, 1907; Took effect on January 15, 1907.)

Then, in Act 1709, Sec. 6, it was likewise provided:

. . . No judge of the First Instance, Justice of the peace provincial fiscal or officer or employee of the Bureau of
Constabulary or of the Bureau of Education shall aid any candidate or influence in any manner to take part in
any municipal provincial or Assembly election. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be
deprived of his office or employment and shall be disqualified to hold any public office or employment
whatever for a term of 5 years, Provided, however, that the foregoing provisions shall not be construed to
deprive any person otherwise qualified of the right to vote at any election. (Enacted on August 31, 1907; Took
effect on September 15, 1907.)

Again, when the existing election laws were incorporated in the Administrative Code on March 10, 1917, the
provisions in question read:

SEC. 449. Persons prohibited from influencing elections. — No judge of the First Instance, justice of the
peace, or treasurer, fiscal or assessor of any province and no officer or employee of the Philippine
Constabulary or any Bureau or employee of the classified civil service, shall aid any candidate or exert
influence in any manner in any election or take part therein otherwise than exercising the right to vote.
(Emphasis supplied)

After the Administrative Code, the next pertinent legislation was Act No. 3387. This Act reads:

SEC. 2636. Officers and employees meddling with the election. — Any judge of the First Instance, justice of
the peace, treasurer, fiscal or assessor of any province, any officer or employee of the Philippine
Constabulary or of the police of any municipality, or any officer or employee of any Bureau of the classified
civil service, who aids any candidate or violated in any manner the provisions of this section or takes part in
any election otherwise by exercising the right to vote, shall be punished by a fine of not less than P100.00 nor
more than P2,000.00, or by imprisonment for not less than 2 months nor more than 2 years, and in all cases
by disqualification from public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage for a period of 5 years. (Approved
December 3, 1927.) (Emphasis supplied.)

Subsequently, however, Commonwealth Act No. 357 was enacted on August 22, 1938. This law provided in Section
48:

SEC. 48. Active Interventation of Public Officers and Employees. — No justice, judge, fiscal, treasurer or
assessor of any province, no officer or employee of the Army, the Constabulary of the national, provincial,
municipal or rural police, and no classified civil service officer or employee shall aid any candidate, nor exert
influence in any manner in any election nor take part therein, except to vote, if entitled thereto, or to preserve
public peace, if he is a peace officer.
This last law was the legislation from which Section 54 of the Revised Election Code was taken.

It will thus be observed from the foregoing narration of the legislative development or history of Section 54 of the
Revised Election Code that the first omission of the word "justice of the peace" was effected in Section 48 of
Commonwealth Act No. 357 and not in the present code as averred by defendant-appellee. Note carefully, however,
that in the two instances when the words "justice of the peace" were omitted (in Com. Act No. 357 and Rep. Act No.
180), the word "judge" which preceded in the enumeration did not carry the qualification "of the First Instance." In
other words, whenever the word "judge" was qualified by the phrase "of the First Instance", the words "justice of the
peace" would follow; however, if the law simply said "judge," the words "justice of the peace" were omitted.

The above-mentioned pattern of congressional phraseology would seem to justify the conclusion that when the
legislature omitted the words "justice of the peace" in Rep. Act No. 180, it did not intend to exempt the said officer
from its operation. Rather, it had considered the said officer as already comprehended in the broader term "judge".

It is unfortunate and regrettable that the last World War had destroyed congressional records which might have
offered some explanation of the discussion of Com. Act No. 357 which legislation, as indicated above, has
eliminated for the first time the words "justice of the peace." Having been completely destroyed, all efforts to seek
deeper and additional clarifications from these records proved futile. Nevertheless, the conclusions drawn from the
historical background of Rep. Act No. 180 is sufficiently borne out by reason hid equity.

Defendant further argues that he cannot possibly be among the officers enumerated in Section 54 inasmuch as
under that said section, the word "judge" is modified or qualified by the phrase "of any province." The last mentioned
phrase, defendant submits, cannot then refer to a justice of the peace since the latter is not an officer of a province
but of a municipality.

Defendant's argument in that respect is too strained. If it is true that the phrase "of any province" necessarily
removes justices of the peace from the enumeration for the reason that they are municipal and not provincial
officials, then the same thing may be said of the Justices of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals. They
are national officials. Yet, can there be any doubt that Justices of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Appeals are
not included in the prohibition? The more sensible and logical interpretation of the said phrase is that it qualifies
fiscals, treasurers and assessors who are generally known as provincial officers.

The rule of "casus omisus pro omisso habendus est" is likewise invoked by the defendant-appellee. Under the said
rule, a person, object or thing omitted from an enumeration must be held to have been omitted intentionally. If that
rule is applicable to the present, then indeed, justices of the peace must be held to have been intentionally and
deliberately exempted from the operation of Section 54 of the Revised Election Code.

The rule has no applicability to the case at bar. The maxim "casus omisus" can operate and apply only if and when
the omission has been clearly established. In the case under consideration, it has already been shown that the
legislature did not exclude or omit justices of the peace from the enumeration of officers precluded from engaging in
partisan political activities. Rather, they were merely called by another term. In the new law, or Section 54 of the
Revised Election Code, justices of the peace were just called "judges."

In insisting on the application of the rule of "casus omisus" to this case, defendant-appellee cites authorities to the
effect that the said rule, being restrictive in nature, has more particular application to statutes that should be strictly
construed. It is pointed out that Section 54 must be strictly construed against the government since proceedings
under it are criminal in nature and the jurisprudence is settled that penal statutes should be strictly interpreted
against the state.

Amplifying on the above argument regarding strict interpretation of penal statutes, defendant asserts that the spirit of
fair play and due process demand such strict construction in order to give "fair warning of what the law intends to
do, if a certain line is passed, in language that the common world will understand." (Justice Holmes, in McBoyle v.
U.S., 283 U.S. 25, L. Ed. 816).

The application of the rule of "casus omisus" does not proceed from the mere fact that a case is criminal in nature,
but rather from a reasonable certainty that a particular person, object or thing has been omitted from a legislative
enumeration. In the present case, and for reasons already mentioned, there has been no such omission. There has
only been a substitution of terms.

The rule that penal statutes are given a strict construction is not the only factor controlling the interpretation of such
laws; instead, the rule merely serves as an additional, single factor to be considered as an aid in determining the
meaning of penal laws. This has been recognized time and again by decisions of various courts. (3 Sutherland,
Statutory Construction, p. 56.) Thus, cases will frequently be found enunciating the principle that the intent of the
legislature will govern (U.S. vs. Corbet, 215 U.S. 233). It is to be noted that a strict construction should not be
permitted to defeat the policy and purposes of the statute (Ash Sheep Co. v. U.S., 252 U.S. 159). The court may
consider the spirit and reason of a statute, as in this particular instance, where a literal meaning would lead to
absurdity, contradiction, injustice, or would defeat the clear purpose of the law makers (Crawford, Interpretation of
Laws, Sec. 78, p. 294). A Federal District court in the U.S. has well said:

The strict construction of a criminal statute does not mean such construction of it as to deprive it of the
meaning intended. Penal statutes must be construed in the sense which best harmonizes with their intent and
purpose. (U.S. v. Betteridge 43 F. Supp. 53, 56, cited in 3 Sutherland Statutory Construction 56.)

As well stated by the Supreme Court of the United States, the language of criminal statutes, frequently, has been
narrowed where the letter includes situations inconsistent with the legislative plan (U.S. v. Katz, 271 U.S. 354; See
also Ernest Brunchen, Interpretation of the Written Law (1915) 25 Yale L.J. 129.)
Another reason in support of the conclusion reached herein is the fact that the purpose of the statute is to enlarge
the officers within its purview. Justices of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and various judges, such as the
judges of the Court of Industrial Relations, judges of the Court of Agrarian Relations, etc., who were not included in
the prohibition under the old statute, are now within its encompass. If such were the evident purpose, can the
legislature intend to eliminate the justice of the peace within its orbit? Certainly not. This point is fully explained in
the brief of the Solicitor General, to wit:

On the other hand, when the legislature eliminated the phrases "Judge of First Instance" and justice of the
peace", found in Section 449 of the Revised Administrative Code, and used "judge" in lieu thereof, the
obvious intention was to include in the scope of the term not just one class of judges but all judges, whether
of first Instance justices of the peace or special courts, such as judges of the Court of Industrial Relations. . . .
.

The weakest link in our judicial system is the justice of the peace court, and to so construe the law as to allow
a judge thereof to engage in partisan political activities would weaken rather than strengthen the judiciary. On
the other hand, there are cogent reasons found in the Revised Election Code itself why justices of the peace
should be prohibited from electioneering. Along with Justices of the appellate courts and judges of the Court
of First Instance, they are given authority and jurisdiction over certain election cases (See Secs. 103, 104,
117-123). Justices of the peace are authorized to hear and decided inclusion and exclusion cases, and if they
are permitted to campaign for candidates for an elective office the impartiality of their decisions in election
cases would be open to serious doubt. We do not believe that the legislature had, in Section 54 of the
Revised Election Code, intended to create such an unfortunate situation. (pp. 708, Appellant's Brief.)

Another factor which fortifies the conclusion reached herein is the fact that the administrative or executive
department has regarded justices of the peace within the purview of Section 54 of the Revised Election Code.

In Tranquilino O. Calo, Jr. v. The Executive Secretary, the Secretary of Justice, etc. (G.R. No. L-12601), this Court
did not give due course to the petition for certiorari and prohibition with preliminary injunction against the
respondents, for not setting aside, among others, Administrative Order No. 237, dated March 31, 1957, of the
President of the Philippines, dismissing the petitioner as justice of the peace of Carmen, Agusan. It is worthy of note
that one of the causes of the separation of the petitioner was the fact that he was found guilty in engaging in
electioneering, contrary to the provisions of the Election Code.