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1) Mariom Bundalian was charged with libel for statements made against Senator Gaudencio Antonino. 2) Senator Antonino died before testifying in the libel case. Bundalian then filed a motion to quash arguing the charge does not survive the offended party. 3) The Court denied the motion to quash, finding that the death of the offended party does not extinguish the criminal liability of the accused for libel. The right to confront witnesses applies to those who testify against the accused, not those who do not.

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57 views1 page

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1) Mariom Bundalian was charged with libel for statements made against Senator Gaudencio Antonino. 2) Senator Antonino died before testifying in the libel case. Bundalian then filed a motion to quash arguing the charge does not survive the offended party. 3) The Court denied the motion to quash, finding that the death of the offended party does not extinguish the criminal liability of the accused for libel. The right to confront witnesses applies to those who testify against the accused, not those who do not.

Uploaded by

benny bull
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Case:

PEOPLEv
.MARI
OM.BUNDALI
AN

Ci
tat
ion:
117SCRA718

Factsoft heCase: OnJune11, 1964,Hon. 


Gaudenci o E. 
Antonino,thenaMemberoft he
Phil
ippineSenat e,fi
ledasworncompl ai
ntwitht heOf ficeoftheCi tyFi
scalofManil
acharging
hereindefend¬ant -
appell
ee 
withthecrimeoflibel.
  Aftertherequisiteprel
i
minaryi
nvesti
gation
wasconduct ed, 
anInfor
mation 
wasf i
ledintheCour tofFirstInstanceofManilabythen
Assistant 
Fiscal,
 nowCourtofAppealsJusti
ce  Serafin R.Cuev as,char
gingher
eindefendant-
appellee 
withlibel.
Senat
or 
Gaudenci
o E.
 Ant
onino 
madenor
eser
vat
iont
ofi
l
eani
ndependentci
vi
lact
ionnordi
d
hefi
leasepar
ateci
v i
lact
ion.
Someti
meinNovember1967,
Senat
or 
Ant
oni
no 
died.
  
Hedi
edbef
orehet
est
if
iedi
nthel
i
bel
casei
nquest
ion.
OnSeptember2, 1968,
 Bundal
i
an f
il
edamot iontoquashall
egi
ngtwo( 2)grounds,namely
: 
(a)
"Thechargeofl
ibeldoesnotsurv
ivetheoff
endedpartywhoisnowdeceased; and( b)t
hefact
s
all
egedinthei
nformationdonotconsti
tut
eacr i
meoflibel
,ori
ftheydo,iti
sjusti
fi
ed."
InanorderdatedOct ober26,1968,thetri
alcour
tgrantedt
hemot i
ontoquashanddi smissed
thecaseonthef i
rstground. 
 Hence,thi
sappealbythePeople.
  
Theonlyissuerai
sedinthi
s
appeali
sthelegal questi
onofwhet herornotthedeathoft
heof f
endedpartyinacri
minalcase
forl
ibel
ordefamat ionexti
nguishesthecriminal
li
abil
it
yoftheaccused.

Hel
d/Decision:Wherefor
e,t
heordergr
anti
ngthemot i
ont
oquashisherebySETASIDE.
  
The
t
ri
alcourtisorderedtotr
ythecaseonthemer i
tsandtor
endert
hecorr
espondi
ngjudgment
t
hereon.
  
Cost sagainstt
hedef
endant-
appel
lee.

Wef i
ndnodeci si
vesigni
fi
cancei ntheci rcumst ancet hatSenator 
Ant onino di
edbef orehewas
ablet otesti
fy .
  
Ther i
ghtofconf r
ont ati
onandcr oss-examinati
onasguar ant
eedbySec.1( f)
,
Rule115,oft heRulesofCourtandSec.19,Ar t
icleI V,oftheConst i
tution,doesnotmeant hat
theof f
endedpar t
yshouldtest
ifyint hecase.  
 I
ndeed, t
hereisnor equirementt hatt heof fended
partyinacr i
mi nalcasemustt aket hewi tnessst andev enifhewer enotdead.  
 Clearly,neither
maysuch obl i
gati
on bei mposed wher et heof fended partyisal readydead.  
 Ther i
ghtof
confrontati
onandcr oss-
examinati
oni sguar anteedt oanaccusedwi thr espectt oanywi t
ness
whomayt est i
fyagainsthim,butnoti nr espectoft hosewhoar enotmadet ot estify.
  
As
regardst helatter
,noharm orpr ej
udi ceiscausedt heaccusedagai nstwhi chheneededt obe
protected.

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