PP VS SALLE

PP VS SALLE

GR NO. 103567, DECEMBER 4, 1995

FACTS

Salle and Mengote were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt as co-principals of the compound crime of murder and destructive arson. They filed their Notice of Appealin which the Court has accepted. They were granted a conditional pardon that upon acceptance, the appellants will be released from confinement. On 6 January1994, however, Salle, Jr. filed an Urgent Motion to Withdraw Appeal however;Mengote has not filed a motion to withdraw his appeal. Atty. La’o informed the Court that appellant Ricky Mengote left for his province without consulting her. She then prays that the Court grant Salle's motion to withdraw his appeal and consider it withdrawn upon his acceptance of the conditional pardon.

ISSUE

Whether or not a pardon granted to an accused during the pendency of his appeal from a judgment of conviction by the trial court is enforceable

HELD

We now declare that the "conviction by final judgment" limitation under Section 19, Article VII of the present Constitution prohibits the grant of pardon, whether full or conditional, to an accused during the pendency of his appeal from his conviction by the trial court. Any application therefor, if one is made, should not be acted upon or the process toward its grant should not be begun unless the appeal is withdrawn. Accordingly, those in custody of the accused must not solely rely on the pardon as a basis for the release of the accused from confinement. Considering that appellant RickyMengote has not filed a motion to withdraw his appeal up to this date the conditional pardon extended to him should not have been enforced.

WHEREFORE, counsel for accused-appellant Ricky Mengote y Cuntado is hereby given thirty (30) days from notice hereof within which to secure from the latter the withdrawal of his appeal and to submit it to this Court. The conditional pardon granted the said appellant shall be deemed to take effect only upon the grant of such withdrawal. In case of non-compliance with this Resolution, the Director of the Bureau of Corrections must exert every possible effort to take back into his custody the said appellant, for which purpose he may seek the assistance of the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation.