This case has been cited 5 times or more.
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2015-04-20 |
PERLAS-BERNABE, J. |
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| On a final note, the Court emphasizes that in our criminal justice system, the public prosecutor, which is the Office of the Ombudsman in this case, exercises wide latitude of discretion in determining whether a criminal case should be filed in court.[51] Courts cannot interfere with the Ombudsman's discretion in the conduct of preliminary investigations and in the determination of probable cause where the Ombudsman's discretion prevails over judicial discretion except when there is grave abuse of discretion,[52] which does not obtain in this case. | |||||
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2014-12-10 |
PERALTA, J. |
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| In the instant case, the act of filing an Information against respondents by the Ombudsman cannot be characterized as arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, or despotic amounting to a grave abuse of discretion. A review of the records clearly reveals that accused Borje, Jr. was the payee of 4,406 checks amounting to P82,321,855.38 covering the reimbursements of the supposed payments for the anomalous and questionable repairs of the DPWH vehicles. While there may have been evidence presented which may lead to an inference that the end-receiver of the amounts covered by the checks is not actually accused Borje, Jr., but the accused private individuals-suppliers, the fact that the name of accused Borje, Jr. appears on the subject checks cannot be denied. Indeed, mere belief that respondents probably committed the crime suffices to establish probable cause. Whether they are, in fact, guilty of plunder is a different matter, which can properly be determined at a full-blown trial on the merits of this case.[20] As this Court has ruled in People v. Castillo:[21] | |||||
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2009-06-19 |
QUISUMBING, J. |
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| Corollary to the principle that a judge cannot be compelled to issue a warrant of arrest if he or she deems that there is no probable cause for doing so, the judge in turn should not override the public prosecutor's determination of probable cause to hold an accused for trial on the ground that the evidence presented to substantiate the issuance of an arrest warrant was insufficient. It must be stressed that in our criminal justice system, the public prosecutor exercises a wide latitude of discretion in determining whether a criminal case should be filed in court, and that courts must respect the exercise of such discretion when the information filed against the person charged is valid on its face, and that no manifest error or grave abuse of discretion can be imputed to the public prosecutor.[26] | |||||
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2009-03-12 |
CARPIO, J. |
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| Jurisprudence explains that the Office of the Ombudsman is vested with the sole power to investigate and prosecute, motu proprio or on complaint of any person, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, office, or agency when such act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper, or inefficient.[42] The Ombudsman's power to investigate and to prosecute is plenary and unqualified.[43] | |||||