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People v.
Hon. Zeida
Aurora
Garfin &
Serafin
Seballegue
KEYWORDS /
DOCTRINE
Businessman
(employer)
who
refused to pay his
employees
SSS
contributions gets
sued
(Branch 19RTC Naga City)
Doctrine:
Lack of authority on
the part of the filing
officer prevents the
court
from
acquiring
jurisdiction over the
case
FACTS
Respondent S. Seballegue is the owner of Saballegue Printing Press. Seballegue was
charged with violation of the "Social Security Act or RA 8282 (Section 22(a) in rel. to Sec.
19(b) and 28(e)," due to his failure and continuous refusal to remit the SSS premiums due
to one of his employees (in the amount of (P6,533.00 from January 1990 to December
1999 and the 3% penalty per month for late remittance in the amount of P11,143.28)
despite repeated demands.
A complaint was filed against Seballegue. Seballegue filed a motion to dismiss on the
ground that the information was filed without the prior written authority or approval of the
city prosecutor as required under Section 4, Rule 112 of the ROC.
State Prosecutor (SP) Tolentino, filed an opposition, against which the accused
filed a rejoinder. An MR (Motion for Reconsideration) was filed by SP Tolentino contending
that as a special prosecutor designated by the regional state prosecutor to handle SSS
cases within Region V, SP Tolentino is authorized to file the information involving violations
of the SSS law without need of prior approval from the city prosecutor. Letters of
commendation from Chief SP Zuo and DOJ Sec. Perez were offered as proofs to show that
SP Tolentinos authority to file the information was recognized. In response, the defense
pointed out in its opposition that the MR lacked a notice of hearing, hence it is pro forma or
a mere scrap of paper.
RTC: Motion to dismiss granted
OSG: The lack of authority or approval of the city or provincial prosecutor/chief state
prosecutor is an infirmity = Lacks jurisdiction
CA: Affirmed