People v.

Ang Gioc 367

GR No. 48547, 31 October 1941, Abad Santos, J.
Digested by Name Law 125 Civil Procedure
Topic: Appeal

Petitioners People of the Philippines

Respondents Ang Gioc (Alias Ang Gioc Ko, Alias Tomas) and Court of Appeals
Nature of action Petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45
What action below Criminal

RESP was found guilty of murder by the CFI. However, RESP jumped bail, was only found 13
years after the scheduled date for the reading of the decision. RESP appealed and filed a motion
for new trial, which was granted by the CA. SC reversed and declared the CFI decision, final
and executory. The right of appeal is a statutory right which may be waived, even by the
defendant himself. By RESPs failure to appear for trial, he is deemed to have waived his right to
appeal.

FACTS
October 30, 1926 Respondent Ang Gioc, with Sio Go, Gang Kan, Kee Ya and Chua
Chui, was charged with the crime of frustrated murder in the CFI of Manila.
November 5 RESP was released on bail.
After a protracted trial, Ang Gioc and Sio Go, were found guilty.
o Sentence: 12 years and one day of cadena temporal, with the accessories of the
law, and to indemnify the offended party in the sum of P1,100.
RESP and his sureties were notified to appear before the court on March 28, 1928, for
the reading of the sentence.
But because of RESPs failure to appear, the trial judge ordered his arrest and the
confiscation of the bond furnished for his temporary release.
o The order of arrest could not be served because RESP had, allegedly, escaped to
China. Bondsmen were given 4 months to locate RESP, but failed.
o Between 1928 and 1941 several warrants were issued for RESPs arrest, but all
attempts to arrest him proved futile because he could not be found.
February 18, 1941 nearly thirteen years from the date fixed for the reading of the
sentence, RESP was arrested.
o He was brought before the court and the sentence was read to him.
o RESP appealed to the Court of Appeals.
RESP was allowed to file a bond for his temporary release.
In perfecting the record on appeal, it was found that the stenographic notes taken during
the trial were not transcribed and that the two stenographers who took the notes were
already dead. Other stenographers could not transcribe the notes because the deceased
had used systems known only to themselves.
o RESP petitioned the CA to remand the cause to the court below for a new trial.
 o SolGen moved for the dismissal of the appeal.
CA decided to remand the case to the court below for a new trial.
o From the affidavits and other documents submitted by RESP in support of the
petition for bail pending the appeal, it appeared that Ang Gioc was not a fugitive
from justice.

ISSUE & HOLDING

WON CA had jurisdiction to remand the case for a new trial? NO.

RATIO
The accused has the right of appeal; but this is a purely statutory, not a
constitutional, right.
All these rights (constitutional and statutory rights) have been recognized and established
in order to make sure that justice is done to the accused, and no more. They were not
intended to enable the accused to defeat the very ends of justice.
o When, through cunning or malice, he succeeds in thwarting the course of the law,
he should not be heard to complain if, as a result of his own misconduct, he is
deemed to have waived rights which he would otherwise have enjoyed. An
accused person must suffer the legitimate consequences of his own wrongful acts.
This right of appeal is granted solely for the benefit of the accused. He may avail of it or
not, as he pleases. He may waive it either expressly or by implication.
When the accused flees after the case has been submitted to the court for decision,
he will be deemed to have waived his right to appeal from the judgment rendered
against him.
APPLICATION: RESP Ang Gioc was duly notified to appear before the trial court for
the reading of the sentence, but failed to do so. When an order was issued for his arrest,
the warrant could not be served on him because he could not be found.
o Whether or not he escaped to China is immaterial. The fact remains that RESP
succeeded in evading arrest for nearly thirteen years.
o Upon his failure to appear for the reading of the sentence, the trial court declared
the confiscation of the bond filed by Ang Gioc, and later issued the corresponding
order of execution. The courts action amounted to a judicial declaration that Ang
Gioc was a fugitive from justice, and such declaration cannot, after the lapse of
nearly thirteen years, be controverted by proof aliunde.
o The law will not allow a person to take advantage of his own wrong.
Thus, the CA acquired no jurisdiction of the appeal filed by RESP, except to dismiss it.
o CA acted in excess of its jurisdiction when it remanded the case to the court of
origin for a new trial.

DISPOSITIVE
CA SET ASIDE.
CFI judgment is final and executory.