Facts: On January 8, 1987, information for the murder of Mayor Jose Payumo of Dinalupihan Bataan was filed against Escaño and ten other unindentified persons by the provincial fiscal in the RTC of Bataan at Balanga. Four days later, the Acting Executive Judge of said court issued an order of arrest against Escaño recommending no bail for his provisional liberty. Pat. Cesar Diego who acted on the warrant returned to the court with a certification issued by NBI agent Gonzales, stating therein that accused was still under investigation.
Through counsel Rolando T. Cainoy, Escaño filed in court an urgent ex-parte motion for his commitment at the provincial jail of Bataan on the ground that he wanted to be where his family and counsel could have easy access to him. He alleged therein that his detention at the NBI headquarters in Manila was irregular and in defiance of the warrant of arrest issued by the court. This was granted.
A motion for reconsideration was filed by Director Carpio stating that the NBI needed physical custody of Escaño for the identification of the other accused in the case who were still the objects of a manhunt by NBI agents; that in view of the finding of NBI agents that the other accused and suspects in the case were subversive elements or members of the New People's Army, it was for the best interest of Escaño that he be detained at the NBI lock-up cell where security measures were adequate; and that the NBI would produce the person of Escaño before the court whenever required and every time that there would be a hearing on the case. However another motion was executed by Escaño stating that he now wants to be detained in the NBI, alleging that he did not authorize his counsel to execute the first motion. Also, Escaño's counsel Rolando T. Cainoy filed an application for bail stating that Escaño was arrested by NBI agents on December 7, 1986 without a warrant having been presented to him and that since then he had been detained in the lock-up cell of the NBI; that said agents, also without a warrant, searched his house when he was arrested; that he was subjected to inhuman torture and forced to admit participation in the killing of Mayor Payumo and to implicate other persons, and that during the custodial investigation, he was not represented by counsel. In opposing said application, the public prosecutor averred that the accused was charged with a capital offense for which no bail may be availed of, that the reasons advanced in said application would be overcome by strong and sufficient evidence; and that during the custodial investigation, he was represented by counsel. The court granted the application for bail fixing the same at P30,000, having found no sufficient evidence against accused. Director Carpio was ordered to justify his actions and so as not to be considered in contempt.
Issue: Whether or Not the order granting right to bail was proper.
Held: No. The order granting bail had been rendered moot not only by the fact that he had been released from NBI custody, but also because Escaño jumped bail and did not appear on the date set for his arraignment. Notwithstanding, the Court resolved the issue of the legality of the order granting bail to Escaño. Although the right to bail is principally for the benefit of the accused, in the judicial determination of the availability of said right, the prosecution should be afforded procedural due process. Thus, in the summary proceeding on a motion praying for admission to bail, the prosecution should be given the opportunity to present evidence and, thereafter, the court should spell out at least a resume of the evidence on which its order granting or denying bail is based. Otherwise, the order is defective and voidable. In the case at bar the RTC erred in not summarizing the factual basis of its order granting bail, the court merely stated the number of prosecution witnesses but not their respective testimonies, and concluded that the evidence presented by the prosecution was not "sufficiently strong" to deny bail to Escaño.
The facts, however, that Mayor Payumo was killed on August 20, 1986 when the 1973 Constitution allowing the death penalty was still in force and that the application for bail was made on March 5, 1987 during the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution which abolished the death penalty, should not have gotten in the way of resolving the application for bail in accordance with the Constitution and procedural rules. Section 13, Article III of the Constitution explicitly provides that "(a)ll persons, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua when evidence of guilt is strong, shall before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, or be released on recognizance as may be provided by law." As the phrase "capital offenses" has been replaced by the phrase "offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua, 25 crimes punishable by reclusion perpetua instead of those punishable by the death penalty, when evidence of guilt is strong, are the exceptions to the rule that the right to bail should be made available to all accused. As the court itself acknowledged in its order of April 2, 1987 that "capital punishment" in Section 4, Rule 114 has been amended to reclusion perpetua, the court should have proceeded accordingly: i.e., resolved the application for bail pursuant to Section 13, Article III of the Constitution. It did not have to invoke the abolition of the death penalty and the lack of legislative enactment restoring it in justifying the grant of bail. All it had to do was to determine whether evidence of guilt is strong in the light of the provision of Section 13, Article III.
The RTC has the discretion in the consideration of the strength of the evidence at hand. However, in the exercise of said discretion, the court is controlled by the following: first, the applicable provisions of the Constitution and the statutes; second, by the rules which this Court may promulgate; and third, by those principles of equity and justice that are deemed to be part of the laws of the land. 27 The lower court not only failed to properly apply the pertinent provisions of the Constitution and the Rules but it also disregarded equity and justice by its failure to take into account the factual milieu surrounding the detention of Escaño
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