PP VS VERA

& HSBC

-Judge of Court of First Instance Manila 7th Branch

ISSUE
WON

Act No. 4221, the Probation Act, constitutes an undue

determine for themselves whether the Probation

delegation of legislative power

FACTS
1)

2)

act applied in its province, all it has to do is to

sentencing Mariano Cu Unjieng from 4 years and 2

decline to appropriate the needed amount for the

months to eight years and to pay costs to HSBC

He applied for probation under the provisions of Act
was innocent and that he would observe good

4)

Law shall apply to their province or not a t all.

If a provincial Board does not wish to have the

The Court of first instance rendered a judgment

No. 4221 of the defunct PH Legislature stating that he

3)

Provincial Boards are of various province are to

salary of a probation officer.

Provincial Board is bound by no rule, limited by no

principle of expediency announced by the legislature

The statue does no expressly state that the provincial

conduct in the future

The Judge of First Instance of Manila, Just Tuason,

boards may suspend the operation of the Probation

referred the application for probation to the Insular

authority to appropriate or not the necessary funds,

Probation Office which recommended its denial.

for salaries of probation officers, there are thereby

Thereafter, Judge Tuason scheduled the case for

given absolute discretion to determine WON the law

hearing.
The Fiscal of the City of Manila opposed the

should take effect or operate in their respective

Act particularly in provinces but in being vested with

provinces

application and argues that Act No. 4221 is

unconstitutional be it violates Section 1, Article 3

NOTES

(Equal Protection) and that it endows provincial

Section 21, Jones Law

boards with the power to make said law effective or

5)

otherwise in their respective provinces.

The City Fiscal of Manila files a supplementary
petition affirming issues raised by HSBC, arguing that

power to grant pardons and reprieves and remit fines

-

and forfeitures.
Pardon can be granted any time after the commission

of the offense, either before or after conviction.

Gov. Gen. was empowered to pardon a person before

probation is a form of reprieve, hence Act 4221

bypasses this exclusive power of the Chief Executive

Vests in the Governor-Genral of the PH the exclusive

the facts of the case were fully brought to light

DECISION

Section 11, Act No. 4221

YES
-

There are no rules or standards to guide the

provincial boards in the exercise of their discretionary
power to determine WON the Probation Act shall

Endows Provincial Boards with the power to make

said law effective

The act shall only be applied in those provinces
wherein the probationary officer is granted salary not

apply in their respective provinces.

What exists is a roving commission which enables the

boards.

provincial boards to exercise arbitrary discretion.

Section 11 merely extends the benefits of the

lower than provincial fiscals by respective provincial

Probation Act to the provinces but leave the entire

matter for the various provincial boards to determine.

TGI