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PEOPLE vs. Rodolfo Labao

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. RODOLFO LABAO alias KA RUDY, and CESAR VILLANUEVA Y MIGUEL, accused-appellants.

G.R. No. 102826 | 1993-03-17

D E C I S I O N

BELLOSILLO, J p:

It is settled doctrine long cherished since 1917 1 that a decision cannot be validly prepared and signed, much less promulgated, by a judge after he has retired. This notwithstanding, Judge Florentino F. Calica of the Regional Trial Court of Tuao, Cagayan, Br. 11, rendered the judgment under review two and a half (2-1/2) months after he left the Bench and his successor-in-office, Judge Hilarion L. Aquino, promulgated the same two (2) months thereafter.

In the case before Us, accused-appellants Rodolfo Labao and Cesar Villanueva were charged before the Regional Trial Court of Tuao, Cagayan, with the crime...