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PEOPLE, Appellee vs Benjamin Galvez

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee vs. BENJAMIN GALVEZ, appellant.

G.R. No. 135053 | 2002-03-06

D E C I S I O N

PANGANIBAN, J.:

The mandatory procedure laid down by jurisprudence and the Rules of Court should be meticulously observed by trial courts in accepting a plea of guilt in a case involving a capital offense. There should be no doubt that the accused might have misunderstood the nature of the charges and the consequences thereof. Otherwise, the plea would be set aside for having been improvidently made.

The Case

For automatic review is the July 30, 1998 Decision[1] of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya (Branch 27) in Criminal Case No. 3299, convicting Benjamin Galvez of qualified rape and sentencing...