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Escribano vs. Avila

JOSE ESCRIBANO, petitioner, vs. HON. DAVID P. AVILA, as Presiding Judge of the Court of First Instance of Cotabato (First Branch) and SALIPADA K. PENDATUN, respondents.

G.R. No. L-30375 | 1978-09-12

D E C I S I O N

AQUINO, J:

This case is about the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance to conduct the preliminary investigation of a complaint for written defamation.

On September 25, 1968 Congressman Salipada K. Pendatun, the governor-elect of Cotabato, filed directly with the Court of First Instance of that province (now North Cotabato) a complaint for libel against Mayor Jose Escribano of Tacurong, Cotabato (now the province of Sultan Kudarat). The complaint was subscribed and sworn to before respondent Judge David P. Avila. It was supported by the affidavit of Acting Governor Simeon Datumanong.

In that complaint Escribano was...