77 Phil 636 temporarily to assist a fiscal or prosecuting attorney in the discharge of his duties, and with

the same authority therein as might be exercised by the Attorney General or Solicitor
DIVISION General."

[ L-878, Nov 21, 1961 ] It will be noted that the law uses general terms. It is a general rule of statutory interpretation
that provisions should not be given a restricted meaning where no restriction is indicated. Just
PEOPLE v. RAFAEL DINGLASAN + as the express enumeration of persons, objects, situations, etc., is construed to exclude those
not mentioned, according to a well-known maxim, so no distinction should be made where
DECISION none appears to be intended. This is not an arbitrary rule but one founded on logic. Was it the
purpose of the legislature to confine the work to be performed by the lawyer appointed to
assist the fiscal to certain duties in the fiscal's office and deny him others? If it was, the law
does not say so, and one would be at a loss to know what duties were conferred and what
were not. It is fair to presume that if the legislature had wanted to forbid the lawyer
TUASON, J.: appointed to assist the fiscal, to sign informations, make investigations and conduct
prosecutions, it would have said so or indicated its intention by clear implication.
The sole question presented in the three above entitled cases has to do with the authority of
Gregorio T. Lantin to sign informations as assistant city fiscal of Manila. Two judges have We need to be reminded that of all the functions of the fiscal, those referred to are the most
rendered two divergent views on the matter. Judge Fernando Jugo, in cases Nos. L-831 and L- important and outstanding and the ones in which the fiscal usually needs aid.
876, upheld the affirmative theory while Judge Rafael Dinglasan, in case No. L-878, sustained
the defendant's contention in an elaborate ruling. There is nothing so sacrosanct in the signing of complaints, making of investigations and
conducting of prosecutions that only an officer appointed by the President or one expressly
It appears that Gregorio T. Lantin, a doctor of medicine and lawyer, Acting Chief, Medico-Legal empowered by law may be permitted to assume these functions. Certainly a lawyer who is
Section, Division of Investigation, Department of Justice, was given an assignment by Acting invested with the same authority as might be exercised by the Attorney General or Solicitor
Secretary of Justice Ramon Quisumbing in a letter dated October 8, 1945, which reads: General is presumed to be competent to be entrusted with any of the duties, without
exception, devolving on a prosecuting attorney. That the person designated in a particular
"SIR: instance does not measure up to the educational specifications imposed by law is beside the
"Pursuant to the request of the City Fiscal of Manila and in accordance with the provision of point. It does not detract from the conclusion that, in the light of the high standard of training
section 1686 of the Revised Administrative Code, you are hereby temporarily detailed to this and experience required, there is no anomaly and no injustice is committed in lodging on the
office effective today, to assist him in the discharge of his duties with the same powers and person designated by the Secretary of Justice those powers of the prosecuting attorney which
functions of an assistant city fiscal." we have named.

Following his detail, Doctor Lantin signed and filed informations in the aforesaid cases after, Laws must receive sensible interpretation to promote the ends for which they were enacted.
presumably, conducting preliminary investigations. Thereafter, the attorneys for the The duties of a public office include all those which truly lie within its scope, those which are
defendants filed motions to quash on the ground already stated. When two of these motions essential to the accomplishment of the main purpose for which the office was created, and
were denied and one was sustained, the losing parties instituted the instant proceedings those which, although incidental and collateral, are germane to, and serve to promote the
for certiorari. accomplishment of the principal purposes. (43 American Jurisprudence, 68, 70.) The authority
to sign informations, make investigations and conduct prosecutions is within the inferences to
Section 1686 of the Revised Administrative Code, as amended by section 4 of Commonwealth be gathered from the circumstances which prompted the passage of section 4 of
Act No. 144, provides : Commonwealth Act No. 144 and its predecessors.

"Sec. 1686. Additional counsel to assist fiscal. The Secretary of Justice may appoint any lawyer, The historical background of section 1686 of the Revised Administrative Code as amended and
being either a subordinate from his office or a competent person not in the public service, the construction placed on its precursors confirm our opinion.
The initial legislation on assistance to provincial fiscals is to be found in section 45 of Act No. administrative laws were codified, except that, whereas under the former Administrative Code
136, paragraph (e) of which provides that "he (Attorney General) shall, when required by the the Attorney General was the officer authorized to designate a lawyer to assist a fiscal, under
public service, or when directed by the Chief Executive, repair to any province in the Islands the Revised Administrative Code it was the Solicitor General who made the detail, and by
and assist the provincial fiscal there in the discharge of his duties, and shall assist the Commonwealth Act No. 144 the authority to designate was put in the hands of the Secretary
provincial fiscal in any prosecution against an officer of the Government." This provision was of Justice.
amended by Act No. 300, section 1, by adding at the end thereof the following words:
It will be seen that in the original enactment section 45 of Act No. 136 the Attorney General
"But, whenever it is impracticable for either the Attorney General or Solicitor General himself was called upon to assist a provincial fiscal in the discharge of bis duties. We have no
personally to repair to any province in the Islands and assist the provincial fiscal there in the knowledge of whether the persons assigned by the Attorney General to assist fiscals under the
discharge of his duties, or in any prosecution against an officer of any branch of the subsequent legislation signed informations; but it is a fact, of which we may take judicial
Government, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of section forty-five, it shall notice, that the Attorney General signed such informations. And he did it not by virtue of any
be lawful for the Attorney General, with the prior approval of the Civil Governor, to appoint express legal provision but on the strength, as we may suppose, of his authority to assist
some person who may be eligible to the office of Attorney General temporarily to represent provincial fiscals. This was a practice that continued for a considerable length of time.
him in such prosecution. The person so appointed shall have all the power of the Attorney
General or Solicitor General in conducting the prosecution for which he may have been As contemporaneous construction this practice should carry great weight in the operation of
especially appointed as in this section provided. The compensation of the person so appointed the enactment in question. The fact that it was the chief law officer and legal adviser of the
shall be fifteen dollars per day for the time necessarily employed in the service of the government who put it into effect and that he did it in the discharge of his duties lends added
Government, and actual traveling expenses necessarily incurred in performance of the force to the interpretation. As has been well said, "interpretations by the Attorney General
duties." and the legal department of a state have important bearing upon statutory meaning, since the
Attorney General and his office are required by law to issue opinions for the assistance of the
Act No. 325, section 1, amending section 47 of Act No. 136, created the position of supervisor various departments of the government administering the law." (2 Sutherland's Statutory
of provincial fiscals, whose duty it was "to assist the Attorney General and under der his Construction, Third Edition, 517.)
direction to prepare rules for the guidance of all provincial fiscals, and when required by the
public service or directed by the Attorney General, he shall repair to any province in the It is not to the point to inquire whether the Solicitor General has now the power to sign
Islands and assist the provincial fiscal there in the discharge of his duties." informations. Granting that he does not retain such power, a question which we do not
decide, this circumstance nevertheless does not alter the result at which we have arrived. The
The last measure passed on this subject was section 17 of Act No. 867 which reads: reason is that the power to sign informations, make investigations and conduct prosecutions is
inherent in the power "to assist" a prosecuting attorney, as these words are used in the
"Sec. 17. Fiscals may be aided by lawyers appointed by Attorney General; duties of such Administrative Code. It does not emanate from the powers of the Attorney General or
appointees; compensation. It shall be lawful for the Attorney General to appoint any lawyer, Solicitor General conferred upon the officer designated by the Secretary of Justice; it is
either a subordinate from his office, or, with the approval of the Secretary of Finance and ingrained in the office or designation itself. The powers of the Solicitor General bestowed on
Justice, a competent person not in the public service, temporarily to assist the fiscal of a the appointee to assist the fiscal must be held as cumulative or an addition to the authority to
province or district in the discharge of his duties and to represent the Attorney General in sign informations, which is inherent in his appointment.
such matters. The person so appointed shall have all the powers of the Attorney General or
Solicitor General in the conduct of causes in which the Government is interested and to which In other words, the clause "with the same authority therein as might be exercised by the
he may be assigned. * * *" Attorney General or Solicitor General" does not exclude the latter authority. The former
practice of the Attorney General to which we have alluded portrays a distinction between and
When the administrative laws were reorganized and systematized, some of the foregoing separation of the two powers or sets of powers. The power of the Attorney General to sign
provisions were eliminated and the rest were condensed into two paragraphs and embodied informations, as we have pointed out, owed its being, not to the powers legitimately
in the First Administrative Code as section 1686. The latter section was reproduced in the pertaining to his office as Attorney General but to the special provision authorizing him to
Eevised Administrative Code, also as section 1686, which in turn was amended by section 4 of assist fiscals. And it may be pertinent to know that when the Attorney General's power to
Commonwealth Act No. 144. There has been no material alteration in the law since the assist provincial fiscals ceased, he stopped signing informations. The phraseology of section 17
of Act No. 867 before cited also affords an illustration of the idea that the authority to assist is "Sec. 45. Duties of the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall perform the following
separate and apart from the general powers of the Attorney General. In the language of this duties:
section, the person appointed was (1) to assist the fiscal in the discharge of his duties and (2)
to represent the Attorney General in such matters. If the two phrases meant the same thing, "(a) He shall attend the Supreme Court and prosecute or defend therein all causes, civil and
then one of them would be superfluous. criminal, to which the United States, or any officer thereof, in his official capacity, is a party;

There is no apparent reason for holding that one or the other was a surplusage. "(b) He shall prosecute or defend therein all causes, civil and criminal, to which the
Government of the Philippine Islands * * * is a party; * * *.
Upon the foregoing considerations, the petitions in cases Nos. L-831 and L-876 are denied and
dismissed, and the petition in case No. L-878 is sustained. Without costs. "(c) He shall, when required by the public service, or when directed by the Chief Executive,
repair to any province in the Islands and assist the provincial fiscal there in the discharge of his
Moran, C. J., Paras, Perfecto, Hilado, Bengzon, Briones, and Padilla, JJ., concur. duties, and shall assist the provincial fiscal in any prosecution against an officer of the
Government;"

The above provisions are declaratory of the common-law powers of an Attorney General,
among them to control and manage all litigation in behalf of the state, and to intervene in all
prosecutions or proceedings for the enforcement of the laws of the state, the preservation of
order, and the protection of public rights. (5 American Jurisprudence, pp. 234, 235.)

CONCURRING AND DISSENTING The language of the law indicates that it was the intention to grant plenary power to the
Attorney General to protect public rights and redress public wrongs throughout the entire
FERIA, J., Philippine Islands, independent of the attitude of provincial or local authorities who might be
indifferent, incapable or even antagonistic, and to use all means afforded by the law to meet
The issue involved in these three eases is whether or not the attorney detailed or appointed
the requirements of any situation, and fully protect the interests of the Government, and thus
by the Secretary of Justice to assist the city fiscal of Manila in the discharge of the latter's
make the authority of the latter felt through its chief law officer in every part of the
duties, with the same authority therein as might be exercised by the Attorney General or the
Philippines. And that, when required by the public service, or directed by the Chief Executive,
Solicitor General, according to the provision of section 1686 of the Revised Administrative
the Atorney General or Solicitor General repair to a province to appear and prosecute criminal
Code, has authority to sign informations.
proceeding there, he becomes the prosecuting attorney of that province in those proceedings,
and have all the rights that any prosecuting attorney there may have, including those of
A cursory examination of the source or origin and history of section 1686 in connection with
signing information and prosecuting cases to final determination.
that of section 1661 of the Revised Administrative Code will show that the Attorney General
and the Solicitor General have, and therefore the person appointed by the Secretary of Justice
Said provisions of section 45, Act No. 136, were taken from similar ones found in many states.
to. assist the city fiscal of Manila also has, the authority to sign an information.
In Kansas the statute provided that "The Attorney General shall appear for the State, and
prosecute and defend all actions and proceedings, civil or criminal in the Supreme Court, in
Section 41 of the Organic Act No. 136, that created the courts of justice and the office of
which the State shall be interested or a party; and shall also, when required by the governor
Attorney General in these Islands, provided:
or any branch of the Legislature appear for the state and prosecute or defend, in any court, or
before any officer, in any cause or matter, civil or criminal, in which the state may be a party or
"There shall be an officer learned in law * * * and the Attorney General may, whenever he
interested."
deems it in the interest of the Philippine Government, either in person conduct and argue any
case in any Court of the Philippines to which the Philippine Government is interested, or may
And the Supreme Court of Kansas, in construing that statute in the case of State vs. Bowles,
direct the Solicitor General to do so."
(70 Kan., 821; 69 L. R. A. 179, held that "when directed by the governor or either branch of
the legislature to appear and prosecute criminal proceedings in any county, he becomes the
And section 45 (a), (b), and (e) of the same Act No. 136 read in part as follows:
prosecuting attorney of that county in those proceedings, and has all the rights that any respectively, of the Administrative Code, Act No. 2771. Said section 1661, as amended by Act
prosecuting officer there may have, including those of appearing before the grand jury. signing No. 2781, provided that "As principal law officer of the Government, the Attorney General
indictments, and pursuing cases to final determination." (42 American Jurisprudence, page shall have authority to act for and represent the Government of the Philippine Islands, its
235.) officers, and agents in any official investigation, proceeding, or matter requiring the services of
a lawyer." And section 1686 read as follows:
Said section 45 (e) of Act No. 136, was amended by section 1 of Act No. 300, by providing that
"whenever it is impracticable for either the Attorney General or Solicitor General personally to "sec. 1686. Additional counsel to assist fiscal. The Attorney General may appoint any lawyer,
repair to any province in the Islands and assist the provincial fiscal there in the discharge of his being either a subordinate from his office or, with the approval of the Department Head, a
duties, or in any prosecution against an officer of any branch of the Government, in competent person not in the public service, temporarily to assist a fiscal or prosecuting
accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of section forty-five, it shall be lawful for the attorney in the discharge of his duties, and with the same authority therein as might be
Attorney General, with the prior approval of the Civil Governor, to appoint some person who exercised by the Attorney General or Solicitor General."
may be eligible to the office of Attorney General temporarily to represent him in such
prosecution. The person so appointed shall have all the powers of the Attorney General or Subsequently Act No. 4007 was enacted to amend the provisions of the said Administrative
Solicitor General in conducting the prosecution for which he may have been especially Code referring to the organization of the Departments, Bureaus, and Offices of the Insular
appointed as in this section provided." Government. Section 6 of said Act provided that the Secretary of Justice shall be the Attorney
General and legal adviser of the Government. And section 19 of same Act prescribed that "the
Subsequently, section 45 of Act No. 136 as amended by Act No. 300, was, so far as it chief and assistant chief of the Bureau of Justice shall hereafter be known, respectively, as the
authorized the Attorney General to appoint lawyers to aid the fiscals, further amended and Solicitor General and Assistant Solicitor General, and except as herein otherwise provided, all
superseded by section 17 of Act No. 867, which provides in part as follows: the powers and duties conferred by law upon the Attorney General as head of the Bureau of
Justice (that is, his powers and duties as chief public prosecutor and attorney of the
"Sec. 17. Fiscals may be aided by lawyers appointed by Attorney General; duties of such Government in all causes, civil or criminal, in which the latter was interested) shall be
appointees; compensation. It shall be lawful for the Attorney General to appoint any lawyer, exercised by the Solicitor General."
either a subordinate from his office, or, with the approval of the Secretary of Finance and
Justice, a competent person not in the public service, temporarily to assist the fiscal of a When the Revised Administrative Code was promulgated containing the provisions of the
province or district in the discharge of his duties and to represent the Attorney General in former Administrative Code, as amended, the provisions of the above quoted sections 1661
such matters. The person so appointed shall have all the powers of the Attorney General or and 1686 of the former Code were incorporated verbatim as sections 1661 and 1686 in the
Solicitor General in the conduct of causes in which the Government is interested and to which Revised Administrative Code with the only modification that the Solicitor General was
he may be assigned." substituted for the Attorney General, and the Solicitor General was made the principal law
officer of the Government, who has authority to act for and represent the Government of the
The above quoted provisions which superseded those of section 45 (e) of Act No. 136, as Philippines in any official investigation, proceeding or matter requiring the services of a
amended by section 1 of Act No. 300, contained substantially the same provisions, with the lawyer, and who may appoint a competent person to assist a fiscal or prosecuting attorney
only modification that the Attorney General was given discretionary power to appoint a with the same authority therein as might be exercised by the Attorney General or the Solicitor
lawyer from his office, or a competent person not in the public service with the approval of General.
the Secretary of Justice, temporarily to assist, not only a provincial fiscal according to Act No.
136 as amended, for this Act was enacted prior to the creation of the office of the city fiscal of Lastly, section 1686 of the Revised Administrative Code was amended by Commonwealth Act
Manila by Act No. 183, but also to the fiscal of a district, and therefore the City Fiscal of No. 144, and said section 1686 as amended, under which the appointment of Dr. Lantin was
Manila or any other district. made by the Secretary of Justice, reads as follows:

When the administrative laws in force in the Philippines were compiled and codified, the "Sec. 1 686. Additional counsel to assist fiscal. The Secretary of Justice may appoint any
above quoted provisions of section 41, and section 45 (e) as amended by Acts No. 300 and lawyer, being either a subordinate from his office or a competent person not in the public
superseded by No. 867, were incorporated in sections 1280 and 1305, respectively, of the first service, temporarily to assist a fiscal or prosecuting attorney in the discharge of his duties, and
Administrative Code (Act No. 2657), and later on in section 1661 and section 1686
with the same authority therein as might be exercised by the Attorney General or Solicitor the Philippine Government is interested," conferred originally by section 41 of Act No. 136,
General." and incorporated substantially in section 1280 of the first Administrative Code and 1661 of the
Revised Administrative Code, which provides that "As a principal law officer of the
Section 37 of Act No. 4007 which provides that whenever a specific power or authority is Government, the Attorney General shall have authority to act for and represent the
entrusted to a chief of a bureau or office, the same shall be understood as also conferred Government of the Philippines, its officers, and agents in any official investigation, proceeding,
upon the proper Department Head who shall have authority to act directly in pursuance or matter requiring the services of a lawyer." As already stated, the above quoted provisions
thereof, can not be invoked in support of city fiscal's contention; because even assuming, of sections 41 and 45 of Act No. 136, and consequently section 1661 of the Revised
without deciding, that the Secretary of Justice has the authority to sign an information and Administrative Code are but declaratory of the common law powers of the Attorney General
prosecute a criminal case to final determination, either because he is now the Attorney to control and manage all litigations in behalf of the state and to intervene in all prosecutions
General and legal adviser (although the latter's authority to act and represent the or proceedings for the enforcement of the laws of the state and the preservation of order,
Government in all proceedings was transferred to the Solicitor General), or because he is the independent of the attitude of local authorities which might be indifferent or even
Department Head of the city fiscal of Manila, the authority to sign information being a quasi- antagonistic, and thus further protect the interests of the state or Central Government. As it
judicial function (42 Am. Jur., 234) can not be delegated by the Secretary of Justice to another was held in the case of State vs. Bowles (supra) the power of the Attorney General to
person, without an express authority of law (Labiano vs. McMahon, 28 Phil., 168), and there is prosecute or defend in any court or before any officer, in any cause or matter civil or criminal
no law authorizing such delegation. For that reason the law has to expressly provide that the in which the State may be a party or interested, carry with it the authority to sign indictments,
person appointed by the Secretary of Justice to assist the prosecuting attorney shall have the informations and pursue cases to final determination.
same authority which might be exercised by the Attorney General or the Solicitor General.
The mere appointment of a person to assist a fiscal or prosecuting attorney does not
The power conferred by law upon the Secretary of Justice to appoint a person to assist a fiscal authorize him to sign informations and prosecute criminal cases. As above stated, the
or prosecuting attorney was the power formerly, conferred upon the Attorney General and prosecution of a criminal case and signing of the corresponding information is a quasi-judicial
subsequently upon the Solicitor General, and the person appointed by them to assist a fiscal function, that must be exercised by the officer clothed by law with such function, and can not
or prosecuting attorney had the authority to sign information and prosecute criminal cases, be delegated by him to another without an express authority by law. The power conferred by
not because of his appointment to assist, but because the former laws conferred upon the law upon the Secretary of Justice to appoint a person to assist a fiscal in the performance of
person so appointed all the powers of the Attorney General or the Solicitor General (section his duties, is not an express and not even an implied authority for that person to sign an
18, Act No. 300, section 17, Act No. 867), and the later laws confer upon him the same information, for to assist does not imply necessarily the authority to sign information. The
authority as might be exercised by the Attorney General or the Solicitor General (section 1280 fiscal may be assisted or aided in many other ways. In the case of People vs. Hayne (23 P. I., 3;
of the first and 1686 of the Revised Administrative Code), and consequently the authority to 83 Cal., 11; 7 L. R. A. 348), it was held that a statute of California which provided that the
sign information in a criminal case, as above stated. Supreme Court of California shall immediately, upon the expiration of the term of office of the
present Supreme Court Commissioners, appoint five persons of legal learning and personal
According to the majority opinion "it is a fact, of which we may take judicial notice, that the worth to assist the Court in the perfonnance of the Court's duties and in the disposition of
Attorney General signed such informations. And he did it, not by virtue of any express legal numerous cases now pending in said Court undetermined, can not be construed as giving the
provision but on the strength, as we mav suppose, of his authority to assist provincial fiscals. Commissioner the right to appropriate the function of the Court, or to decide cases, or that
This was a practice that continued for a considerable length of time." But "it is not to the point they shall take part in the decision of the cases; it merely means to facilitate the court, to
to inquire whether the Solicitor General has now the power to sign informations * * *" "The lessen its labors. The Supreme Court of California in said case said:
reason is that the power to sign informations, make investigations and conduct prosecutions is
inherent in the power 'to assist' a prosecuting attorney, as these words are used in the "But to our minds there is no doubt about the validity of the statute. In the language of the
Administrative Code. It does not emanate from the powers of the Attorney General or court below: 'The Act in question is not open to objection of a constitutional character. In
Solicitor General conferred upon the officer designated by the Secretary of Justice." order to bring it into conflict with the Constitution, a strained construction of its words
becomes necessary, as well as an utter disregard of the natural import of those words. * * *
We disagree with this reasoning. The authority of the Attorney General to sign informations The phrase assist the court must, for the purpose of creating a conflict, be understood not
does not owe its being to his power to assist a prosecuting attorney. It emanates from his merely to facilitate the court, which is the natural import to lessen its labors, but, beyond this,
power "to act in person, conduct and argue any case in any court of the Philippines in which to assume the exercise of, or a participation in the exercise of, the appropriate function of the
court to decide causes; that the commissioners are to take part in that decision as the By its title, the Chapter is a law of general application. It will be noted that even though Art. III
members of the court themselves take part in it; in short, it is necessary to say of the same Chapter is captioned "Provincial Fiscal", yet section 1673. which comes under that
that assistance means supersession. Nothing in the language used, or in its context, will justify article, deals in one instance with the city fiscal and assistant city fiscals along with provincial
any construction which will bring the provisions of this Act in relation to the powers or duties fiscals and assistant provincial fiscals, fixing the maximum age limit for all of them. We further
of the commissioners in conflict with any provision of the Constitution." (People vs. Hayne, note that the classification or grouping of subjects in the Administrative Code has not been
Lawyers Reports Annotated, Book 7, pp. 348, 350.) adhered to strictly.

If the authority to assist a fiscal confers the power to sign informations, it would not have 2. The second ground of the motion has been specifically and extensively treated in the
been necessary for section 1, of Act No. 300, section 17 of Act No. 867, section 1305 of the decision, and had been the subject of a thorough deliberation before that decision was
first Administrative Code of 1916 (Act No. 2657), section 1661 of the Revised Administrative rendered. We need not say anything more beyond reminding counsel that in expressing
Code, and section 4 of Act No. 144 of the Commonwealth, to add or provide that the person approval of the passage which he quotes from Mr. Justice Feria's concurring and dissenting
appointed to assist the fiscal shall have all the powers or the same authority of the Attorney opinion he failed to comment on those parts of the latter opinion by which Mr. Justice Feria
General or the Solicitor General. reached the same conclusion to which he (counsel) takes exception.

In view of all the foregoing, it is clear that Dr. Lantin, who was appointed in the present case Of course it is absurd to think, as counsel says, of a private prosecutor signing an information;
by the Secretary of Justice to assist the city fiscal of Manila, had authority to sign the but do private prosecutors and officers designated by the Secretary of Justice under section
information in the criminal cases herein involved. 1686 of the Administrative Code, as amended, stand on the same footing? In the failure to
recognize the fundamental distinctions between the two positions lies the fallacy of the
Pablo, M.: argument. An officer assigned to assist a fiscal under section 1686 of the Administrative Code,
as amended, acts in representation of the State while a private prosecutor represents the
Concurro con esta opinion. complaining party. As his official designation indicates, a private prosecutor appears on behalf
of his client and not of the People. If he sometimes conducts prosecution, he does so by
Petitions in L-831 and L-876 denied and dismissed; petition in L-878 sustained. special permission of the court. The sole justification for the private prosecutor's intervention
in a criminal trial is the fact that on the defendant's conviction depends in most cases his
client's right to recover pecuniary compensation for material damage sustained, and/or that
there is private honor or reputation to vindicate.

The motion is denied.

RESOLUTION ON MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
Moran, C. J., Paras, Hilado, Bengzon, Briones, and Padilla, JJ., concur.
March 28, 1917
Feria and Pablo, JJ.:
TUASON, J.:
We concur in the denial of the motion on the strength of our concurring and dissenting
opinion.
This is a motion for reconsideration based on two grounds: "(1) That section 1686 of the
Revised Administrative Code as amended by Commonwealth Act No. 144, is not applicable to
Perfecto, J., concurs in the result. Motion denied.
the City of Manila, and (2) that even assuming that it so applies, 'the mere appointment of a
person to assist a fiscal or prosecuting attorney does not authorize him to sign informations,'
as Mr. Justice Feria stated in his concurring and dissenting opinion."

1. Section 1686 of the Revised Administrative Code falls under Art. II, Chapter 43 entitled
"Bureau of Justice."