Sec. 6 of Rule 120 of the Rules of Court provides:
Promulgation of judgment. – The judgment is promulgated by reading it in the presence of the accused and any judge of the Court in which it was rendered. However, if the conviction is for a light offense, the judgment may be pronounced in the presence of his counsel or representative. When the judge is absent or outside the province or city, the judgment may be promulgated by the clerk of court.
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In case the accused fails to appear at the scheduled date of promulgation of judgment despite notice, the promulgation shall be made by recording the judgement in the criminal docket and serving him a copy thereof at his last known address or thru his counsel.
If the judgment is for conviction and the failure of the accused to appear was without justifiable cause, he shall lose the remedies available in these Rules against the judgment and the court shall order his arrest. Within fifteen (15) days from promulgation of judgment, however, the accused may surrender and file a motion for leave of court to avail of these remedies. He shall state the reasons for his absence at the scheduled promulgation and if he proves that his absence was for a justifiable cause, he shall be allowed to avail of said remedies within fifteen (15) days from notice. (Emphasis supplied.)
Petitioner was charged with and found guilty of perjury. He was sentenced to suffer imprisonment of 4 months and 1 day to 1 year, a period which is considered as a correctional penalty. Under Article 9 of the Revised Penal Code, light felonies are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of arresto menor (one to thirty days of imprisonment) or a fine not exceeding two hundred pesos (P200), or both are imposable. Thus, perjury is not a light felony or offense contemplated by Rule 120, Sec. 6. It was therefore mandatory for petitioner to be present at the promulgation of the judgment.
To recall, despite notice, petitioner was absent when the MTCC promulgated its judgment on 25 August 2009. Pursuant to Rule 120, Sec. 6, it is only when the accused is convicted of a light offense that a promulgation may be pronounced in the presence of his counsel or representative. In case the accused failed to appear on the scheduled date of promulgation despite notice, and the failure to appear was without justifiable cause, the accused shall lose all the remedies available in the Rules against the judgment. One such remedy was the Motion for Reconsideration of the judgment of the MTCC filed by petitioner on 28 August 2009. Absent a motion for leave to avail of the remedies against the judgment, the MTCC should not have entertained petitioner’s Motion for Reconsideration. Thus, petitioner had only 15 days from 25 August 2009 or until 9 September 2009 to file his Motion for Probation. The MTCC thus committed grave abuse of discretion when it entertained the motion instead of immediately denying it.
In People of the Philippines v. De Grano,[12] we stated:
When the Decision dated April 25, 2002 was promulgated, only Estanislao Lacaba was present. Subsequently thereafter, without surrendering and explaining the reasons for their absence, Joven, Armando, and Domingo joined Estanislao in their Joint Motion for Reconsideration. In blatant disregard of the Rules, the RTC not only failed to cause the arrest of the respondents who were at large, it also took cognizance of the joint motion.
The RTC clearly exceeded its jurisdiction when it entertained the joint Motion for Reconsideration with respect to the respondents who were at large. It should have considered the joint motion as a motion for reconsideration that was solely filed by Estanislao. Being at large, Joven and Domingo have not regained their standing in court. Once an accused jumps bail or flees to a foreign country, or escapes from prison or confinement, he loses his standing in court; and unless he surrenders or submits to the jurisdiction of the court, he is deemed to have waived any right to seek relief from the court. (Emphasis supplied.)
Petitioner asserts that his failure to appear during the promulgation was for a justifiable cause. He alleges that he was on board an international vessel as a seaman at the time of the promulgation. He further alleges that the MTCC was informed of this fact. He insists that his absence was justified, thus exempting him from the application of Rule 120, Sec. 6.
Petitioner, however, did not file a motion for leave to avail himself of the remedies prior to filing his Motion for Reconsideration. The hearing on the motion for leave would have been the proper opportunity for the parties to allege and contest whatever cause prevented petitioner from appearing on 25 August 2009, and whether that cause was indeed justifiable. If granted, petitioner would have been allowed to avail himself of other remedies under the Rules of Court, including a motion for reconsideration.
Moreover, in his Reply[13] filed on 14 October 2010, petitioner belatedly questions the propriety of the promulgation. In so doing, petitioner is barred by estoppel for failing to raise the issue at the earliest possible opportunity, that is, when the case was still pending with the MTCC.
As a final point, while we held in Yu v. Samson-Tatad[14] that the rule in Neypes is also applicable to criminal cases regarding appeals from convictions in criminal cases under Rule 122 of the Rules of Court, nevertheless, the doctrine is not applicable to this case, considering that petitioner’s Motion for Probation was filed out of time.
WHEREFORE, in view of foregoing, the Petition is DENIED. The Order issued by the Regional Trial Court in Special Civil Action Case No. 0001-10 is AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
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