G.R. No. 129670 - MANOLET O. LAVIDES, VS. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS; HON. ROSALINA L. LUNA PISON, JUDGE PRESIDING OVER BRANCH 107, RTC, QUEZON CITY; AND PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, this Court finds that: In Crim. Case No. Q-97-70550, there is probable cause to hold the accused under detention, his arrest having been made in accordance with the Rules. He must therefore remain under detention until further order of this Court; The accused is entitled to bail in all the above-entitled case. He is hereby granted the right to post bail in the amount of P80,000.00 for each case or a total of P800,000.00 for all the cases under the following conditions: a) The accused shall not be entitled to a waiver of appearance during the trial of these cases. He shall and must always be present at the hearings of these cases; b) In the event that he shall not be able to do so, his bail bonds shall be automatically cancelled and forfeited, warrants for his arrest shall be immediately issued and the cases shall proceed to trial in absentia; c) The hold-departure Order of this Court dated April 10, 1997 stands; and d) Approval of the bail bonds shall be made only after the arraignment to enable this Court to immediately acquire jurisdiction over the accused; Let these cases be set for arraignment on May 23, 1997 at 8:30 oclock in the morning. [2] On May 20, 1997, petitioner filed a motion to quash the informations against him, except those filed in Criminal Case No. Q-97-70550 or Q-97-70866. Pending resolution of his motion, he asked the trial court to suspend the arraignment scheduled on May 23, 1997. [3] Then on May 22, 1997, he filed a motion in which he prayed that the amounts of bail bonds be reduced to P40,000.00 for each case and that the same be done prior to his arraignment. [4] On May 23, 1997, the trial court, in separate orders, denied petitioners motions to reduce bail bonds, to quash the informations, and to suspend arraignment. Accordingly, petitioner was arraigned during which he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and then ordered him released upon posting bail bonds in the total amount of P800,000.00, subject to the conditions in the May 16, 1997 order and the "hold-departure" order of April 10, 1997. The pre-trial conference was set on June 7, 1997. On June 2, 1997, petitioner filed a petition for certiorari (CA-G.R. SP No. 44316) in the Court of Appeals, assailing the trial courts order, dated May 16, 1997, and its two orders, dated May 23, 1997, denying his motion to quash and maintaining the conditions set forth in its order of May 16, 1997, respectively. While the case was pending in the Court of Appeals, two more informations were filed against petitioner, bringing the total number of cases against him to 12, which were all consolidated. On June 30, 1997, the Court of Appeals rendered its decision, the dispositive portion of which reads: WHEREFORE, considering that the conditions imposed under Nos. 2-a) and 2-b), [5] of the May 23 (should be May 16), 1997 Order, are separable, and would not affect the cash bond which petitioner posted for his provisional liberty, with the