Amendment of 4 Separate Informations of Illegal Recruitment Into 1 Information for the "Non-Bailable" Crime of Large Scale Illegal Recruitment : Fronda-Baggao vs. People, G.R. No. 151785, December 10, 2007

D E C I S I O N

(1^st Division)

SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J.:

I.      THE FACTS

Four (4) separate Informations for [simple] illegal recruitment were filed against petitioner Susan Fronda-Baggao. Before arraignment, and while the accused was already out on bail, the prosecutor moved to amend the Informations, praying that the 4 separate Informations be amended so that there would only be one Information for illegal recruitment in large scale. The trial court granted the motion. The CA affirmed the trial court’s order granting the motion.

II.    THE ISSUE

May the 4 Informations for the bailable crime of [simple] illegal recruitment be validly amended and lumped into one Information for the "non-bailable" crime of illegal recruitment in large scale?

III.   THE RULING

[The Court DENIED the petition and AFFIRMED the challenged Decision and Resolution of the CA.]

YES, the 4 Informations for the bailable crime of [simple] illegal recruitment may be validly amended and lumped into one Information for the "non-bailable" crime of illegal recruitment in large scale.

[B]efore the accused enters his plea, a formal or substantial amendment of the complaint or information may be made without leave of court. After the entry of a plea, only a formal amendment may be made but with leave of court and only if it does not prejudice the rights of the accused. After arraignment, a substantial amendment is proscribed except if the same is beneficial to the accused.

[C]onsidering that petitioner has not yet entered her plea, the four Informations could still be amended.

Petitioner also contends that the above Rule refers to an amendment of one Information only, not four or multiple Informations which cannot be joined into only one Information.

We disagree.

A careful scrutiny of the above Rule shows that although it uses the singular word complaint or information, it does not mean that two or more complaints or Informations cannot be amended into only one Information. Surely, such could not have been intended by this Court. Otherwise, there can be an absurd situation whereby two or more complaints or Informations could no longer be amended into one or more Informations. On this point, Section 6, Rule 1 of the Revised Rules of Court is relevant, thus:

SEC. 6. Construction. - These Rules shall be liberally construed in order to promote their objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and proceeding.

Petitioner contends that the amendment of the four Informations for illegal recruitment into a single Information for illegal recruitment in large scale violates her substantial rights as this would deprive her of the right to bail which she already availed of. Such contention is misplaced. Obviously, petitioner relies on Section 14 of the same Rule 110 which provides that “after the plea and during the trial, a formal amendment may only be made with leave of court and when it can be done without causing prejudice to the rights of the accused.” As stated earlier, petitioner has not yet been arraigned. Hence, she cannot invoke the said provision.