Practice question
A covered Salary Grade 28 official and a private contractor are jointly charged as co-principals in a post-effectivity RA 3019 case involving PHP 3,000,000 government damage. All requirements for Sandiganbayan jurisdiction are met. The contractor claims a separate ordinary-court trial is mandatory solely because he is not a public officer. What does amended Section 4 provide?
- The private co-principal is tried jointly with the public officer in the proper court having exclusive jurisdiction
- Every private co-principal is immune from the charge
- Private status automatically strips jurisdiction over the official too
- Only the contractor may select the forum
- The government must split every joint charge into unrelated courts
Legal references
- Republic Act No. 10660, April 16, 2015, Sections 1–3 and 5, amending PD 1606: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2015/ra_10660_2015.html
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