USA College of Law

TOGONON 1-D
Case Name Spouses Augusto and Ofelia Dacudao vs. Secretary of Justice Raul M. Gonzales
Topic Article IV
Case No. | Date G.R. No, 188056|January 8, 2013
Ponente Bersamin, J.
Doctrine Laws should have no retroactive effect unless the contrary is provided.

RELEVANT FACTS
 The spouses were investors of the Legacy Group of Companies of Celso G. Delos Angeles, Jr and his
associates.
 They were defrauded through Legacy Group’s “buy back agreement” that earned the spouses dishonored
checks. The spouses charged Legacy Group for syndicated estafa after not complying with the spouses’
demand for return of investment
 Secretary of Justice issued DOJ No 182 that stated cases already filed, except those filed in Cagayan de Oro,
should be forwarded to the Secretariat of the Special Panel, DOJ in Manila for proper disposition.
 Aggrieved, the spouses directly filed petitions to the SC. They insist that DOJ No. 182 was an obstruction of
justice and a violation of the rule against enactment of laws with retroactive effect.

ISSUE: Whether the respondent Secretary of Justice commit grave abuse of discretion in issuing DOJ No. 182
RULING:
NO. The Secretary of Justice did not commit grave abuse in issuing DOJ No. 182.

As a general rule, laws should have no retroactive effect. One of the exceptions concerns a law that is procedural
in nature. DOJ No. 181 is procedural in nature, thus allowing the issuance to have a retroactive effect. A statute
or rule regulating the procedure of courts will be construed as applicable to actions pending and undetermined
at the time of its passage.

RULING
DISMISSED.

NOTES
 The spouses filed petitions for certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus directly to the Supreme Court. This
should not be so. The hierarchy of the courts must be respected. The Supreme Court is not a Court of First
Instance and it must considered as a last resort unless of issues that are of serious importance.