Samar v.

People
G.R. No. 224679
February 12, 2020
Leonen, J.

FACTS:
- The incident transpired on the early morning of January 12, 2007. According to the
prosecution, at around 6:45 a.m., the Olongapo Police Station 3 received a report of an
altercation on the ground oor of GenX Billiard Hall on Gordon Avenue. At this, PO2 Navarro
and SPO3 Merza, who were both in uniform, went to the scene. There, they found two (2)
groups of women ghting and pulling each other's hair out, among them a visibly drunk
Mallari. The o cers rushed to stop the ght
- Once the squabble was over, the o cers asked the women to go to the police station to le
proper complaints. However, the intoxicated Mallari shouted at them, "Wala kayo pakialam
sa akin, hindi aka sasama sa inyo."11 She then grabbed PO2 Navarro by the collar, slapped
his cheek, and kicked his legs several times. To restrain her, PO2 Navarro held her by the
shoulders and brought her to the back of the patrol car. SPO3 Merza was about to pacify the
other women, but they eventually agreed to go to the police station. The incident was
entered in the blotter and Mallari was detained for direct assault.

ISSUE:
- WON the accused is guilty of crime of direct assault under Art 148 of RPC.
RULING:
- NO
- When a person being apprehended by a police o cer resists or uses force that is not
dangerous, grave, or severe, the o ense is not direct assault under Article 148 of the
Revised Penal Code. Instead, the proper o ense is resistance and disobedience to an agent
of a person in authority, penalized under Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code.
- The laying of hands or using physical force against agents of persons in authority when not
serious in nature constitutes resistance or disobedience under Article 151, and not direct
assault under Article 148 of the RPC. This is because the gravity of the disobedience to an
order of a person in authority or his agent is measured by the circumstances surrounding the
act, the motives prompting it and the real importance of the transgression, rather than the
source of the order disobeyed. The pushing of IO1 Mangili is not of such serious de ance to
be considered direct assault, but is resistance nonetheless
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