RICARDO DE LA CAMARA VS. HON.

LOPEZ ENAGE

Facts:

Petitioner De la Camara was the Mun. Mayor of Misamis Oriental who was arrested and
detained at the Prov. Jail of Agusan for his alleged participation in the killing of 14 &
wounding of 12 other laborers at the Tirador Logging Co., at Agusan del Sur. The Prov. Fiscal
of Agusan filed with the CFI a case for multiple frustrated murder and another for multiple
murder against petitioner. He then filed an application for bail filed with the lower court
asserting that there was no evidence to link him with such fatal incident which the court
granted and fixed the amount at Php 1,195,200.00 which is the sum of Php 840,000.00 for the
information charging multiple murder and Php 355,200.00 for the offense of multiple
frustrated murder.

Issue: W/N the amount of bail required by the court is proper?

Held: NO!

Before conviction, every person is bailable except if charged with capital offenses when the
evidence of guilt is strong. Such right flows from the presumption of innocence in favor of
every accused who should not subjected to the loss of freedom as thereafter he would be
entitled to acquittal, unless his guilt be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Where, however,
the right to bail exists, it should not be rendered nugatory by requiring a sum that is
excessive. So the Constitution commands. It is understandable why. If there were no
prohibition, the right to bail becomes meaningless. Nothing can be clearer, therefore, than
that the challenged order fixing the amount of bail at Php 1,195,200.00 as the bail should be
posted by petitioner is clearly violative of the constitutional provision.