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700 Phil. 316
SECOND DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 178607, December 05, 2012 ]
DANTE LA. JIMENEZ, IN HIS CAPACITY AS PRESIDENT AND
REPRESENTATIVE OF UNLAD SHIPPING & MANAGEMENT
CORPORATION, PETITIONER, VS. HON. EDWIN SORONGON (IN HIS
CAPACITY AS PRESIDING JUDGE OF BRANCH 214 OF THE
REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF MANDALUYONG CITY), SOCRATES
ANTZOULATOS, CARMEN ALAMIL, MARCELI GAZA AND MARKOS
AVGOUSTIS, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
BRION, J.:
We resolve the petition for review on certiorari[1] filed by Dante La. Jimenez
(petitioner) to challenge the twin resolutions of the Court of Appeals (CA) dated
November 23, 2006[2] and June 28, 2007[3] in CA-G.R. SP No. 96584, which dismissed
the petitioner’s petition for certiorari and denied his motion for reconsideration,
respectively.
The Factual Antecedents
The petitioner is the president of Unlad Shipping & Management Corporation, a local
manning agency, while Socrates Antzoulatos, Carmen Alamil, Marceli Gaza, and Markos
Avgoustis (respondents) are some of the listed incorporators of Tsakos Maritime
Services, Inc. (TMSI), another local manning agency.
On August 19, 2003, the petitioner filed a complaint-affidavit[4] with the Office of the
City Prosecutor of Mandaluyong City against the respondents for syndicated and large
scale illegal recruitment.[5] The petitioner alleged that the respondents falsely
represented their stockholdings in TMSI’s articles of incorporation[6] to secure a license
to operate as a recruitment agency from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency
(POEA).
On October 9, 2003, respondents Antzoulatos and Gaza filed their joint counteraffidavit denying the complaint-affidavit’s allegations.[7] Respondents Avgoustis and
Alamil did not submit any counter-affidavit.
In a May 4, 2004 resolution,[8] the 3rd Assistant City Prosecutor recommended the
filing of an information for syndicated and large scale illegal recruitment against the
respondents. The City Prosecutor approved his recommendation and filed the
corresponding criminal information with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Mandaluyong
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