US vs.

Que Ping
August 25, 1919 | Malcolm, J. | Official Records
Plaintiff-appellee: United States
Appellants: BERNARDO MARQUEZ and BERNARDO DAGALA (sureties)
SUMMARY: Que Ping was convicted of homicide. Pending his appeal to the SC, he filed a bail bond to secure his release. SC
affirmed the ruling of the lower court. SC ordered the sureties to produce the body of the accused so that the judgment can be read
to him. Accused did not appear on the date fixed. The sureties filed a motion to be relieved from obligation because Que Ping has
died. To prove Que Pings death, the sureties presented two exhibits, which the lower court did not admit. SC held that documents
are admissible but documents are not conclusive evidence. Their probative value may either be substantiated or nullified by other
competent evidence.
DOCTRINE: The exhibits being in the nature of entries in public records, made in the performance of their duty by public officers
of the Philippine Islands, are prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated.
FACTS
Que Ping was convicted of homicide. He filed an appeal with
the SC and filed a bail bond to secure his release during the
pendency of such. The bail bond was in the amount of 10k
with Bernado Marquez and Bernardo Dagala as sureties. SC
affirmed judgment.
As ordered by SC, CFI ordered the sureties to produce the
body of Que Ping to read the decision to him, with an
admonition that if they failed to do so the bail would be
forfeited. Accused did not appear on the date fixed.
The sureties later file a motion to be relieved from obligation
to produce the body of Que Ping on the ground that the latter
had already died. City fiscal objected and trial was held. The
court held that the death of Que Ping has not been
satisfactorily proved, causing the forfeiture of the bail bond.
Appellants Marquez and Dagala faulted the court for not
admitting two documents they presented to prove the death of
Que Ping:
Exhibit A: certificate by the municipal secretary of San Pablo,
Laguna from "Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths,"
containing an inscription that the Que Ping, 41 years of age,
had died of gastritis
Exhibit B: copy certificate of death, given by the president of
the municipal board of health of San Pablo
ISSUE/S
WON the documents presented are admissible YES
WON the documents have probative value ie they should be
taken as indisputable proof of the death of the accused NO

RATIO
1.

The two exhibits being in the nature of entries in public

records, made in the performance of their duty by public
officers of the Philippine Islands, are prima facie evidence of
the facts therein stated.

2.

Evidence of no probative value. Exhibit A was signed by the

municipal secretary, but he admitted that he did not see the
body of the deeased. He issued the certificate of death at the
instance of a Chinaman named Que Siong, who was unknown
to him personally, and that he did so upon the presentation of
the cedula of Que Ping, but without seeing the corpse of the
alleged deceased.
As to Exhibit B, the persons who prepared the certificate of
death were the president of the municipal board of health and
a sanitary inspector, but who, likewise, admitted that it was
done without seeing the corpse of the deceased.
In addition, there is certain hearsay evidence of little or no
value. In direct opposition of this evidence is that of the porter
of the cemetery who swore that on April 8, 1917, the alleged
date of the burial of Que Ping, there was no burial in the
cemetery. It is also noteworthy that the Chinaman Que Siong
who secured the burial certificate was not introduced as a
witness.