G.R No.

L-37642, October 22, 1973

People of the Philippines, plaintiff and appellee vs. Feliza Munar,
accused-appellant
Nature of the Action
This case was an appeal from the decision of the La Union Court of
First Instance which affirmed the decision of the Municipal Court of La
Union in convicting the appellant for slight slander.
Material Facts
The La Union Court of First Instance granted the appeal filed by
the accused which sought for the reversal and reduction of the Municipal
Court of La Union that decided to convict the accused of such crime.
However, in February 8, 1967, the La Union Court of First Instance
affirmed the decision of the said Municipal Court.
After that, the accused directly appealed to the Supreme Court.
In her brief on appeal, she stated that the Municipal Court and the
Court of First Instance of La Union only have concurrent jurisdiction
over the case and that her appeal should have been directed to the Court
of Appeals.
With that, she argued that the decision of the Court of First
Instance should be nulled and void for lack of appellate jurisdiction over
the case.
Issues
Can the accused still question the jurisdiction of the Court of First
Instance of La Union, when at the first instance, she relied on such court
that the decision of the Municipal Court shall be reversed which
prompted her to file an appeal the former Court?
Ruling
ACCORDINGLY, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed in
toto, with cost

Ratio Decidendi
No, the accused cannot question the jurisdiction of the Court of
First Instance of La Union. By procuring the jurisdiction of the Court of
First Instance of La Union through filing an appeal to reverse the
decision of the said Municipal court and questioning it to the Supreme
Court when the decision is unfavourable, the accused has committed
estoppel and such act would bar the accused from questioning anytime,
the C.F.I of La Unions jurisdiction.