process.

It acted in excess of its

jurisdiction and committed grave abuse
of its discretion in dismissing the
criminal cases. Hence, the order was
null and void; it may thus be rectified
despite the lapse of 15 days from notice
to the Special Prosecutor.
A void order or judgment has no
legal and binding effect, force or efficacy
for any purpose. In contemplation of
law, it is nonexistent. Such judgment or
order may be resisted in any action or
proceeding whenever it is involved. It is
not even necessary to take any steps to
vacate or avoid a void judgment or final
order; it may simply be ignored (Ibid,
p.3).
Punishments are cruel when they
involve torture or a lingering death. But
mere severity of the penalty does not
make the same cruel and unusual
punishment. To come under the ban,
the punishment must be flagrantly and
plainly oppressive, wholly
disproportionate to the nature of the
offenses as to shock the moral sense of
the community (Ibid).
In lieu of the death penalty, the
following shall be imposed:
1. Reclusion Perpetua when the law
violated makes use of the nomenclature
of the penalties of the Revised Penal
Code;
2. Life imprisonment when the law
violated does not make use of the
nomenclature of the penalties of the
Revised Penal Code (Section 2, RA
9346).
Persons convicted of offenses punished
with reclusion perpetua, or whose
sentences will be reduced to reclusion
perpetua, by reason of this Act, shall
NOT be eligible for parole under Act No.
4103, otherwise known as the
Indeterminate Sentence Law, as
amended (Section 3, Ibid).

The Board of Pardons and Parole shall

cause the publication at least once a
week for three consecutive weeks in a
newspaper of general circulation of the
names of persons convicted of offenses
punished with reclusion perpetua or life
imprisonment by reason of this Act who
are being considered or recommended
for commutation or pardon: PROVIDED,
HOWEVER; That nothing herein shall
limit the power of the President to grant
executive clemency under Section 19,
Article VII of the Constitution (Section 4,
Ibid).
Bill of attainder is a legislative act
which inflicts punishment without trial.
Its essence is the substitution of a
legislative act for a judicial determination
of guilt (Reyes, Book One, 2012, p. 3,
citing People vs. Ferrer, 48 SCRA
382).
Ex post facto law is a penal law
which is given retroactive application to
the prejudice of the accused. Hence,
even if the penal law is made to apply
retroactively, if it is favourable to the
accused the same is not ex post facto,
and, thus, allowed under Article 22
(Boado, 2012, pp. 34). It is further
defined as one which:
1. Makes criminal in act done before
the passage of the law and which
was innocent when done, and
punishes such an act;
2. Aggravates a crime, or makes it
greater that it was, when committed;
3. Changes the punishment and inflicts
a greater