SPECIAL THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 225054, July 17, 2017
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. AGAPITO DIMAALA Y ARELA, Accused-Appellant.
R E S O L U T I O N
PERLAS-BERNABE, J.:
In a Decision1 dated May 8, 2012, the Regional Trial Court of Calauag, Quezon (RTC) in Criminal Case No. 4994-C found accused-appellant Agapito Dimaala y Arela (accused-appellant) guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder, the dispositive portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, this court renders judgment finding AGAPITO DIMAALA y Arela GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime charged for the treacherous killing of Rodrigo Marasigan. Said accused is hereby sentenced to Reclusion Perpetua without eligibility for parole.
He is likewise ordered to pay the family of Rodrigo Marasigan the following:
PhP 75,000.00 as civil indemnity;
PhP 75,000.00 as moral damages;
PhP 36,000.00 as actual damages;
PhP 30,000.00 as exemplary damages; and
PhP 25,000.00 as temperate damages.
SO ORDERED.2
Article 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished – Criminal liability is totally extinguished:
1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment;
x x x x
1. Death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability as well as the civil liability based solely thereon. As opined by Justice Regalado, in this regard, "the death of the accused prior to final judgment terminates his criminal liability and only the civil liability directly arising from and based solely on the offense committed, i.e., civil liability ex delicto in senso strictiore."
2. Corollarily, the claim for civil liability survives notwithstanding the death of the accused, if the same may also be predicated on a source of obligation other than delict. x x x.
x x x x
Endnotes:
1 Not attached to the rollo.
2Rollo, pp. 5-6.
3 Id. at 2-13. Penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando with Associate Justices Jose C. Reyes, Jr. and Stephen C. Cruz concurring.
4 Id. at 12.
5 Id. at 14.
6 Dated July 28, 2016. Id. at 21-23.
7 Id. at 30-31. Signed by Division Clerk of Court Wilfredo V. Lapitan.
8 Id. at 36.
9 Id. at 43.
10 Id. at 44.
11 See People v. Layag, G.R. No. 214875, October 17, 2016.
12 See People v. Culas, G.R. No. 211166, June 5, 2017.
13 See id.
14 Supra note 12.
15 See id.