ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | January 3, 2024
Dear Chief Acosta,
Ang aking anak ay biktima ng Rape. Nakasuhan na ang akusado at siya ay nahatulan ng korte na guilty at nakulong. Habang nakabinbin ang kanyang apela ay namatay siya sa loob ng kulungan. Nagpadala ang superintendent ng Bilibid ng liham sa korte upang ipaalam ang kanyang pagkamatay at kalakip ang kopya ng kanyang death certificate. Nabanggit sa amin ng aming mga kaibigan na ang kamatayan diumano ng isang akusado ay nagreresulta ng pagkawala ng kanyang pananagutang kriminal, gayundin ang pananagutang sibil na direktang kaakibat ng pananagutang kriminal.
Ang aking anak ay orihinal na nagawaran ng mga halaga para sa civil indemnity, moral damages, at exemplary damages. Paano na kaya itong mga halagang ito? -
Miriam
Dear Miriam,
Ang iyong katanungan ay sinagot ng Korte Suprema sa kasong People of the Philippines vs. Porferio Culas y Raga (G.R. No. 211166, 05 June 2017, Ponente: Honorable Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe). Sang-ayon sa Korte Suprema, ang kamatayan ng isang akusado bago maging pinal ang desisyon sa kanyang kaso ay nagreresulta sa extinguishment o pagkawala ng kanyang personal penalties at mga pecuniary penalties:
“From this lengthy disquisition, we summarize our ruling herein:
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 accused, if the same may also be predicated on a source of obligation other than delict. Article 1157 of the Civil Code enumerates these other sources of obligation from which the civil liability may arise as a result of the same act or omission:
a) Law
b) Contracts
c) Quasi-contracts
d) x x x
e) Quasi-delicts
3. Where the civil liability survives, as explained in Number 2 above, an action for recovery therefor may be pursued but only by way of filing a separate civil action and subject to Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure as amended. This separate civil action may be enforced either against the executor/administrator or the estate of the accused, depending on the source of obligation upon which the same is based as explained above.
4. Finally, the private offended party need not fear a forfeiture of his right to file this separate civil action by prescription, in cases where during the prosecution of the criminal action and prior to its extinction, the private-offended party instituted together therewith the civil action. In such case, the statute of limitations on the civil liability is deemed interrupted during the pendency of the criminal case, conformably with provisions of Article 1155 of the Civil Code, that should thereby avoid any apprehension on a possible privation of right by prescription.”
Dahil dito, ang kamatayan ng akusado ay nagbunga ng extinguishment ng kanyang mga personal penalties gaya ng pagkakakulong. Kaakibat din nito ang extinguishment ng mga civil penalties na bunga ng krimen. Ngunit, ito ay hindi nangangahulugan na wala ka nang maaaring gawin sapagkat maaari kang maghain ng panibagong kasong sibil laban sa ‘estate’ ng akusado upang makahingi ng danyos. Kinakailangan lamang na ito ay may basehan sa batas, kontrata, quasi-contracts o quasi-delicts. Ayon sa Korte Suprema:
“Thus, upon accused-appellant's death pending appeal of his conviction, the criminal action is extinguished inasmuch as there is no longer a defendant to stand as the accused; the civil action instituted therein for the recovery of the civil liability ex delicto is ipso facto extinguished, grounded as it is on the criminal action. However, it is well to clarify that accused-appellant's civil liability in connection with his acts against the victim, AAA, may be based on sources other than delicts; in which case, AAA may file a separate civil action against the estate of accused-appellant, as may be warranted by law and procedural rules.”
Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.
Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.
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