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PEOPLE
OF THE PHILIPPINES,
G. R. Nos. 78657-60 February 7, 1991 -versus-HON.
FRANCISCO H. ESCANO, JR.chanrobles virtual law library
PARAS, J.: On January 2, 1986, the City Fiscal of Mandaue City filed four [4] separate criminal informations for estafa against Carlos Calianga, Romulo Pepito and Jun Lozano, with the Municipal Trial Court of Mandaue City. These cases were consolidated for a joint trial and were subsequently assigned to the respondent judge. Upon finding that the offended parties seek to enforce civil liabilities against the accused by way of actual damages, the respondent judge ordered the Clerk of Court of the said court to require the offended parties to pay the corresponding filing fees, pursuant to paragraph 2, Section 1 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, which provides:
We deem it unnecessary to pass upon the issues raised in view of the subsequent amendment of Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure by the Supreme Court in its Resolution dated July 7, 1988. Said provision now reads:
A waiver of any of the civil actions extinguishes the others. The institution of, or the reservation of the right to file any of said civil actions separately waives the others. The reservation of the right to institute the separate civil actions shall be made before the prosecution starts to present its evidence and under circumstances affording the offended party a reasonable opportunity to make such reservation. In no case may the offended party recover damages twice for the same act or omission of the accused. When the offended party seeks to enforce civil liability against the accused by way of moral, nominal, temperate or exemplary damages, the filing fees for such civil action as provided in these Rules shall constitute a first lien on the judgment except in an award for actual damages. In cases wherein the amount of damages, other than actual, is alleged in the complaint or information, the corresponding filing fees shall be paid by the offended party upon the filing thereof in court for trial. [1a] Thus, where the civil action is instituted together with the criminal action, the actual damages claimed by the aggrieved parties, as in this case, are not included in the computation of the filing fees. Filing fees are to be paid only if other items of damages such as moral, nominal, temperate or exemplary damages are alleged in the complaint or information, or if they are not so alleged, shall constitute a first lien on the judgment. As the amendment partakes of a curative statute, the same applies retroactively and affects pending litigations as in this particular case.cralaw:red WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby granted in the sense that the payment of filing fees is not required.cralaw:red SO ORDERED. |
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