Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions > Year 2012 > January 2012 Resolutions > [G.R. No. 179188 : January 18, 2012] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, v. FELIX ESPIRITU @ "BALOT," DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. :

Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution dated 18 January 2012 which reads as follows:cralaw

G.R. No. 179188 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. FELIX ESPIRITU @ "Balot," Defendant-Appellant.

Felix Espiritu alias Balot appealed the decision promulgated on July 26, 2006 in C.A.-G.R. CR HC No. 00261,^[1] whereby the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed his conviction for murder handed down on November 4, 2002 by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 39, in Sogod, Southern Leyte (RTC).^[2] He had been charged with murder under the information dated January 24, 2000,^[3] alleging thuswise: 

That on the 20th day or August 1999 at about 6:30 o'clock in the evening, more or less at Sitio San Miguel, Barangay Union, municipality of Bontoc, province of Southern Leyte, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused with intent to kill, evident premeditation and use of superior strength, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault and stab one Felisa Tablada with the use of a sharp pointed bladed weapon which the accused had provided himself for the purpose, thereby inflicting upon the victim multiple stab wounds to wit: 

1. Lacerated wound, left nasal, lateral side
2. Stab wound, about 2 cm. below the right medial border of the clavicle, 2 cm. in width by 12 cm. in length directed mediolaterally
3. Stab wound, about 2 cm below the upper wound, 2 � cm in width by 2 � cm in depth
4. Stab wound, in between the left and right medial borders of the clavicle, about 2 cm in width by 4 cm directed towards the left
5. Stab wound about 2 cm in width by 5 cm in depth on the left chest about 5 cm above the nipple, same side
6. Stab wound about 4 cm in width with wound of entrance on the right lower arm, anterolateral portion with a length of 7 cm directed posterolaterally with wound of exit about 3 cm in width, 2 cm from wrist
7. Stab wound, left lower arm, anteromedial portion, about 7 cm in length, gaping about 2 cm, about 7 cm below the elbow 

which wounds caused the instantaneous death of the said Felisa Tablada, to the damage and prejudice of her heirs and of social order. 

CONTRARY TO LAW.

After arraignment and trial, the RTC convicted Espiritu, disposing in its decision of November 4, 2002, as follows: 

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Court finds accused Felix Espiritu GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder as defined and penalized under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, without the attendance of any mitigating or aggravating circumstances. He is, therefore, sentenced to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA with all the accessory penalties provided by law; to indemnify the heirs of Felisa Tablada the amount of P50,000.00; to pay the same heirs of Felisa Tablada the amount of P50,000.00 by way of moral damages; to reimburse the same heirs the amount of P4,800.00 for funeral expenses; and to pay costs. 

In the service of his sentence, he is to be credited with the full period of his preventive imprisonment in accordance with Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, if he voluntarily agrees in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules prescribed for convicted prisoners. 

SO ORDERED.^[4]

On November 15, 2002, Espiritu was committed to the Southern Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte.^[5]

The conviction was elevated to the Court for review (G.R. No. 156690).^[6] The Superintendent of the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte formally confirmed the confinement of Espiritu at that facility on October 27, 2003.^[7] On November 8, 2004,^[8] however, the Court transferred the case to the CA for intermediate review pursuant to People v. Mateo.^[9] 

On July 26, 2006, the CA affirmed the conviction of Espiritu.^[10]

Nonetheless, Espiritu came again to the Court as a last resort. On October 10, 2007, the Court accepted his appeal.^[11]

By his letter dated February 17, 2011, Rodrigo A. Mercado, Assistant Director for Operations of the Bureau of Corrections, notified the Court about the death of Espiritu on January 29, 2011 at the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog Leyte.^[12] Attached to Mercado's letter was the death report executed by Jorge Colanta, the Officer-in-Charge of the Leyte Regional Prison Hospital.^[13]

On March 7, 2011, the Court, noting Mercado's letter, required the Bureau of Corrections to submit a certified true copy of the death certificate of Espiritu within five days from notice.^[14]

Not finding the death report submitted by the Bureau of Corrections to be a satisfactory compliance with the resolution dated March 7, 2011, the Court resolved on July 11, 2011 to require the Bureau of Corrections to submit a certified true copy of Espiritu's death certificate within ten days from notice.^[15]

On October 12, 2011, the Court received the duplicate of the original copy of Espiritu's death certificate from the Bureau of Corrections.^[16]

What is the consequence of Espiritu's intervening death?

Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code pertinently provides: 

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.

xxx

Conformably with the provision, the death of Espiritu pending the appeal of his conviction absolutely extinguished  his criminal and civil liabilities based on his conviction, because his death prior to final judgment terminated his criminal liability as well as the civil liability directly arising from and solely based on the offense committed.^[17] We clarify, however, that the heirs of the victim may yet file a separate civil action against his estate, as the law and procedural rules may warrant, for such claim may be based on sources of obligation other than the delict for which he was charged, arraigned, tried and convicted.^[18]cralaw

UPON THE FOREGOING CONSIDERATIONS, the appeal of the accused is dismissed, and this criminal case is now considered closed and terminated.

SO ORDERED.

Very truly yours,

  (Sgd.) EDGAR O. ARICHETA
Division Clerk of Court

Endnotes:

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^[1] Rollo, pp. 5-19, penned by Associate Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison, and concurred in by Associate Justice Pampio A. Abarintos and Associate Justice Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla.

^[2] CA rollo, pp. 73-91. 

^[3] Id., pp. 4-5. 

^[4] Id., p. 91. 

^[5] Id., p. 42. 

^[6] Id., p. 122. 

^[7] Id., p. 45. 

^[8] Id., p. 121. 

^[9] G.R. Nos. 147678-87, July 7, 2004, 433 SCRA 640. 

^[10] Rollo, p. 19. 

^[11] Id., p. 23. 

^[12] Id., p. 37. 

^[13] Id., p. 38. 

^[14] Id., p. 35. 

^[15] Id., p. 39. 

^[16] Id., p. 43. 

^[17] People v. Bunay, G.R. No. 171268, September 14, 2010, 630 SCRA 445, 448; People v. Bayotas, G.R. No. 102007, September 2, 1994, 236 SCRA 239; People v. Ayochok, G.R. No. 175784, August 25, 2010, 629 SCRA 324. 

^[18] People v. Abungan, G.R. No. 136843, September 28, 2000, 341 SCRA 258.