FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 220385. June 6, 2018.]
BENIGNO C. ASIS AND VIRGINIA P. ASIS, petitioner, vs. ASTERIO RONQUILLO, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution datedJune 6, 2018which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 220385 (Benigno C. Asis and Virginia P. Asis v. Asterio Ronquillo). — The case arose out of the consolidated criminal case of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple serious and slight physical injuries (Criminal Case No. 6757) against respondent, and a separate civil case for damages and attorney's fees (Civil Case No. 1429) filed by petitioners against respondent before Branch 6 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, for the death of their son Dr. Alvin P. Asis.
After trial, respondent was acquitted on the ground of reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, the RTC found that he failed to exercise due diligence of a good father of a family in the civil case. The RTC held him civilly liable to the heirs of Dr. Asis, petitioners here, and awarded actual and moral damages in the amount of P100,000.00, respectively; attorney's fees of P100,000.00; and loss of earning capacity in the amount of P3,357,975.10. AIDSTE
The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the finding of negligence and the award of compensation for loss of earning capacity, deleted the award of actual damages and attorney's fees, and reduced the amount of moral damages to P50,000.00. It nevertheless awarded temperate damages in the amount of P50,000.00.
We partly grant the petition.
The RTC and CA erred in failing to award mandatory civil indemnity for death. Article 2206 of the Civil Code and prevailing jurisprudence provide that civil indemnity for death caused by a crime or quasi-delict shall be awarded to the heirs of the deceased by the sole fact of death. Jurisprudence currently pegs the civil indemnity for death at P50,000.00.
On the other hand, there is no merit as to petitioners' other arguments. The award of temperate damages in lieu of actual damages is proper. It is settled that in determining actual damages, one cannot rely on mere assertions, speculations, conjectures or guesswork, but must depend on competent proof and on the best evidence obtainable regarding specific facts that could afford some basis for measuring compensatory or actual damages. Here, petitioners presented an Affidavit of Funeral Expenses to prove their claim of actual damages worth P225,780.00 but refused to submit receipts for it. Both the RTC and CA did not give credence to the affidavit for being hearsay. Nevertheless, temperate damages may be awarded when it cannot be denied that the heirs of the victims suffered pecuniary loss, but the exact amount was not proven, as the CA did in this case.
The CA also properly deleted the award of attorney's fees. While Article 2208, paragraph 9 of the Civil Code provides that attorney's fees may be awarded in a separate civil action to recover civil liability arising from a crime, attorney's fees under said article demands factual, legal, and equitable justification to avoid speculation and conjecture surrounding the grant thereof. Here, the CA correctly found that the RTC did not include in its Decision the factual and equitable justification for such award, but merely inserted it in the dispositive portion of the body. SDAaTC
WHEREFORE, the Court resolves to PARTIALLY GRANT the petition. The Court of Appeals' Decision dated May 12, 2015 and Resolution dated August 25, 2015 in CA-G.R. CV No. 03102-MIN is MODIFIED to include the following:
Respondent Asterio Ronquillo is further ordered to pay the heirs of Dr. Alvin P. Asis the amount of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity for his death.
The payment of fine in the amount of P1,000.00 of Atty. Julie C. Sansaet of Sansaet-Masendo-Cadiz & Banosia Law Offices, counsel for respondent, as evidenced by O.R. No. 0202304-SC-EP dated February 9, 2018; the compliance of Atty. Julie C. Sansaet of Sansaet-Masendo-Cadiz & Banosia Law Offices, counsel for respondent, with the Show Cause Resolution dated August 17, 2016, stating that she regrets and sincerely apologizes for the delay which she caused in the proceedings of this case, and submitting the comment on the petition for review on certiorari; and the respondent's comment on the petition for review on certiorari, are all NOTED.
SO ORDERED." Leonardo-de Castro, J., took no part; Caguioa, J., designated additional member per raffle dated March 21, 2018. Tijam, J., on official leave; Gesmundo, J., designated as Acting Member of the First Division per Special Order No. 2560 dated May 11, 2018.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENAActing Division Clerk of Court