FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 202907. October 8, 2014.]
ARNEL CATALAN Y BOLUSO AND APOLINARIO CATALAN Y BOLUSO, petitioner, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution dated October 8, 2014which reads as follows:
G.R. No. 202907 (Arnel Catalan y Boluso and Apolinario Catalan y Boluso v. People of the Philippines).
After a careful perusal of the records, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition and AFFIRM the May 8, 2012 Decision 1 and July 30, 2012 Resolution 2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR No. 33658 for failure of petitioners Arnel Catalan y Boluso and Apolinario Catalan y Boluso to show that the CA committed any reversible error in affirming their conviction by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) for violation of Section 5 (b), Article III of Republic Act No. 7610 and in modifying the award of damages in light of prevailing jurisprudence by reducing the amount of moral damages from P50,000.00 to P15,000.00, granting civil indemnity in the amount of P20,000.00, and directing the payment of a fine of P15,000.00 in each of the criminal cases. However, the Court deems it proper to award P15,000.00 as exemplary damages to conform with prevailing jurisprudence.
The RTC properly considered the certified true copy of the victim's birth certificate to establish her age and minority, the same having been formally offered in evidence by the prosecution. There was no necessity to present the same for authentication during the testimony of the prosecution witness because such requirement applies only to private documents and not to public documents like Certificates of Live Birth, which are admissible without further proof of their due execution or genuineness. 3CASaEc
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) EDGAR O. ARICHETADivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Rollo, pp. 27-55. Penned by Associate Justice Celia C. Librea-Leagogo with Associate Justices Elihu A. Ybañez and Samuel H. Gaerlan, concurring.
2. Id. at 57-58-A.
3. See Heirs of Jose Marcial K. Ochoa v. G&S Transport Corporation, G.R. Nos. 170071 & 170125, July 16, 2012, 676 SCRA 439, 443-444. See also Chua v. CA, G.R. No. 88383, February 19, 1992, 206 SCRA 339.