FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 246533. July 30, 2019.]
JENNILYN LEGASPI y LEYNES, petitioner, vs.PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution datedJuly 30, 2019which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 246533 (Jennilyn Legaspi y Leynes vs. People of the Philippines) — The petitioner's motion for an extension of thirty (30) days within which to file a petition for review on certiorari is GRANTED, counted from the expiration of the reglementary period.
After a perusal of the records of the case, this Court resolves to deny the petition for failure of petitioner Jennilyn Legaspi y Leynes to sufficiently show any reversible error in the assailed Decision 1 dated September 18, 2018 and Resolution 2 dated April 4, 2019 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 40326 which would warrant the exercise of this Court's appellate jurisdiction.
As regard the award of damages, We sustain the lower court's findings that the records do not adequately reflect any concrete basis for the award of actual damages suffered by the offended parties. To seek recovery of actual damages, it is necessary to prove the actual amount of loss with a reasonable degree of certainty, premised upon competent proof and on the best evidence obtainable. 3
Nonetheless, the Court deems it proper to award temperate damages, in lieu of actual damages, considering that the victims were unable to prove the actual expenses they incurred. According to Article 2224 of the Civil Code, temperate damages, which are more than nominal but less than compensatory damages, may be recovered when the court finds that some pecuniary loss has been suffered but its amount cannot be proved with certainty. The grant in this regard should be in the sum of P50,000.00. Lastly, interest at the rate of 6% per annum is imposed on the damages awarded reckoned from the date of finality of this judgment until fully paid. 4
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The Decision dated September 18, 2018 and Resolution dated April 4, 2019 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 40326 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION that petitioner is ORDERED to pay the victim Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) as temperate damages, as well as interest on the damages awarded at the legal rate of six percent (6%) per annum from date of finality of this Resolution until fully paid.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, with Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, concurring; rollo, pp. 27-35.
2.Id. at 37-38.
3.People v. Macabando, 715 Phil. 666, 677 (2013).
4.People v. Cabungan, 702 Phil. 177, 190 (2013).