SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 241594. April 10, 2019.]
EDDIE MAPA, petitioner, vs.PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated10 April 2019which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 241594 — Eddie Mapa versus People of the Philippines
After reviewing the Petition and its annexes, inclusive of the Court of Appeals (CA) Decision 1 dated April 19, 2018 and Resolution 2 dated August 13, 2018 in CA-G.R. CR No. 39415, the Court resolves to DENY the Petition since the petitioner, Eddie Mapa (Mapa), failed to sufficiently show that the CA committed any reversible error in the assailed Decision and Resolution as to warrant the exercise of this Court's discretionary appellate jurisdiction.
At the outset, it must be stressed that an appeal in criminal cases opens the entire case for review, and it is the duty of the reviewing tribunal to correct, cite, and appreciate errors in the appealed judgment whether they are assigned or unassigned. 3 The appeal confers the appellate court full jurisdiction over the case and renders such court competent to examine records, revise the judgment appealed from, increase the penalty, and cite the proper provision of the penal law. 4
It has been an established rule in appellate review that the trial court's factual findings — including its assessment of the credibility of the witnesses, the probative weight of their testimonies, and the conclusions drawn from the factual findings — are accorded great respect and even conclusive effect. 5 These factual findings and conclusions assume greater weight if they are affirmed by the CA, as in this case. 6 In the present case, the Court adopts the CA's findings and conclusion as to Mapa's guilt.
The CA affirmed the Decision 7 dated June 20, 2016 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 22 of Cabagan, Isabela in Crim. Case No. 22-2453, finding Mapa and co-accused Arman Bati guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Homicide, as defined and penalized under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), and accordingly sentenced each of them to an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for eight (8) years and one (1) day as minimum to fourteen (14) years, eight (8) months and one (1) day as maximum. Both accused shall pay jointly and severally to the heirs of Renato Ranchez the following:
a) Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) as indemnity for the death of the victim;
b) Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) as actual damages;
c) Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) as moral damages;
d) Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00) as attorney's fees.
WHEREFORE, the assailed CA Decision and Resolution are AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION that petitioner Eddie Mapa is further ordered to pay interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum on all damages awarded from the date of finality of this Resolution until such damages are fully paid.
SO ORDERED. (PERLAS-BERNABE, J., on leave)"
Very truly yours,
MARIA LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
By:TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 32-40. Penned by Associate Justice Stephen C. Cruz, with Presiding Justice Romeo F. Barza and Associate Justice Carmelita Salandanan Manahan concurring.
2.Id. at 42-43.
3.Gamboa v. People, 799 Phil. 584, 593 (2016).
4.Id. at 593.
5.People v. Aguirre, G.R. No. 219952, November 20, 2017, 845 SCRA 227, 238, citing People v. Diu, 708 Phil. 218, 232 (2013).
6.Id. at 238.
7.Rollo, pp. 57-63. Penned by Presiding Judge Felipe Jesus Torio II.