SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 237492. April 23, 2018.]
SOFRONIO PASCUA y ULEP, petitioner,vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated23 April 2018which reads as follows: HTcADC
"G.R. No. 237492 (Sofronio Pascua y Ulep v. People of the Philippines)
After a judicious study of the records, the Court resolves to DENY the instant petition and AFFIRM with MODIFICATION the May 31, 2017 Decision 1 and January 24, 2018 Resolution 2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR No. 38512 finding petitioner Sofronio Pascua y Ulep (petitioner) GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Homicide, as defined and penalized under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code, sentencing him to suffer the penalty of imprisonment for an indeterminate period of eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor, as minimum, to fourteen (14) years, eight (8) months, and one (1) day of reclusion temporal, as maximum, and ordering him to pay the heirs of victim Rolly Buduan Oloraza the following amounts: (a) P50,000.00 as civil indemnity; (b) P50,000.00 as moral damages; and (c) P50,000.00 as temperate damages in lieu of actual damages, 3 with legal interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of finality of this Resolution until full payment, pursuant to prevailing law and jurisprudence. 4
As correctly ruled by the CA, all the elements of the crime of Homicide 5 are present in this case as the prosecution had established beyond reasonable doubt, thru the testimonies of the eyewitnesses, that petitioner was the one who went after and stabbed the victim, causing the latter's death. "Thus, the Court finds no reason to deviate from the factual findings of the trial court, as affirmed by the CA, as there is no indication that it overlooked, misunderstood or misapplied the surrounding facts and circumstances of the case. In fact, the trial court was in the best position to assess and determine the credibility of the witnesses presented by both parties, and hence, due deference should be accorded to the same," 6 as in this case.
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of CourtBy:(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 30-41. Penned by Associate Justice Stephen C. Cruz with Associate Justices Jose C. Reyes, Jr. and Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela concurring.
2.Id. at 43-44.
3. "The settled rule is that when actual damages proven by receipts during the trial amount to less than the sum allowed by the Court as temperate damages, the award of temperate damages is justified in lieu of actual damages which is of a lesser amount. Conversely, if the amount of actual damages proven exceeds, then temperate damages may no longer be awarded; actual damages based on the receipts presented during trial should instead be granted. The rationale for this rule is that it would be anomalous and unfair for the victim's heirs, who tried and succeeded in presenting receipts and other evidence to prove actual damages, to receive an amount which is less than that given as temperate damages to those who are not able to present any evidence at all." (See People v. Racal, G.R. No. 224886, September 4, 2017; citations omitted) In this case, the award of temperate damages in the higher amount of P50,000.00 is proper, considering that the heirs of the victim were only able to prove actual damages in the lower amount of P39,000.00.
4. See People v. Jugueta, 783 Phil. 806, 854 (2016).
5. "Jurisprudence laid out the elements of homicide as: (1) a person was killed; (2) the accused killed him without any justifying circumstance; (3) the accused had the intention to kill, which is presumed; and (4) the killing was not attended by any of the qualifying circumstances of murder, or by that of parricide or infanticide." (Villanueva v. Caparas, 702 Phil. 609, 616 [2013], citing Villamor v. People, 620 Phil. 643, 651 [2009])
6. See Peralta v. People, G.R. No. 221991, August 30, 2017, citing People v. Matibag, 757 Phil. 286, 293 (2015).