SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 248177. February 3, 2021.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.PO1 DON MARK DOMINGO y BALAHADIA, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated03 February 2021which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 248177 (People of the Philippines v. PO1 Don Mark Domingo y Balahadia). — The Court NOTES the letter dated December 14, 2020 of C/Insp. Kanoy B. Lattot, Chief, Documents Section, National Headquarters, Bureau of Corrections, Muntinlupa City, in compliance with the Resolution dated July 6, 2020, confirming the confinement of PO1 Don Mark Domingo y Balahadia (accused-appellant) at the New Bilibid Prison, Muntinlupa City since August 21, 2014.
Considering the allegations, issues and arguments presented in accused-appellant's supplementary appeal brief and the appellee's brief, which it adopted instead of filing a supplementary appeal brief, the Court resolves to DISMISS the appeal for failure to sufficiently show that the Court of Appeals committed any reversible error in promulgating the September 21, 2018 Decision 1 finding accused-appellant guilty of the crime of Murder.
Nonetheless, the Court finds it proper to award temperate damages in the amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) to conform with prevailing jurisprudence, fixing such amount in homicide or murder cases in the absence of evidence of burial and funeral expenses. 2 It cannot be denied that the heirs of the victim suffered pecuniary loss although the exact amount was not proven. 3
ACCORDINGLY, We DISMISS the appeal and AFFIRM with MODIFICATION the Decision rendered by the Court of Appeals on September 21, 2018 in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 08408 by awarding temperate damages in the amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) to the heirs of the victim Geraldo Clarito y Felizardo, to wit:
1) The award of civil indemnity in the amount of P75,000.00;
2) The heirs of the victim Geraldo Clarito y Felizardo are likewise entitled to an award of moral damages amounting to P75,000.00; exemplary damages amounting to P75,000.00; and temperate damages in the amount of P50,000.00; and
3) All damages awarded shall earn interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from date of finality of this Resolution until fully paid.
The Court of Appeals Decision is AFFIRMED in all other respects.
SO ORDERED."
By authority of the Court:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 3-13; penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda (now a Member of this Court) with Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas-Peralta and Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, concurring.
2.People v. Jugueta, 783 Phil. 806 (2016).
3.Id. at 846-847.