FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 229839. February 27, 2019.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.RICKY GENTILIZO y TUBONGBANUA, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution dated February 27, 2019which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 229839 — People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, v. Ricky Gentilizo y Tubongbanua, accused-appellant.
After a thorough review of the records, the Court finds this appeal bereft of merit. We thus hold that the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 01970 properly affirmed with modifications the Decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Silay City, Branch 69, which found accused-appellant Ricky Gentilizo y Tubongbanua (appellant) guilty beyond reasonable doubt of rape with homicide in Criminal Case No. 8936-69.
Time and again, the Court has stressed that, in the absence of misapprehension or misinterpretation of relevant facts that would affect the outcome of the case, the factual findings of the trial court, duly affirmed on appeal, must not be disturbed as the same deserve great weight and respect. In this case, there being no showing that the RTC and CA overlooked facts of weight and substance, we sustain their finding that appellant committed rape with homicide against "AAA." 1
Moreover, the pieces of circumstantial evidence taken together along with the finding of the Medico-Legal Officer established that appellant, and no other, committed rape with homicide against "AAA." 2 To note, upon examination of "AAA's" cadaver, it was determined that she sustained laceration caused by the insertion of an object of considerable size into her genital; such insertion, in turn, resulted to hemorrhage, which was one of the causes of her death. That appellant committed such act against "AAA" is further bolstered by the circumstantial evidence duly noted by the CA, viz.:
In this case, we find that [appellant's] participation in the commission of the crime was proven by the following circumstantial evidence: (1) [Appellant] resided within the vicinity of the victim's house; (2) A pair of yellow slippers was found in [the] victim's house, which turned out to be owned by [appellant]; (3) When the slippers [were] presented during the meeting in the barangay hall where [appellant] and his brother Rick were attendees, Rick acknowledged that it was owned by [appellant]; (4) [Appellant] got scared when Rick admitted that the slippers belonged to [him]; (5) When the investigators searched [appellant's] house with the consent of his brother Rick, they found the victim's lifeless body inside a transparent plastic bag. 3
More importantly, appellant made an extrajudicial confession as to his authorship of the crime. Like the RTC and the CA, the Court finds that such extrajudicial confession in a recorded interview by a news reporter is admissible in evidence. For one, there was no showing that any police officer exerted undue influence or pressure on appellant. For another, an extrajudicial confession is presumed voluntary until proven otherwise. Here, there being no evidence to negate the voluntariness of appellant's extrajudicial confession, the same is presumed to be given of his own accord and freewill. 4
Clearly, the circumstantial evidence proffered as well as appellant's extrajudicial confession proved beyond reasonable doubt that appellant committed rape with homicide against six-year old "AAA," which is punishable by reclusion perpetua without eligibility for parole, 5 as properly determined by the CA.
As a final note, however, the Court deems it necessary to also award in favor of the heirs of "AAA" temperate damages in the amount of P50,000.00 pursuant to prevailing jurisprudence. 6
WHEREFORE, the Court ADOPTS the factual findings of the trial court as affirmed by the Court of Appeals. The appeal is DISMISSED. The assailed September 23, 2016 Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 01970 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION in that temperate damages in the amount of P50,000.00 is also awarded to the heirs of "AAA."
SO ORDERED." Bersamin, C.J., on official leave.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.People v. Lucero, 659 Phil. 518, 540-541 (2011).
2.People v. Villaflores, 685 Phil. 595, 615 (2012).
3. CA rollo, p. 190.
4.People v. Dacanay, G.R. No. 216064, November 7, 2016, 807 SCRA 130, 139-145.
5.People v. Villaflores, supra note 2 at 618.
6.People v. Jugueta, 783 Phil. 806, 853 (2016).