SPECIAL THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 234518. February 20, 2019.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.REYNALDO LIM @ REY LIM A.K.A. RICARDO SORIANO II y LIM, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Third Division, issued a Resolution dated February 20, 2019, which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 234518 (People of the Philippines v. Reynaldo Lim @ Rey Lim a.k.a. Ricardo Soriano II y Lim) — The Court NOTES the letter dated December 18, 2018 of CSSupt. Gerardo F. Padilla, MPA, CSMS, Chief Superintendent, New Bilibid Prison (NBP), Bureau of Corrections, Muntinlupa City, informing the Court that accused-appellant died on August 12, 2014 at the NBP hospital.
This is an appeal from the June 15, 2017 Decision 1 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 05854, which affirmed with modification the September 26, 2012 Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 54 (RTC), finding accused-appellant Reynaldo Lim (appellant) guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder.
The Antecedents
On June 22, 2006, appellant and his co-accused Dodong Balatbat a.k.a. Rogelio Balatbat (Balatbat) were charged in an Information, docketed as Criminal Case No. 06-244666, for the crime of murder. Upon arraignment, appellant and Balatbat pleaded not guilty. Thereafter, trial on the merits ensued.
On September 26, 2012, the RTC rendered judgment acquitting Balatbat of the crime of murder. It, however, found appellant guilty as charged and was sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua, and was ordered to pay civil indemnity amounting to P75,000.00, moral damages in the amount of P50,000.00 and exemplary damages amounting to P25,000.00.
On appeal, the CA affirmed with modification the RTC decision. The dispositive portion of the decision reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant appeal is hereby DENIED. CAacTH
Accordingly, the assailed Decision dated 26 September 2012 of the Regional Trial Court, National Capital Judicial Region, Branch 54, Manila in Criminal Case No. 06-244666 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION.
As modified, appellant Reynaldo Lim Soriano @ Rey Lim a.k.a. Ricardo Soriano II y Lim is sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua without the benefit of parole and to pay the heirs of Roger Castillo the amounts of Php75,000.00 as civil indemnity, Php75,000.00 as moral damages, and Php75,000.00 as exemplary damages. Interest on all damages awarded is imposed at the rate of 6% per annum from date of finality of this judgment until fully paid.
SO ORDERED. 2
Appellant, through the Public Attorney's Office, filed an appeal before the Court.
On July 23, 2018, the Court, in a Resolution, rendered judgment, the pertinent portion of which states:
WHEREFORE, the findings of fact and conclusions of law in the Decision dated June 15, 2017 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 05854 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. Accused-appellant Reynaldo Lim @ Rey Lim a.k.a. Ricardo Soriano II y Lim is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder. He is sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and to pay the heirs of Roger Castillo the amounts of P75,000.00 as civil indemnity, P75,000.00 as moral damages, and P75,000.00 as exemplary damages. Interest on all damages awarded is imposed at the rate of 6% per annum from date of finality of this judgment until fully paid.
SO ORDERED. 3
Appellant filed a motion for reconsideration, but it was denied in a Resolution 4 dated January 10, 2019 as no substantial arguments were raised to warrant its reconsideration.
However, in a Letter, 5 dated December 18, 2018, CSSupt. Gerardo F. Padilla informed the Court that appellant died on August 12, 2014 at the NBP Hospital.
THE COURT'S RULING
Article 89 (1) of the Revised Penal Code is instructive. It provides that:
Article 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. — Criminal liability is totally extinguished:
1. By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment.
Clearly, the criminal liability and civil liability ex delicto of the accused who dies while his case is pending appeal, are extinguished. As pronounced by the Court in the case of People of the Philippines v. Bayot, 6 to rule on appellant's appeal is unnecessary. His appeal was still pending and no final judgment had been rendered against him at the time of his death. Thus, whether or not appellant was guilty of the crime charged had become irrelevant because even assuming that appellant did incur criminal liability and civil liability ex delicto, these were totally extinguished by his death, following the provision of Article 89 (1) of the Revised Penal Code and the Court's ruling in People v. Bayotas. 7
WHEREFORE, in view of the death of accused-appellant Reynaldo Lim @ Rey Lim a.k.a. Ricardo Soriano II y Lim, the Decision dated June 15, 2017 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 05854, as well as the Resolutions dated July 23, 2018 and January 10, 2019 of the Court are SET ASIDE. Criminal Case No. 06-244666 before the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 54, is DISMISSED. IAETDc
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) WILFREDO V. LAPITANDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, pp. 2-19; penned by Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, with Associate Justices Apolinario D. Bruselas, Jr. and Danton Q. Bueser, concurring.
2.Id. at 18.
3.Id. at 47.
4. Not attached in the rollo.
5.Rollo, p. 55.
6. 686 Phil. 270 (2012).
7. 306 Phil. 266 (1994).