SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 200302. July 9, 2014.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. GERRY LIPATA y ORTIZA, appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames:
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 09 July 2014 which reads as follows:
G.R. No. 200302: PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. GERRY LIPATA y ORTIZA, appellant.
During the pendency of this case, this Court has been informed that appellant, Gerry Lipata y Ortiza, passed away prior to the promulgation of the Court of Appeals' Decision. 1 Accordingly, this Court issued a Resolution dated 25 September 2013 ordering counsel for appellant to:
(1) SUBSTITUTE the legal representatives of the estate of the deceased appellant as party; and (2) to COMMENT on the civil liability of appellant within ten (10) days from receipt of this Resolution.
In compliance with the foregoing resolution, the Public Attorney's Office Special and Appealed Cases Service (PAO-SACS) filed its Manifestation with Comment on the Civil Liability of the Deceased Appellant (Comment with Manifestation) on 29 November 2013. 2 According to the PAO-SACS, the relatives of the deceased appellant have not communicated with them since the case was assigned to their office on 29 September 2010. The PAO-SACS sent a letter on 4 November 2013 to Lilia Lipata who was appellant's next of kin per official records. Despite receipt of the letter, the relatives still failed to communicate with the PAO-SACS.
Under Section 4 of Rule 111 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, if the accused dies pending resolution of the criminal action, his civil liability ex delicto shall be extinguished. However, actions falling under Articles 32, 33, 34 and 2176 of the Civil Code which have already been instituted or which may be instituted thereafter survive the death of the accused.
[The action] may be continued against the estate or legal representative of the accused after proper substitution or against said estate, as the case may be. The heirs of the accused may be substituted for the deceased without requiring the appointment of an executor or administrator and the court may appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor heirs.
The court shall forthwith order said legal representative or representatives to appear and be substituted within a period of thirty (30) days from notice.
A final judgment entered in favor of the offended party shall be enforced in the manner especially provided in these Rules for prosecuting claims against the estate of the deceased. 3
In People v. Bunay,4 we held that:
The death of the accused likewise extinguished the civil liability that was based exclusively on the crime for which the accused was convicted (i.e.,ex delicto), because no final judgment of conviction was yet rendered by the time of his death. Only civil liability predicated on a source of obligation other than the delict survived the death of the accused, which the offended party can recover by means of a separate civil action.5 (Emphasis supplied)
However, requiring the victim's heirs to file a separate civil action to recover damages will cause an undue burden on them, and will also encourage multiplicity of suits. It must be pointed out that the civil action for recovery of civil liabilities has already been instituted in the present case. There is no point in dismissing the civil action here at this late stage and refiling it in the trial court. Procedural rules are "mere tools designed to facilitate the attainment of justice." 6
When a party to a pending action dies, and the claim is not extinguished by such death, the deceased will be substituted by his legal representative or heirs. Section 16 of Rule 3 of the Rules of Civil Procedure provides that:
Sec. 16. Death of party; duty of counsel. — Whenever a party to a pending action dies, and the claim is not thereby extinguished, it shall be the duty of his counsel to inform the court within thirty (30) days after such death of the fact thereof, and to give the name and address of his legal representative or representatives. Failure of counsel to comply with this duty shall be a ground for disciplinary action.
The heirs of the deceased may be allowed to be substituted for the deceased, without requiring the appointment of an executor or administrator and the court may appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor heirs.
The court shall forthwith order said legal representative or representatives to appear and be substituted within a period of thirty (30) days from notice.
If no legal representative is named by the counsel for the deceased party, or if the one so named shall fail to appear within the specified period, the court may order the opposing party, within a specified time, to procure the appointment of an executor or administrator for the estate of the deceased and the latter shall immediately appear for and on behalf of the deceased. The court charges in procuring such appointment, if defrayed by the opposing party, may be recovered as costs. (Emphasis supplied)
The PAO is the legal representative or counsel of appellant Gerry Lipata y Ortiza in both the civil and criminal aspects of this case. Upon the death of the appellant, the PAO continues to represent the deceased in the civil aspect of the present case considering that the heirs of the appellant have not yet communicated otherwise with the PAO-SACS. Thus, the PAO may be deemed to continue as legal representative or counsel of the estate of the deceased in the civil aspect of this case.
WHEREFORE, the Court DECLARES that the Public Attorney's Office shall continue as the legal representative of the estate of the deceased GERRY LIPATA y ORTIZA for purposes of representing the estate in the civil aspect of this case.
SO ORDERED.
Very truly yours,
MA. LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of Court
By:
(SGD.) TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. On 25 October 2012, this Court received the: a) notice from the Warden stating that appellant passed away; b) Medical Certificate issued by the East Avenue Medical Center; and c) Death Certificate of appellant.
2. Rollo, p. 61.
3. Section 4, Rule 111 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.
4. G.R. No. 171268, 14 September 2010, 630 SCRA 445.
5. Id. at 448.
6. Barra v. Civil Service Commission, G.R. No. 205250, 18 March 2013, 693 SCRA 563.