SECOND DIVISION
[G.R. No. 232251. February 20, 2019.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.OOI HOCK GUAN, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Second Division, issued a Resolution dated 20 February 2019which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 232251 — PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, versusOOI HOCK GUAN, accused-appellant.
Accused-appellant Ooi Hock Guan (Hock) was charged with the crime of Illegal Transportation of Dangerous Drugs, defined and penalized under Section 5, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, before the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City, Branch 231 (RTC), docketed therein as Criminal Case No. R-PSY-12-05425-CR. 1 The Information pertinently reads as follows:
"That on or about the 15th day of July 2012, in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, OOI HOCK GUAN, a Malaysian national with Passport No. A26921967, an arriving passenger from Hongkong via Dragon Air Flight No. KA931, without authority of law, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously bring into the country and transport the following:
A-1 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-4" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 495.24 grams;
A-2 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-5" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 466.92 grams;
A-3 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-6" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 500.32 grams; TCAScE
A-4 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-7" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 597.77 grams;
A-5 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-8" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 500.67 grams;
A-6 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-9" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 498.79 grams;
A-7 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-10" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 503.04 grams;
A-8 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-11" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 197.49 grams; and
A-9 One (1) heat-sealed transparent plastic with markings EXH — "A-12" SVC 7-15-12 with signature containing white crystalline substance with a net weight of 201.22 grams of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride with a total net weight of 3,961.46 grams or 3.96146 kilograms, a dangerous drug.
Contrary to law." 2
Hock entered a plea of not guilty to the crime charged. Thereafter, trial ensued.
In its Decision 3 dated November 18, 2014, the RTC convicted Hock of the crime charged. The dispositive portion of the said Decision reads:
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered finding the accused, OOI HOCK GUAN, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the charge of Violation of Section 5, Article II of R.A. 9165 (Transportation of Dangerous Drugs) in Criminal Case No. R-PSY-12-05425-CR and is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of eight hundred thousand pesos (Php800,000.00).
The Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) through its authorized representative is hereby directed to destroy on 5 December 2014 the 3,961.46 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride seized from the accused in the presence of Sheriff Rodolfo Toledana, Court Sheriff of this branch.
SO ORDERED. 4
Aggrieved, Hock appealed the case before the Court of Appeals (CA).
On December 22, 2016, the CA in its Decision, 5 affirmed the RTC's conviction of Hock, holding that the prosecution was able to prove the elements of the crimes charged. The dispositive portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appeal is DENIED and the assailed 18 November 2014 Decision in Criminal Case No. R-PSY-12-05425-CR is AFFIRMED. cTDaEH
SO ORDERED.6
Hence, on January 9, 2017, Hock filed a Notice of Appeal. 7
During the pendency of the present appeal, CSupt. Marites D. Luceño, Chief, Inmate Documents and Processing Division, Bureau of Corrections, informed the Court in a letter 8 dated January 21, 2019 that Hock had died on November 13, 2015 due to "Shock Prob. Multifactorial" as evidenced by his Certificate of Death 9 issued by the Office of the Civil Registrar General attached thereto.
Under Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code, criminal liability is totally extinguished "[b]y 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; x x x."
The Court explained in People v. Toukyo, 10 citing People v. Bayotas, 11 the implications of an accused-appellant's death prior to final judgment:
1. Death of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability as well as the civil liability based solely thereon. As opined by Justice Regalado, in this regard, "the death of the accused prior to final judgment terminates his criminal liability and only the civil liability directly arising from and based solely on the offense committed, i.e., civil liability ex delicto in senso strictiore."
2. Corollarily, the claim for civil liability survives notwithstanding the death of accused, if the same may also be predicated on a source of obligation other than delict. Article 1157 of the Civil Code enumerates these other sources of obligation from which the civil liability may arise as a result of the same act or omission:
a) Law
b) Contracts
c) Quasi-contracts
d) x x x
e) Quasi-delicts
3. Where the civil liability survives, as explained in Number 2 above, an action for recovery therefor may be pursued but only by way of filing a separate civil action and subject to Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure as amended. This separate civil action may be enforced either against the executor/administrator of the estate of the accused, depending on the source of obligation upon which the same is based as explained above.
xxx xxx xxx 12
Consequently, Hock's criminal liability had been extinguished upon his death pending this appeal. Thus, it follows that the civil action instituted therein for the recovery of the civil liability ex delicto is likewise extinguished.
WHEREFORE, the Court RESOLVES to:
1. SET ASIDE the appealed Decision dated December 22, 2016;
2. DISMISS Criminal Case No. R-PSY-12-05425-CR before the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City, Branch 231 by reason of the death of accused-appellant Ooi Hock Guan; and
3. DECLARE the instant case CLOSED and TERMINATED. cSaATC
SO ORDERED. (HERNANDO, J., designated additional Member per S.O. No. 2630 dated December 18, 2018)"
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) MARIA LOURDES C. PERFECTODivision Clerk of CourtBy:TERESITA AQUINO TUAZONDeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1.Rollo, p. 2; CA rollo, p. 60.
2. CA rollo, pp. 60-61.
3.Id. at 60-70. Penned by Presiding Judge Divina Gracia Lopez Pelino.
4.Id. at 70.
5.Rollo, pp. 2-10. Penned by Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario, with Associate Justices Edwin D. Sorongon and Maria Elisa Sempio Diy concurring.
6.Id. at 9.
7.Id. at 11-14.
8.Id. at 33.
9.Id. at 35.
10. 807 Phil. 775 (2017).
11. 306 Phil. 266, 282-283 (1994).
12.Supra note 10, at 781.