THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 220460. August 7, 2017.]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,vs. NESTOR VILLAFRIA Y BAYANI, accused-appellant.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, Third Division, issued a Resolution dated August 7, 2017, which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 220460 (People of the Philippines v. Nestor Villafria y Bayani). — On appeal is the Decision 1 dated December 11, 2014 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 06259, which affirmed the Decision 2 dated May 20, 2013 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila, Branch 25, in Criminal Case No. 08-264432 finding the accused-appellant Nestor Villafria y Bayani @ Mang Nestor guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder.
After a perusal of the records of the case, this Court resolves to DISMISS the appeal for failure of the accused-appellant to sufficiently show any reversible error in the assailed CA Decision.
Nonetheless, the damages awarded by the lower courts should be modified to conform to recent jurisprudence. Following the new jurisprudential ruling in People v. Jugueta, 3 where the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetua, We increase the amounts of indemnity and damages to be paid the heirs of the deceased victim as follows: PhP75,000 as civil indemnity; PhP50,000 as temperate damages; and PhP75,000 as exemplary damages. In addition, We impose moral damages in the amount of PhP75,000. Finally, interest at the rate of 6% per annum is imposed on all the monetary awards for damages to be reckoned from the date of finality of this judgment until fully paid.
WHEREFORE, the instant appeal is DISMISSED. The Court of Appeals Decision in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 06259 dated December 11, 2014 which found accused-appellant Nestor Villafria y Bayani GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt in Criminal Case No. 08-264432 for the crime of Murder and sentencing him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua, is AFFIRMED with the following MODIFICATIONS, i.e.,: (a) civil indemnity remains at PhP75,000, however, exemplary damages is increased to PhP75,000 and temperate damages is increased to PhP50,000; (b) moral damages is awarded in the amount of PhP75,000; and (c) interest at the rate of 6% per annum is imposed on all damages to be paid to the heirs of the deceased victim from the date of finality of this judgment until fully paid.
(Jardeleza, J., no part, due to his prior action as Solicitor General; Perlas-Bernabe, J., designated additional Member per Raffle dated June 28, 2017.)
SO ORDERED."
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) WILFREDO V. LAPITANDivision Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Penned by Associate Justice Romeo F. Barza and concurred in by Associate Justices Hakim S. Abdulwahid and Zenaida T. Galapate-Laguilles; rollo, pp. 2-9.
2. CA Rollo, pp. 51-58.
3. G.R. No. 202124, April 15, 2016, 788 SCRA 331.