FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 259619. July 20, 2022.]
DIVINO M. SIOCO, petitioner,vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
NOTICE
Sirs/Mesdames :
Please take notice that the Court, First Division, issued a Resolution datedJuly 20, 2022, which reads as follows:
"G.R. No. 259619 (Divino M. Sioco v. People of the Philippines). — The petitioner's motion for an extension of thirty (30) days within which to file a petition for review on certiorari is GRANTED, counted from the expiration of the reglementary period.
The Court resolves to DENY the Petition for Review on Certiorari for being filed out of time and for failure to sufficiently show any reversible error in the assailed judgment as to warrant the exercise of this Court's discretionary appellate jurisdiction pursuant to Section 6, Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, in relation to Section 5, Rule 45 and Section 5 (b), Rule 56 of the Rules of Court.
The penalty and monetary award imposed by the Court of Appeals should, however, be modified. Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9262 provides the penalty for a violation of Section 5 (i), as follows:
SECTION 6. Penalties. — The crime of violence against women and their children, under Section 5 hereof shall be punished according to the following rules:
xxx xxx xxx
(f) Acts falling under Section 5(h) and Section 5(i) shall be punished by prision mayor.
If the acts are committed while the woman or child is pregnant or committed in the presence of her child, the penalty to be applied shall be the maximum period of penalty prescribed in the section.
In addition to imprisonment, the perpetrator shall (a) pay a fine in the amount of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) but not more than three hundred thousand pesos (P300,000.00); (b) undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment and shall report compliance to the court. 1
In view of the aforementioned provision, and pursuant to the Indeterminate Sentence Law, there being no aggravating or mitigating circumstance present, petitioner should suffer the penalty of imprisonment of two (2) years and four (4) months of prision correccional, as minimum, to eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor, as maximum, and should pay a fine of P100,000.00, which should be subject to legal interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the finality of this Resolution until full payment. 2 In addition, petitioner shall be directed to undergo mandatory psychological counselling or psychiatric treatment. 3 Moreover, the award for moral damages should be deleted as there was no sufficient basis for such award.
WHEREFORE, the Petition for Review on Certiorari is DENIED. The Decision dated December 9, 2020 and Resolution dated December 21, 2021 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 43586 are hereby AFFIRMED with MODIFICATIONS:
1. Petitioner Divino M. Sioco is found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 5 (i) of Republic Act No. 9262 and is sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of imprisonment for two (2) years and four (4) months of prision correccional, as minimum, to eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor, as maximum;
2. He is ORDERED to PAY a fine of P100,000.00, which shall be subject to legal interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the finality of this Resolution until full payment;
3. He is DIRECTED to undergo mandatory psychological counselling or psychiatric treatment and to report compliance with the Regional Trial Court of Las Piñas City, Branch 199, within fifteen (15) days from completion; and
4. The award of moral damages in the amount of P50,000.00 is deleted.
The letter dated March 3, 2022 of Atty. Domingo T. Alberto, Jr., counsel for petitioner, submitting the thereto attached annexes forming integral parts of the petition for review on certiorari, is NOTED.
SO ORDERED."
By authority of the Court:
(SGD.) LIBRADA C. BUENADivision Clerk of Court
by:
MARIA TERESA B. SIBULODeputy Division Clerk of Court
Footnotes
1. Republic Act No. 9262, Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, Section 5 (i).
2. 716 Phil. 267, 282-283 (2013).
3. ZZZ v. AAA, G.R. No. 222632 (Notice), June 30, 2021.