ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | June 15, 2024
Dear Chief Acosta,
Biktima ang aking anak ng panggagahasa. Nakakulong ang akusado at kasalukuyang nakabinbin ang kanyang apela. Ngunit bago pa man magkaroon ng pinal na paghatol, ipinaalam ng kanyang abogado na namatay na diumano ang akusado. Ano ang mangyayari sa kaso? – Ling
Dear Ling,
Sa ilalim ng umiiral na batas at hurisprudensiya, ang pagkamatay ng akusado bago ang pinal na paghatol ng korte ay magreresulta sa pagtatapos o terminasyon ng kasong kriminal laban sa kanya. Ito ay sang-ayon sa Artikulo 89 (1) ng Revised Penal Code of the Philippines na nagtatakda na ang pananagutang kriminal ay ganap na naaalis kasabay ng pagkamatay ng akusado:
“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.”
Gayundin, sa kasong People of the Philippines vs. Ariel Layag (G.R. No. 214875, 17 October 2016), sa pamamagitan ni Kagalang-galang na Kasamang Mahistrado Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, lubusang ipinaliwanag ng ating Korte Suprema ang mga epekto ng pagkamatay ng isang akusado, habang nakabinbin ang kanyang apela, sa kanyang mga pananagutan:
“From this lengthy disquisition, we summarize our ruling herein:
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 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 or the estate of the accused, depending on the source of obligation upon which the same is based as explained above.
4. Finally, the private offended party need not fear a forfeiture of his right to file this separate civil action by prescription, in cases where during the prosecution of the criminal action and prior to its extinction, the private-offended party instituted together therewith the civil action. In such case, the statute of limitations on the civil liability is deemed interrupted during the pendency of the criminal case, conformably with provisions of Article 1155 of the Civil Code, that should thereby avoid any apprehension on a possible privation of right by prescription.”
Matatapos ang kriminal na pananagutan at ang anumang sibil na aksyon na nagmula rito, kung sakaling pumanaw ang akusado habang nakabinbin ang kanyang apela. Gayunpaman, mainam na linawin na maaaring magkaroon ng batayan sa ibang obligasyon, maliban sa krimen, ang sibil na pananagutan ng akusado. Sa gayong sitwasyon, maaaring maghain ang biktima ng hiwalay na aksyong sibil laban sa ari-arian ng akusado, kung mayroon man, alinsunod sa batas at mga alituntunin.
Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.
Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.
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