People v. Jugueta - G.R. No. 202124, April 5, 2016
People v. Jugueta - G.R. No. 202124, April 5, 2016
People v. Jugueta - G.R. No. 202124, April 5, 2016
DECISION
PERALTA, J : p
This resolves the appeal from the Decision 1 of the Court of Appeals
(CA) dated January 30, 2012 in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 03252. The CA affirmed
the judgments of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 61, Gumaca,
Quezon, finding accused-appellant Ireneo Jugueta y Flores guilty beyond
reasonable doubt of Double Murder in Criminal Case No. 7698-G and Multiple
Attempted Murder in Criminal Case No. 7702-G.
In Criminal Case No. 7698-G, appellant was charged with Double
Murder, defined and penalized under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code,
allegedly committed as follows:
That on or about the 6th day of June 2002, at about 9:00 o'clock
in the evening, at Barangay Caridad Ilaya, Municipality of Atimonan,
Province of Quezon, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this
Honorable Court, the above-named accused, armed with a caliber .22
firearm, with intent to kill, qualified by treachery and evident
premeditation, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously
attack, assault and shoot with said firearm Mary Grace Divina, a
minor, 13 years old, who suffered the following:
"Gunshot wound —
Point of Entry — lower abdomen, right, 2 cm. from
the midline and 6 cm. from the level of the umbilicus,
directed upward toward the left upper abdomen."
and Claudine Divina, a minor, 3 1/2 years of age, who suffered the
following:
"Gunshot wound —
Point of Entry — 9th ICS along the mid-axillary line,
right, 1 cm. diameter SDHTEC
SO ORDERED. 11
On the other hand, the dispositive portion of the trial court's judgment
in Criminal Case No. 7702-G, reads:
WHEREFORE and in view of all the foregoing, the Court finds
accused Ireneo Jugueta guilty beyond reasonable doubt for Multiple
Attempted Murder defined and penalized under Article 248 in relation
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to Article 51 of the Revised Penal Code and is hereby sentenced to
suffer the penalty of FOUR (4) YEARS and TWO (2) MONTHS of Prision
Correccional as minimum to EIGHT (8) YEARS and ONE (1) DAY of
Prision Mayor as maximum for each of the offended parties; Norberto
Divina, Maricel Divina, Elizabeth Divina and Judy Ann Divina. Further,
accused is ordered to pay for the costs of the suit.
SO ORDERED. 12
Furthermore, the Court notes that both the trial court and the CA failed
to take into account dwelling as an ordinary, aggravating circumstance,
despite the fact that the Informations in Criminal Case Nos. 7698-G and
7702-G contain sufficient allegations to that effect, to wit:
Criminal Case No. 7698-G for Double Murder:
That the crime was committed in the dwelling of the offended
party who had not given provocation for the attack and the accused
took advantage of nighttime to facilitate the commission of the
offense. 37
Criminal Case No. 7702-G for Multiple Attempted Murder:
. . . the above-named accused, conspiring and confederating
together and mutually helping one another, armed with short
firearms of undetermined calibres, with intent to kill, qualified by
treachery, with evident premeditation and abuse of superior strength,
did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault,
and shoot with the said firearms the house occupied by the family of
Norberto Divina, thereby commencing the commission of the crime of
Murder, directly by overt acts, but did not perform all the acts of
execution which would have produced it by reason of some cause or
accident other than the spontaneous desistance of the accused . . . 38
In People v. Agcanas , 39 the Court stressed that "[i]t has been held in a
long line of cases that dwelling is aggravating because of the sanctity of
privacy which the law accords to human abode. He who goes to another's
house to hurt him or do him wrong is more guilty than he who offends him
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elsewhere." Dwelling aggravates a felony where the crime is committed in
the dwelling of the offended party provided that the latter has not given
provocation therefor. 40 The testimony of Norberto established the fact that
the group of appellant violated the victims' home by destroying the same
and attacking his entire family therein, without provocation on the part of
the latter. Hence, the trial court should have appreciated dwelling as an
ordinary aggravating circumstance.
In view of the attendant ordinary aggravating circumstance, the Court
must modify the penalties imposed on appellant. Murder is punishable by
reclusion perpetua to death, thus, with an ordinary aggravating
circumstance of dwelling, the imposable penalty is death for each of two (2)
counts of murder. 41 However, pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 9346,
proscribing the imposition of the death penalty, the penalty to be imposed
on appellant should be reclusion perpetua for each of the two (2) counts of
murder without eligibility for parole. With regard to the four (4) counts of
attempted murder, the penalty prescribed for each count is prision mayor.
With one ordinary aggravating circumstance, the penalty should be imposed
in its maximum period. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the
maximum penalty should be from ten (10) years and one (1) day to twelve
(12) years of prision mayor, while the minimum shall be taken from the
penalty next lower in degree, i.e., prision correccional, in any of its periods,
or anywhere from six (6) months and one (1) day to six (6) years. This Court
finds it apt to impose on appellant the indeterminate penalty of four (4)
years, two (2) months and one (1) day of prision correccional, as minimum,
to ten (10) years and one (1) day of prision mayor, as minimum, for each of
the four (4) counts of attempted murder.
Anent the award of damages, the Court deems it proper to address the
matter in detail as regards criminal cases where the imposable penalty is
reclusion perpetua to death. Generally, in these types of criminal cases,
there are three kinds of damages awarded by the Court; namely: civil
indemnity, moral, and exemplary damages. Likewise, actual damages may
be awarded or temperate damages in some instances.
First, civil indemnity ex delicto is the indemnity authorized in our
criminal law for the offended party, in the amount authorized by the
prevailing judicial policy and apart from other proven actual damages, which
itself is equivalent to actual or compensatory damages in civil law. 42 This
award stems from Article 100 of the RPC which states, "Every person
criminally liable for a felony is also civilly liable."
It is to be noted that civil indemnity is, technically, not a penalty or a
fine; hence, it can be increased by the Court when appropriate. 43 Article
2206 of the Civil Code provides:
Art. 2206. The amount of damages for death caused by a
crime or quasi-delict shall be at least three thousand pesos, even
though there may have been mitigating circumstances. In addition:
(1) The defendant shall be liable for the loss of
the earning capacity of the deceased, and the indemnity
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shall be paid to the heirs of the latter; such indemnity
shall in every case be assessed and awarded by the
court, unless the deceased on account of permanent
physical disability not caused by the defendant, had no
earning capacity at the time of his death;
(2) If the deceased was obliged to give support
according to the provisions of Article 291, the recipient
who is not an heir called to the decedent's inheritance by
the law of testate or intestate succession, may demand
support from the person causing the death, for a period
not exceeding five years, the exact duration to be fixed
by the court;ASEcHI
In other crimes that resulted in the death of a victim and the penalty
consists of divisible penalties, like homicide, death under tumultuous affray,
reckless imprudence resulting to homicide, the civil indemnity awarded to
the heirs of the victim shall be P50,000.00 and P50,000.00 moral damages
without exemplary damages being awarded. However, an award of
P50,000.00 exemplary damages in a crime of homicide shall be added if
there is an aggravating circumstance present that has been proven but not
alleged in the information.
Aside from those discussed earlier, the Court also awards temperate
damages in certain cases. The award of P25,000.00 as temperate damages
in homicide or murder cases is proper when no evidence of burial and
funeral expenses is presented in the trial court. 104 Under Article 2224 of the
Civil Code, temperate damages may be recovered, as it cannot be denied
that the heirs of the victims suffered pecuniary loss although the exact
amount was not proved. 105 In this case, the Court now increases the amount
to be awarded as temperate damages to P50,000.00.
In the case at bar, the crimes were aggravated by dwelling, and the
murders committed were further made atrocious by the fact of that the
victims are innocent, defenseless minors — one is a mere 3 1/2-year-old
toddler, and the other a 13-year-old girl. The increase in the amount of
awards for damages is befitting to show not only the Court's, but all of
society's outrage over such crimes and wastage of lives.
In summary:
I. For those crimes 106 like, Murder, 107 Parricide, 108 Serious
Intentional Mutilation, 109 Infanticide, 110 and other crimes involving death of
a victim where the penalty consists of indivisible penalties:
1.1 Where the penalty imposed is death but reduced to reclusion
perpetua because of RA 9346:
a. Civil indemnity — P100,000.00
b. Moral damages — P100,000.00
c. Exemplary damages — P100,000.00
Lastly, this Court echoes the concern of the trial court regarding the
dismissal of the charges against Gilberto Estores and Roger San Miguel who
had been identified by Norberto Divina as the companions of appellant on
the night the shooting occurred. Norberto had been very straightforward and
unwavering in his identification of Estores and San Miguel as the two other
people who fired the gunshots at his family. More significantly, as noted by
the prosecutor, the testimonies of Estores and San Miguel, who insisted they
were not at the crime scene, tended to conflict with the sworn statement of
Danilo Fajarillo, which was the basis for the Provincial Prosecutor's ruling
that he finds no probable cause against the two. Danilo Fajarillo's sworn
statement said that on June 6, 2002, he saw appellant with a certain
"Hapon" and Gilbert Estores at the crime scene, but it was only appellant
who was carrying a firearm and the two other people with him had no
participation in the shooting incident. Said circumstances bolster the
credibility of Norberto Divina's testimony that Estores and San Miguel may
have been involved in the killing of his two young daughters.
After all, such reinvestigation would not subject Estores and San Miguel
to double jeopardy because the same only attaches if the following
requisites are present: (1) a first jeopardy has attached before the second;
(2) the first jeopardy has been validly terminated; and (3) a second jeopardy
is for the same offense as in the first. In turn, a first jeopardy attaches only
(a) after a valid indictment; (b) before a competent court; (c) after
arraignment; (d) when a valid plea has been entered; and (e) when the
accused has been acquitted or convicted, or the case dismissed or otherwise
terminated without his express consent. 133 In this case, the case against
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Estores and San Miguel was dismissed before they were arraigned. Thus,
there can be no double jeopardy to speak of. Let true justice be served by
reinvestigating the real participation, if any, of Estores and San Miguel in the
killing of Mary Grace and Claudine Divina.
WHEREFORE, the instant appeal is DISMISSED. The Decision of the
Court of Appeals dated January 30, 2012 in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 03252 is
AFFIRMED with the following MODIFICATIONS:
(1) In Criminal Case No. 7698-G, the Court finds accused-appellant
Ireneo Jugueta GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of two (2) counts of the
crime of murder defined under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code,
attended by the aggravating circumstance of dwelling, and hereby
sentences him to suffer two (2) terms of reclusion perpetua without eligibility
for parole under R.A. 9346. He is ORDERED to PAY the heirs of Mary Grace
Divina and Claudine Divina the following amounts for each of the two
victims: (a) P100,000.00 as civil indemnity; (b) P100,000.00 as moral
damages; (c) P100,000.00 as exemplary damages; and (d) P50,000.00 as
temperate damages.
(2) In Criminal Case No. 7702-G, the Court finds accused-appellant
Ireneo Jugueta GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of four (4) counts of the
crime of attempted murder defined and penalized under Article 248 in
relation to Article 51 of the Revised Penal Code, attended by the aggravating
circumstance of dwelling, and sentences him to suffer the indeterminate
penalty of four (4) years, two (2) months and one (1) day of prision
correccional, as minimum, to ten (10) years and one (1) day ofprision
mayor, as maximum, for each of the four (4) counts of attempted murder. He
i s ORDERED to PAY moral damages in the amount of P50,000.00, civil
indemnity of P50,000.00 and exemplary damages of P50,000.00 to each of
the four victims, namely, Norberto Divina, Maricel Divina, Elizabeth Divina
and Judy Ann Divina. cHECAS
** No part.
1. Penned by Associate Justice Jane Aurora T. Lantion, with Associate Justices Isaias
P. Dicdican and Rodil V. Zalameda, concurring; rollo, pp. 2-21.
2. Record, Vol. 1, pp. 2-3.
10. TSN's, February 10, 2005, April 7, 2005, February 15, 2006, August 3, 2006,
September 6, 2006 and June 7, 2006.
11. Record, Vol. I, pp. 293-294.
12. Record, Vol. II, p. 131.
20. Art. 248. Murder. — Any person who, not falling within the provisions of Article
246 shall kill another, shall be guilty of murder and shall be punished by
reclusion temporal in its maximum period to death, if committed with any of
the following attendant circumstances:
41. Revised Penal Code, Art. 63, par. (1), provides, in part, that when the penalty
consists of two (2) indivisible penalties and is attended by one or more
aggravating circumstances, the greater penalty shall be applied, and in this
case, the death penalty shall be imposed.
42. People v. Combate , 653 Phil. 487, 504 (2010), citing People v. Victor , 354 Phil.
195, 209 (1998).
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43. Corpuz v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 180016, April 29, 2014, 724 SCRA
1, 57.
The spouse, descendants, ascendants, and brother and sisters may bring the
action mentioned in No. 9 of this article, in the order named.
47. Art. 2220. Willful injury to property may be a legal ground for awarding moral
damages if the court should find that, under the circumstances, such
damages are justly due. The same rule applies to breaches of contract where
the defendant acted fraudulently or in bad faith.
48. Bagumbayan Corp. v. Intermediate Appellate Court, No. L-66274, September
30, 1984, 132 SCRA 441, 446.
49. 6A C.J.S. Assault § 68.
50. G.R. No. 160709, February 23, 2005, 452 SCRA 285, 296.
51. Art. 2220. Willful injury to property may be a legal ground for awarding moral
damages if the court should find that, under the circumstances, such
damages are justly due. The same rule applies to breaches of contract where
the defendant acted fraudulently or in bad faith.
52. Lito Corpuz v. People of the Philippines, supra note 43, at 59.
53. People v. Dalisay , 620 Phil. 831, 844 (2009), citing People v. Catubig , 416 Phil.
102, 119 (2001), citing American Cent. Corp. v. Stevens Van Lines, Inc. , 103
Mich App 507, 303 NW2d 234; Morris v. Duncan , 126 Ga 467, 54 SE 1045;
Faircloth v. Greiner, 174 Ga app 845, 332 SE 2d 905; §731, 22 Am Jur 2d, p.
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784; American Surety Co. v. Gold, 375 F 2d 523, 20 ALR 3d 335; Erwin v.
Michigan, 188 Ark 658, 67 SW 2d 592.
54. §762, 22 Am Jur 2d, pp. 817-818.
55. §733, 22 Am Jur 2d, p. 785; Symposium: Punitive Damages, 56 So Cal LR 1,
November 1982.
56. People v. Catubig , supra note 53, at 119-120.
64. People v. Gambao , G.R. No. 172707, October 1, 2013, 706 SCRA 508, 533-534.
65. People v. Combate , supra note 41, at 509.
66. Art. 122. Piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas or in Philippine waters.
— The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be inflicted upon any person who,
on the high seas, or in Philippine waters, shall attack or seize a vessel or, not
being a member of its complement nor a passenger, shall seize the whole or
part of the cargo of said vessel, its equipment or passengers. The same
penalty shall be inflicted in case of mutiny on the high seas or in Philippine
waters.
67. Id.
68. Art. 335. When and how rape is committed. — Rape is committed by having
carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances:
69. Art. 123. Qualified piracy. — The penalty of reclusion perpetua to death shall be
imposed upon those who commit any of the crimes referred to in the
preceding article, under any of the following circumstances:
1. Whenever they have seized a vessel by boarding or firing upon the same;
2. Whenever the pirates have abandoned their victims without means of
saving themselves or;
3. Whenever the crime is accompanied by murder, homicide, physical injuries
or rape.
70. Art. 211-A. Qualified Bribery. — If any public officer is entrusted with law
enforcement and he refrains from arresting or prosecuting an offender who
has committed a crime punishable by reclusion perpetua and/or death in
consideration of any offer, promise, gift or present, he shall suffer the penalty
for the offense which was not prosecuted. . . .
71. Art. 246. Parricide. — Any person who shall kill his father, mother, or child,
whether legitimate or illegitimate, or any of his ascendants, or descendants,
or his spouse, shall be guilty of parricide and shall be punished by the
penalty of reclusion perpetua to death.
72. Art. 248. Murder. — Any person who, not falling within the provisions of Article
246 shall kill another, shall be guilty of murder and shall be punished by
reclusion perpetua, to death if committed with any of the following attendant
circumstances:
1. With treachery, taking advantage of superior strength, with the aid of
armed men, or employing means to weaken the defense or of means or
persons to insure or afford impunity.
2. In consideration of a price, reward or promise.
3. By means of inundation, fire, poison, explosion, shipwreck, stranding of a
vessel, derailment or assault upon a railroad, fall of an airship, or by means
of motor vehicles, or with the use of any other means involving great waste
and ruin.
75. Art. 294. Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons — Penalties.
— Any person guilty of robbery with the use of violence against or
intimidation of any person shall suffer:
1. The penalty of reclusion perpetua to death, when by reason or on occasion
of the robbery, the crime of homicide shall have been committed, or when
the robbery shall have been accompanied by rape or intentional mutilation or
arson.
xxx xxx xxx.
76. Art. 320. Destructive Arson. — The penalty of reclusion perpetua to death shall
be imposed upon any person who shall burn:
1. One (1) or more buildings or edifices, consequent to one single act of
burning, or as a result of simultaneous burnings, committed on several or
different occasions.
The penalty of reclusion perpetua to death shall also be imposed upon any
person who shall burn:
1. Any arsenal, shipyard, storehouse or military powder or fireworks factory,
ordnance, storehouse, archives or general museum of the Government.
2. In an inhabited place, any storehouse or factory of inflammable or
explosive materials.
xxx xxx xxx
77. Republic Act No. 7080 (1991), Sec. 2. Definition of the Crime of Plunder;
Penalties. — Any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with
members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business
associates, subordinates or other persons, amasses, accumulates or acquires
ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt criminal acts as
described in Section 1 (d) hereof in the aggregate amount or total value of at
least Fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00) shall be guilty of the crime of
plunder and shall be punished by reclusion perpetua to death. Any person
who participated with the said public officer in the commission of an offense
contributing to the crime of plunder shall likewise be punished for such
offense. In the imposition of penalties, the degree of participation and the
attendance of mitigating and extenuating circumstances, as provided by the
Revised Penal Code, shall be considered by the court. The court shall declare
any and all ill-gotten wealth and their interests and other incomes and assets
including the properties and shares of stocks derived from the deposit or
investment thereof forfeited in favor of the State.
78. Republic Act No. 6539 (1972), Sec. 14. Penalty for Carnapping. — Any person
who is found guilty of carnapping, as this term is defined in Section Two of
this Act, shall, irrespective of the value of motor vehicle taken, be punished
by . . . the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death shall be imposed when the
owner, driver or occupant of the carnapped motor vehicle is killed or raped in
the course of the commission of the carnapping or on the occasion thereof.
79. RA 9346, Sec. 2.
80. 532 Phil. 368, 385 (2006).
81. 532 Phil. 414, 428 (2006).
105. Id., citing People v. Surongon , 554 Phil. 448, 458 (2007).
106. Article 255, RTC.
107. Article 248, RTC.
108. Article 246, RTC.
114. Id.
115. Id.
116. Id.
117. Art. 266-A, RPC as amended by RA 8353.
127. If the crime of infanticide in Art. 255 of the RPC was committed by the mother
of the child or by the maternal grandparent/s in order to conceal her
dishonor, the penalties against them are divisible, i.e., prision mayor in its
medium and maximum periods, and reclusion temporal, respectively.
132. See Dario Nacar v. Gallery Frames and/or Felipe Bordey, Jr., G.R. No. 189871,
August 13, 2013, 703 SCRA 439, 459.
133. Quiambao v. People, G.R. No. 185267, September 17, 2014, 735 SCRA 345,
356-357.
n Note from the Publisher: Copied verbatim from the official document.
P100,0000.00 should read as P100,000.00.