888 Phil. 212
PERLAS-BERNABE, J.:
WHEREFORE, the Court ADOPTS the findings of fact and conclusions of law in the November 29, 2016 Decision of the CA in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 073Y1 and AFFIRMS said Decision finding accused-appellant Antonio "Pay Tonyo" Corrobella GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of three (1) counts of Statutory Rape, as defined and penalized under Article 266-A, paragraph 1 (d) of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Section 5 (a) of Republic Act No. 8369 and Republic Act No. 8353. Accordingly, he is sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and ordered to pay AAA[3] the following amounts for each count: (a) P75,000.00 as civil indemnity; (b) P75,000.00 as moral damages; and (c) P75,000.00 as exemplary damages, with legal interest at the rate of 6% per annum on all amounts due from the date of the finality of this Resolution until full payment.Aggrieved, on February 22, 2018, accused-appellant filed a motion for reconsideration (MR). Subsequently, in a Resolution[4] dated June 25, 2018, the Court required the Office of the Solicitor General to file its comment on the MR, which he complied with on October 10, 2018. Pending resolution of the MR, the Court received a Letter[5] dated January 16, 2020 from the Bureau of Corrections notifying Us of the death of accused-appellant on January 14, 2020, as evidenced by the Notice of Death[6] attached thereto.
Article 89. How criminal liability is totally extinguished. - Criminal liability is totally extinguished:In People v. Layag,[7] the Court thoroughly explained the effects of the death of an accused pending appeal on his liabilities, as follows:x x x x
- By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefore is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment;
From this lengthy disquisition, we summarize our ruling herein:Thus, upon accused-appellant's death pending appeal of his conviction, the criminal action is extinguished inasmuch as there is no longer a defendant to stand as the accused; the civil action instituted therein for the recovery of the civil liability ex delicto is ipso facto extinguished, grounded as it is on the criminal action. However, it is well to clarify that accused-appellant's civil liability in connection with his acts against the victim, AAA, may be based on sources other than delicts; in which case, AAA may file a separate civil action against the estate of accused-appellant, as may be warranted by law and procedural rules.[9]
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) Law3. 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.
b) Contracts
c) Quasi-contracts
d) x x x
e) Quasi-delicts
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 [the] provisions of Article 1155 of the Civil Code, that should thereby avoid any apprehension on a possible privation of right by prescription.[8]