330 Phil. 909
FRANCISCO, J.:
"WHEREFORE, for failure to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, the Court hereby ACQUITS accused Attys. Loreto Durano, Jesus P. Garcia and Samuel Nunez from the crime as (sic) charged.Petitioner appealed the civil aspect of the MTC decision to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Cebu City which took a diametrically opposite view and in its judgment of August 16, 1993, ordered as follows:
"The Court likewise finds no merit to (sic) the allegations of damages against (sic) accused.
"SO ORDERED."[5]
"WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the private-complainant-appellant and against accused-appellees Samuel Nuñez, Loreto Durano and Jesus Garcia in their official capacity as VECO legal officers, ordering the latte (sic) three jointly and severally to pay the former the sum of P5,000 as MORAL DAMAGES; P2,000 as EXEMPLARY DAMAGES; and P3,000.00 ACTUAL DAMAGES." (DECISION dated August 16, 1993; portion only; in Civil Case CEB-11979 by Branch 10, RTC of Cebu)."[6]On motion for reconsideration by the accused attorneys, the RTC absolved Atty. Loreto Durano from civil liability. On the other hand, private respondents Attorneys Garcia, Sr., and Nuñez appealed to the respondent Court of Appeals which reversed the decision of the RTC.[7] Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration[8] was likewise denied;[9] hence, this petition anchored solely on the alleged error of respondent court in absolving private respondents from the civil liability.
"Art. 29. When the accused in a criminal prosecution is acquitted on the ground that his guilt has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt, a civil action for damages for the same act or omission may be instituted. Such action requires only a preponderance of evidence. Upon motion of the defendant, the court may require the plaintiff to file a bond to answer for damages in case the complaint should be found to be malicious.Acquittal on the ground of reasonable doubt does not necessarily result to an award of civil liability to the offended party. The civil liability has to be proved by preponderance of evidence either in the civil action contemplated by Article 29, or in the same criminal action where the civil action is deemed impliedly instituted.[10] In this regard, settled is the rule that the judgment of acquittal extinguishes the civil liability of the accused for damages only when it includes a declaration that the fact from which the civil liability might arise did not exist.[11] This is buttressed by Rule 111, Section 2 (b) of the Rules of Court which states that "[e]xtinction of the penal action does not carry with it extinction of the civil, unless the extinction proceeds from a declaration in a final judgment that the fact from which the civil might arise did not exist". And in this case, the MTC made the following declaration:
"If in a criminal case the judgment of acquittal is based upon reasonable doubt, the court shall so declare. In the absence of any declaration to that effect, it may be inferred from the text of the decision whether or not the acquittal is due to that ground."
"The Court is not swayed into believing that accused conspired with respondents Felipe Constantino, Ronald Arcilla, Demetrio Balicha and Norberto Abellana by issuing orders to fabricate and plant evidence against complainant on that fateful day of May 11, 1989. No mention by witnesses was ever shown that accused participated in the act either by showing that there exists some agreement concerning the commission of the crime and a decision to commit it or that there was a meeting of the minds of the accused to perform the act and all were animated by the same purpose.Clearly, the above-quoted findings decreed in no unmistakable terms that private respondents had no part in the alleged tilting of the petitioner’s electric meter. These are not only virtual declarations of the private respondents’ innocence of the crime charged, but also of the non-existence of their civil liability. In consequence, we find no reversible error committed by the Court of Appeals.
"The Court chose not to further delve into the merits of the alleged damaged (sic) suffered by complainant when he was preferred (sic) the amount of P31,482.89 for energy consumption estimated at the time of the alleged tilting of the electric meter (sic) as the responsibility thereof if any could not be laid on the shoulders of (sic) accused who by evidence convincingly showed that they did not conspire nor issued orders to the VECO employees in fabricating or plainting (sic) evidence."x x x x x x x x x
"WHEREFORE, for failure to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, the Court hereby ACQUITS accused Attys. Loreto Durano, Jesus P. Garcia and Samuel Nuñez from the crime as charged.
"The Court likewise finds no merit to (sic) the allegations of damages against accused.
"SO ORDERED."[12]