7.-Basilonia v. Villaruz
7.-Basilonia v. Villaruz
DECISION
PERALTA, J : p
The lone issue for resolution in this petition for certiorari under Rule 65
of the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules) with prayer for the
issuance of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order is the
applicability of Section 6, Rule 39 of the Rules in criminal cases. Specifically,
does a trial court have jurisdiction to grant a motion for execution which was
filed almost twenty (20) years after the date of entry of judgment? In his
Orders dated December 3, 2009 1 and January 4, 2010, 2 respondent Judge
Delano F. Villaruz of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Roxas City, Branch 16, held
in the affirmative. 3 We sustain in part.
The Facts
On June 19, 1987, a Decision 4 was promulgated against petitioners in
Criminal Case Nos. 1773, 1774 and 1775, the dispositive portion of which
states:
WHEREFORE, and in view of the foregoing considerations, this
court finds the [accused] Rodolfo Basilonia, Leodegario Catalan, and
John "Jojo" Basilonia, GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT, as
principals in Criminal Case No. 1773 for the murder of Atty. Isagani
Roblete on September 15, 1983 in Roxas City, Philippines, defined under
Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, without any
aggravating or mitigating circumstance, and sentences the said
[accused] to suffer an indeterminate sentence of 12 years, 1 month and
1 day of reclusion temporal as minimum, to 20 years, and 1 day of
reclusion temporal as maximum, and the accessory penalties thereto;
to pay and [indemnify], jointly and severally, the heirs of the deceased
Atty. Isagani Roblete the sum of P32,100.00 representing funeral
expenses, tomb, burial, and expenses for wake; the sum of P30,000.00
as indemnity for the death of Atty. Isagani Roblete; the amount of lost
income cannot be determined as the net income of the deceased
cannot be ascertained; and to pay the costs of suit. [Accused] Vicente
Catalan and Jory Catalan are ACQUITTED for lack of evidence. CAIHTE
In Criminal Case No. 1775 for Frustrated Murder, this court finds
the accused John "Jojo" Basilonia GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT
of the crime of Frustrated Homicide, as principal, committed against the
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person of Rene Gonzales on September 15, 1983, defined under Article
249, in relation to Articles 6 and 50 of the Revised Penal Code and
sentences the said accused to suffer an indeterminate sentence of 2
years, 4 months and 1 day of prision [correccional] as minimum, to 6
years, and 1 day of prision mayor as maximum; and to pay the costs.
[Accused] Rodolfo Basilonia, Leodegario Catalan, Vicente Catalan and
Jory Catalan are ACQUITTED for lack of evidence.
In Criminal Case No. 1774 for Illegal Possession of Firearm, all
[accused] are ACQUITTED for insufficiency of evidence.
SO ORDERED. 5
Petitioners filed a Notice of Appeal on July 30, 1987, which the trial court
granted on August 3, 1987. 6
On January 23, 1989, the Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed the appeal for
failure of petitioners to file their brief despite extensions of time given. 7 The
Resolution was entered in the Book of Entries of Judgment on September 18,
1989. 8 Thereafter, the entire case records were remanded to the trial court on
October 4, 1989. 9
Almost two decades passed from the entry of judgment, on May 11,
2009, private respondent Dixon C. Roblete, claiming to be the son of the
deceased victim, Atty. Roblete, filed a Motion for Execution of Judgment. 10 He
alleged, among others, that despite his request to the City Prosecutor to file a
motion for execution, the judgment has not been enforced because said
prosecutor has not acted upon his request.
Pursuant to the trial court's directive, the Assistant City Prosecutor filed
on May 22, 2009 an Omnibus Motion for Execution of Judgment and Issuance
of Warrant of Arrest. 11
On July 24, 2009, petitioners filed before the CA a Petition for Relief of
Judgment praying to set aside the June 19, 1987 trial court Decision and the
January 23, 1989 CA Resolution. 12 Further, on September 1, 2009, they filed
before the trial court a Manifestation and Supplemental Opposition to private
respondent Roblete's motion. 13
The trial court granted the motion for execution on December 3, 2009
and ordered the bondsmen to surrender petitioners within ten (10) days from
notice of the Order. The motion for reconsideration 14 filed by petitioners was
denied on January 4, 2010.
Due to petitioners' failure to appear in court after the expiration of the
period granted to their bondsmen, the bail for their provisional liberty was
ordered forfeited on January 25, 2010. 15 On even date, the sheriff issued the
writ of execution. 16
The Court's Ruling
The determination of whether respondent trial court committed grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in granting a
motion for execution which was filed almost twenty (20) years after a
judgment in a criminal case became final and executory necessarily calls for
the resolution of the twin issues of whether the penalty of imprisonment
already prescribed and the civil liability arising from the crime already
extinguished. In both issues, petitioners vehemently assert that respondent
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trial court has no more jurisdiction to order the execution of judgment on the
basis of Section 6, Rule 39 of the Rules.
We consider the issues separately.
Prescription of Penalty
With respect to the penalty of imprisonment, Act No. 3815, or the
Revised Penal Code (RPC) 17 governs. Articles 92 and 93 of which provide:
ARTICLE 92. When and How Penalties Prescribe. — The penalties
imposed by final sentence prescribe as follows:
1. Death and reclusión perpetua, in twenty years;
2. Other afflictive penalties, in fifteen years;
3. Correctional penalties, in ten years; with the exception of the
penalty of arresto mayor, which prescribes in five years;
4. Light penalties, in one year.
ARTICLE 93. Computation of the Prescription of Penalties . — The
period of prescription of penalties shall commence to run from the date
when the culprit should evade the service of his sentence, and it shall be
interrupted if the defendant should give himself up, be captured, should
go to some foreign country with which this Government has no
extradition treaty, or should commit another crime before the expiration
of the period of prescription.
As early as 1952, in Infante v. Provincial Warden of Negros Occidental ,
18 the Court already opined that evasion of service of sentence is an essential
element of prescription of penalties. Later, Tanega v. Masakayan, et al. 19
expounded on the rule that the culprit should escape during the term of
imprisonment in order for prescription of penalty imposed by final sentence to
commence to run, thus:
. . . The period of prescription of penalties — so the succeeding Article
93 provides — "shall commence to run from the date when the culprit
should evade the service of his sentence."
What then is the concept of evasion of service of sentence?
Article 157 of the Revised Penal Code furnishes the ready answer. Says
Article 157:
ART. 157. Evasion of service of sentence. — The
penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum
periods shall be imposed upon any convict who shall evade
service of his sentence by escaping during the term of his
imprisonment by reason of final judgment. However, if such
evasion or escape shall have taken place by means of
unlawful entry, by breaking doors, windows, gates, walls,
roofs, or floors, or by using picklocks, false keys, disguise,
deceit, violence or intimidation, or through connivance with
other convicts or employees of the penal institution, the
penalty shall be prision correccional in its maximum period.
Elements of evasion of service of sentence are: (1)
the offender is a convict by final judgment; (2) he "is serving
his sentence which consists in deprivation of liberty"; and
(3) he evades service of sentence by escaping during the
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term of his sentence. This must be so. For, by the express
terms of the statute, a convict evades "service of his
sentence" by "escaping during the term of his imprisonment
by reason of final judgment." That escape should take place
while serving sentence, is emphasized by the provisions of
the second sentence of Article 157 which provides for a
higher penalty if such "evasion or escape shall have taken
place by means of unlawful entry, by breaking doors,
windows, gates, walls, roofs, or floors, or by using
picklocks, false keys, disguise, deceit, violence or
intimidation, or through connivance with other convicts or
employees of the penal institution, * * *" Indeed, evasion of
sentence is but another expression of the term "jail
breaking."
A dig into legal history confirms the views just expressed. The
Penal Code of Spain of 1870 in its Article 134 — from whence Articles 92
and 93 of the present Revised Penal Code originated — reads:
"Las penas impuestas por sentencia firme prescriben:
Las de muerte y cadena perpetua, a los veinte años.
***
Las leves, al año.
El tiempo de esta prescripcion comenzara a correr
desde el dia en que se notifique personalmente al reo la
sentencia firme, o desde el quebrantamiento de la condena,
si hubiera esta comenzado a cumplirse. * * *"
Note that in the present Article 93 the words "desde el dia en que
se notifique personalmente al reo la sentencia firme", written in the old
code, were deleted. The omission is significant. What remains
reproduced in Article 93 of the Revised Penal Code is solely
"quebrantamiento de la condena". And, "quebrantamiento" or "evasion"
means escape. Reason dictates that one can escape only after he has
started service of sentence. HEITAD
Even under the old law, Viada emphasizes, where the penalty
consists of imprisonment, prescription shall only begin to run when he
escapes from confinement. Says Viada:
"El tiempo de la prescripcion empieza a contarse
desde el dia en que ha tenido lugar la notificacion personal
de la sentencia firme al reo: el Codigo de 1850 no
expresaba que la notificacion hubiese de ser personal, pues
en su art. 126 se consigna que el termino de la prescripcion
se cuenta desde que se notifique la sentencia, causa de la
ejecutoria en que se imponga le pena respectiva. Luego
ausente el reo, ya no podra prescribir hoy la pena, pues que
la notificacion personal no puede ser suplida por la
notificacion hecha en estrados. Dada la imprescindible
necesidad del requisito de la notificacion personal, es obvio
que en las penas que consisten en privacion de libertad solo
podra existir la prescripcion quebrantando el reo la
condena, pues que si no se hallare ya preso
preventivamente, debera siempre procederse a su
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encerramiento en el acto de serle notificada personalmente
la sentencia."
We, therefore, rule that for prescription of penalty of
imprisonment imposed by final sentence to commence to run, the
culprit should escape during the term of such imprisonment. 20
Following Tanega, Del Castillo v. Hon. Torrecampo 21 held that one who
has not been committed to prison cannot be said to have escaped therefrom.
We agree with the position of the Solicitor General that "escape" in legal
parlance and for purposes of Articles 93 and 157 of the RPC means unlawful
departure of prisoner from the limits of his custody.
Of more recent vintage is Our pronouncements in Pangan v. Hon.
Gatbalite, 22 which cited Tanega and Del Castillo, that the prescription of
penalties found in Article 93 of the RPC applies only to those who are
convicted by final judgment and are serving sentence which consists in
deprivation of liberty, and that the period for prescription of penalties begins
only when the convict evades service of sentence by escaping during the term
of his sentence.
Applying existing jurisprudence in this case, the Court, therefore, rules
against petitioners. For the longest time, they were never brought to prison or
placed in confinement despite being sentenced to imprisonment by final
judgment. Prescription of penalty of imprisonment does not run in their favor.
Needless to state, respondent trial court did not commit grave abuse of
discretion in assuming jurisdiction over the motion for execution and in
eventually granting the same.
Extinction of Civil Liability
The treatment of petitioners' civil liability arising from the offense
committed is different.
Elementary is the rule that every person criminally liable for a felony is
also civilly liable. 23 We said in one case:
It bears repeating that "an offense as a general rule causes two
(2) classes of injuries — the first is the social injury produced by the
criminal act which is sought to be repaired thru the imposition of the
corresponding penalty and the second is the personal injury caused to
the victim of the crime which injury is sought to be compensated thru
indemnity, which is civil in nature." (Ramos v. Gonong, 72 SCRA 559). As
early as 1913, this Court in U.S. v. Heery (25 Phil. 600) made it clear
that the civil liability of the accused is not part of the penalty for the
crime committed. It is personal to the victim. . . . . 24
Under Article 112 of the RPC, civil liability established in Articles 100, 25
101, 26 102, 27 and 103 28 of the Code shall be extinguished in the same
manner as other obligations, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil
Law. Since the Civil Code is the governing law, the provisions of the Revised
Rules of Civil Procedure, particularly Section 6, Rule 39 thereof, is applicable.
It states:
Section 6. Execution by motion or by independent action . — A
final and executory judgment or order may be executed on motion
within five (5) years from the date of its entry. After the lapse of such
time, and before it is barred by the statute of limitations, a judgment
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may be enforced by action. The revived judgment may also be enforced
by motion within five (5) years from the date of its entry and thereafter
by action before it is barred by the statute of limitations. (6a)
Section 6, Rule 39 of the Rules must be read in conjunction with Articles
1144 (3) and 1152 of the Civil Code, which provide:
Art. 1144. The following actions must be brought within ten years
from the time the right of action accrues:
xxx xxx xxx
(3) Upon a judgment
Art. 1152. The period for prescription of actions to demand the
fulfillment of obligations declared by a judgment commences from the
time the judgment became final.
Based on the foregoing, there are two (2) modes of enforcing a final and
executory judgment or order: through motion or by independent action.
These two modes of execution are available depending on the
timing when the judgment creditor invoked its right to enforce the
court's judgment. Execution by motion is only available if the
enforcement of the judgment was sought within five (5) years
from the date of its entry. On the other hand, execution by
independent action is mandatory if the five-year prescriptive period for
execution by motion had already elapsed. However, for execution by
independent action to prosper — the Rules impose another limitation —
the action must be filed before it is barred by the statute of limitations
which, under the Civil Code, is ten (10) years from the finality of the
judgment. 29 ATICcS
2. Id. at 78-79.
3. The case was raffled to RTC Branch 16 after the presiding judges of RTC Branches
18 and 15 voluntarily inhibited themselves (Rollo, pp. 71-72).
4. Penned by Presiding Judge Jonas A. Abellar of Roxas City, RTC, Br. 18 (Id. at 23-
49).
9. Id. at 55-56.
10. Id. at 51-52.
11. Id. at 148.
12. Id. at 59, 61-70, 148.
13. Id. at 59-60.
Second. In cases falling within subdivision 4 of article 11, the persons for whose
benefit the harm has been prevented shall be civilly liable in proportion to the
benefit which they may have received.
The courts shall determine, in their sound discretion, the proportionate amount for
which each one shall be liable.
When the respective shares cannot be equitably determined, even approximately,
or when the liability also attaches to the Government, or to the majority of
the inhabitants of the town, and, in all events, whenever the damage has
been caused with the consent of the authorities or their agents,
indemnification shall be made in the manner prescribed by special laws or
regulations.
Third. In cases falling within subdivisions 5 and 6 of article 12, the persons using
violence or causing the fears shall be primarily liable and secondarily, or, if
there be no such persons, those doing the act shall be liable, saving always
to the latter that part of their property exempt from execution.
27. ARTICLE 102. Subsidiary Civil Liability of Innkeepers, Tavernkeepers and
Proprietors of Establishments. — In default of the persons criminally liable,
innkeepers, tavernkeepers, and any other persons or corporations shall be
civilly liable for crimes committed in their establishments, in all cases where a
violation of municipal ordinances or some general or special police regulation
shall have been committed by them or their employees.
Innkeepers are also subsidiarily liable for the restitution of goods taken by robbery
or theft within their houses from guests lodging therein, or for the payment
of the value thereof, provided that such guests shall have notified in advance
the innkeeper himself, or the person representing him, of the deposit of
such goods within the inn; and shall furthermore have followed the
directions which such innkeeper or his representative may have given them
with respect to the care of and vigilance over such goods. No liability shall
attach in case of robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons
unless committed by the innkeeper's employees.
28. ARTICLE 103. Subsidiary Civil Liability of Other Persons . — The subsidiary liability
established in the next preceding article shall also apply to employers,
teachers, persons, and corporations engaged in any kind of industry for
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felonies committed by their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or
employees in the discharge of their duties.
29. Olongapo City v. Subic Water and Sewerage Co., Inc., G.R. No. 171626, August
6, 2014, 732 SCRA 132, 147. (Emphasis in the original)
30. Philippine Reconstruction Corporation, Inc. v. Aparente, 150-A Phil. 570, 575
(1972).
31. Enriquez v. Court of Appeals , 423 Phil. 630, 637 (2001) and Caiña v. Court of
Appeals, G.R. No. 114393, December 15, 1994, 239 SCRA 252, 262.
32. Enriquez v. Court of Appeals , supra, at 636; Caiña v. Court of Appeals , supra, at
262; and Philippine Reconstruction Corporation, Inc. v. Aparente, supra note
30.
33. Sps. O and Cheng v. Sps. Javier and Dailisan, 609 Phil. 434, 442-443 (2009).
34. Olongapo City v. Subic Water and Sewerage Co., Inc. , supra note 29, at 148;
Barrera v. Court of Appeals , 423 Phil. 559, 568-569 (2001); and Ramos v.
Hon. Garciano, etc., et al., 137 Phil. 814, 819 (1969).
40. Rubio v. Alabata, G.R. No. 203947, February 26, 2014, 717 SCRA 554.
41. Zamboanga Barter Traders Kilusang Bayan, Inc. v. Hon. Plagata, et al., 588 Phil.
464 (2008).
42. Olongapo City v. Subic Water and Sewerage Co., Inc., supra note 34, at 148-
149; Zamboanga Barter Traders Kilusang Bayan, Inc. v. Hon. Plagata, et al.,
supra note 37, at 488; Yau v. Silverio, Sr. , supra note 37, at 503; and
Francisco Motors Corp. v. Court of Appeals , supra note 37, at 753.
43. See Villeza v. German Management and Services, Inc., et al., 641 Phil. 544 (2010)
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and Macias v. Lim, 474 Phil. 765 (2004).
44. Sps. O and Cheng v. Sps. Javier and Dailisan, supra note 33, at 443-444.
45. See Estayo v. De Guzman, 104 Phil. 1038, 1041 (1958).
46. Villeza v. German Management and Services, Inc., et al., supra note 43, at 552;
Bausa, et al. v. Heirs of Juan Dino, et al ., 585 Phil. 526, 534 (2008); California
Bus Lines, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, et al., supra note 38, at 398; Francisco
Motors Corp. v. Court of Appeals, supra note 38, at 752; and Republic v.
Court of Appeals, supra note 38, at 693.