G.R. No. 197360 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. RONALD CREDO AKA “ONTOG,” RANDY CREDO AND ROLANDO CREDO Y SAN BUENAVENTURA, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the award of civil indemnity in the amount of P75,000.00 is proper. Anent moral damages, the same are mandatory in cases of murder, without need of allegation and proof other than the death of the victim. However, consistent with recent jurisprudence on heinous crimes where the imposable penalty is death but reduced to reclusion perpetua pursuant to R.A. No. 9346, the award of moral damages should be increased from P50,000.00 to P75,000.00. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals was correct in increasing the lower courts award of civil indemnity from P50,000.00 to P75,000.00. Regardless of the penalty imposed by the trial court, the correct amount of civil indemnity is P75,000.00, pursuant to the ratiocination of the Court in the above-cited case of People v. Anticamara . The Court of Appeals, however, erred when it increased the amount of moral damages from P50,000.00 to P75,000.00. In accordance with the pronouncement of the Court in the Anticamara Case , the correct sum should be P50,000.00. In connection with the award of exemplary damages, the Court of Appeals correctly reduced the amount from P50,000.00 to P30,000.00 in line with current jurisprudence. [50] Finally, pursuant to the ruling of the Court in People v. Villanueva , [51] when actual damages proven by receipts during the trial amount to less than P25,000, as in this case , the award of temperate damages for P25,000 is justified in lieu of actual damages of a lesser amount. Conversely, if the amount of actual damages proven exceeds P25,000, then temperate damages may no longer be awarded; actual damages based on the receipts presented during trial should instead be granted. As a result, the Court of Appeals likewise correctly held that, since the receipted expenses of Josephs family amounted to only P14,300.00, temperate damages in the amount of P25,000.00 in lieu of actual damages should be awarded. WHEREFORE , the appeal is hereby DENIED . The Decision of the Court of Appeals dated 28 February 2011 in CA-G.R. CR-HC No. 04113, finding appellants Ronald, Randy and Rolando, all surnamed Credo, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder is AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that the award of moral damages is reduced from P75,000.00 to P50,000.00. The appeal with respect to the deceased appellant Rolando Credo is DISMISSED. SO ORDERED.