G.R. No. 225745 - THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ARSENIO ENDAYA, JR. Y PEREZ, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, judgment is hereby rendered as follows: In Criminal Case No. 058 , the Court finds the accused Arsenio Endaya Jr. alias "Pugo" GUILTY [of] the crime of Parricide defined in and penalized by Article 246 of the Revised Penal Code and hereby imposes on said accused the penalty of Reclusion Perpetua with all the accessory penalties of the law. In Criminal Case No. 059 , the Court finds the same accused GUILTY [of] the crime of Homicide defined in and penalized under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code with the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender to a person in authority. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the Court hereby imposes upon the said accused the penalty of imprisonment of Six (6) years and One (1) day of prision mayor as minimum to Eight (8) years of prision mayor as maximum. Accused is ordered to pay the heirs of the victims the stipulated amounts of Eighty Thousand Pesos (Php 80,000.00) as actual damages for the wake, funeral and burial of the deceased; Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php 350,000.00) for the loss of income of victim Jocelyn Quita-Endaya; and Twenty Thousand Pesos (Php 20,000.00) for the loss of income of Marietta Bukal-Quita. Accused is further ordered to pay death indemnity of Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php 50,000.00) for each victim. The period [in] which accused has undergone preventive imprisonment during the pendency of these cases shall be credited to him provided he agreed in writing to abide by and comply strictly with the rules and regulations imposed upon committed prisoners. [29] Aggrieved, Endaya appealed before the CA. The CA Ruling In its assailed decision, the CA affirmed with modification the RTC's decision. The appellate court concurred with the trial court that the defense failed to prove that the acts charged were committed in self-defense, thus, it affirmed Endaya's conviction for parricide and homicide. The appellate court, however, noted that the RTC erred in its imposition of the penalty for homicide. It noted that applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the maximum penalty, considering the attendant mitigating circumstance, should be reclusion temporal in its minimum period, and not prision mayor. The appellate court further updated the award of civil indemnity to conform to prevailing jurisprudence on the matter. The dispositive portion of the assailed decision provides: WHEREFORE , the appeal is DENIED . The Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 87 of Rosario, Batangas, dated December 10, 2010, in Criminal Case No. RY2K-058 and Criminal Case No. RY2K-059 finding Accused-Appellant Arsenio [E]ndaya, [Jr.] guilty of the crimes charged is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. As modified, the ruling of the trial court should read as follows: WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, judgment is hereby rendered as follows: In Criminal Case No. [RY2K-]058, the Court finds the accused Arsenio [E]nday[a] Jr., alias "Pugo" GUILTY for the crime of Parricide defined in