G.R. No. 210616 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. EDDIE SALIBAD Y DILO, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE , the court finds the Accused, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder. He is hereby sentenced to suffer Reclusion Perpetua. On the civil aspect of the case, the Accused is hereby ordered to pay the Heirs of the victim Raymundo Dacuyan, represented by his widow, Tomasa Dacuyan, the amount of One Hundred [Thousand] (P100,000.00) Pesos, as actual damages and One Hundred Thousand (P100,000.00) Pesos, as moral damages. SO ORDERED ." Upon appellant's motion, the trial court rendered the assailed Amended Judgment dated June 16, 2011 x x x. [5] The dispositive portion of the RTC Amended Judgment [6] reads: WHEREFORE , the Court finds the Accused, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder. He is hereby sentenced to suffer Reclusion Perpetua. On the civil aspect of the case, the Accused is hereby ordered to pay the Heirs of the victim Raymundo Dacuyan, represented by his widow, Tomasa Dacuyan, the amount of One Hundred Sixty[-]Two Thousand Five Hundred Sixty[-]Four (P162.564.001 Pesos , as actual damages and One Hundred Thousand (P100,000.00) Pesos, as moral damages. SO ORDERED . [7] Accused-appellant filed an appeal before the CA which affirmed the RTC Decision convicting accused-appellant and giving credence to the testimonies of Manuel Bin wag (Manuel) and Diego Aclibon (Diego) who saw the killing of Raymundo. The CA pointed out that accused-appellant was validly arrested without a warrant and that the search incidental thereto was lawful. More, the CA ruled that accused-appellant could not question his arrest at that point as failure to question the validity of an arrest before entering a plea constitutes a waiver thereof. The CA lowered the moral damages awarded from P100,000.00 [8] to P50,000.00 and awarded temperate damages in the amount of P25,000.00 in lieu of actual damages for failure of the prosecution to present receipts as proof of actual damages. The CA also awarded the additional amounts of P75,000.00 as civil indemnity and P30,000.00 as exemplary damages. The fallo of the CA Decision reads: WHEREFORE , premises considered, the instant appeal is DENIED. The assailed Amended Judgment dated June 16, 2011 in Criminal Case No. 555-CR-08 is hereby AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION . Appellant Eddie Salibad y Dilo is hereby ordered to indemnify the heirs of Raymundo Dacuyan y Cabannag the amounts of (a) P75,000.00 as civil indemnity; (b) P50,000.00 as moral damages; (c) P30,000.00 as exemplary damages; and (d) P25,000.00, as actual damages, [9] all with interest at the legal rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the finality of this Decision until fully paid. SO ORDERED.