G.R. No. 119352 - THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. CELESTINO D. PAYOT, ACCUSED-. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered and in pursuit of the ends of justice, this Court hereby finds accused Celestino Payot guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Rape with Homicide as defined and penalized under Art. 335 of the Revised Penal Code as amended and hereby sentences the said Celestino Payot to a penalty of Reclusion Perpetua with the accessories of the law. He is hereby ordered to indemnify the heirs of Jocelyn Bosbos the sum of P50,000.00 pursuant to present jurisprudence. Considering the heinous crime that Celestino Payot had committed, the Court could have sentenced him to the supreme penalty of death but for the fact that at the time of the commission of the crime, the death penalty has not as yet been restored by Congress. For failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused Ruben Cuico and Reynaldo Fernandez beyond reasonable doubt, both accused are hereby ACQUITTED of the charge and their immediate release is hereby ordered unless the said Reynaldo Fernandez and Ruben Cuico are detained for some other legal causes. Accused Celestino Payot is entitled to full credit of the preventive imprisonment he had undergone while under detention if he has signed his conformity to abide by the rules and regulations imposed upon inmates by the Provincial authorities of the Davao del Sur Provincial Jail, otherwise, he shall be entitled only to four-fifth of the preventive imprisonment he had undergone. SO ORDERED.