[ G.R. No. 167546. July 17, 2009 ] 610 Phil. 615
FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 167546. July 17, 2009 ]
SONNY ROMERO Y DOMINGUEZ, PETITIONER, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, ISABEL PADUA, REGINA BREIS, MINERVA MONTES AND OFELIA BELANDO BREIS,[1] RESPONDENTS. R E S O L U T I O N
CORONA, J.:
On April 1, 1999[2] at around 12:00 noon, the JC Liner[3] driven by petitioner Sonny Romero and the Apego Taxi[4] driven by Jimmy Padua figured in a head-on collision along Governor Jose Fuentebella Highway at Barangay Hibago, Ocampo, Camarines Sur. The bus was bound for Naga City while the taxi was going in the opposite direction of Partido Area. The collision resulted in the death of Gerardo Breis, Sr.,[5] Arnaldo Breis,[6] Gerardo Breis, Jr.,[7] Rene Montes,[8] Erwin Breis[9] and Jimmy Padua.[10] Luckily, Edwin Breis and his son Edmund Breis survived although they sustained serious injuries. As a consequence, petitioner was charged with the crime of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and multiple serious physical injuries with damage to property in the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) of Ocampo, Camarines Sur. After trial on the merits, the MTC acquitted petitioner of the crime charged in a decision[11] dated November 9, 2000. Petitioner was, however, held civilly liable and was ordered to pay the heirs of the victims the total amount of P3,541,900 by way of actual damages, civil indemnity for death, moral damages, temperate damages and loss of earning capacity. Petitioner appealed to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pili, Camarines Sur, claiming that the MTC erred in holding him civilly liable in view of his acquittal. On July 17, 2001, the RTC affirmed the MTC judgment in toto.[12] Refusing to give up, petitioner appealed[13] to the Court of Appeals (CA). On March 3, 2005, the CA rendered the assailed decision[14] affirming the RTC. Left with no other recourse, petitioner now argues[15] that his acquittal should have freed him from payment of civil liability. He also claims that he should be totally exonerated from any liability because it was Gerardo Breis, Sr., not the regular driver, Jimmy Padua, who was actually driving the taxi at the time of the accident, which was clearly in violation of insurance and transportation laws. We disagree. The rule is that every person criminally liable is also civilly liable.[16] Criminal liability will give rise to civil liability only if the felonious act or omission results in damage or injury to another and is the direct and proximate cause thereof.[17] Every crime gives rise to (1) a criminal action for the punishment of the guilty party and (2) a civil action for the restitution of the thing, repair of the damage, and indemnification for the losses.[18] However, the reverse is not always true. In this connection, the relevant portions of Section 2, Rule 111 and Section 2, Rule 120 of the Rules of Court provide:
Sec. 2. When separate civil action is suspended.–xxx The extinction of the penal action does not carry with it extinction of the civil action. However, the civil action based on delict shall be deemed extinguished if there is a finding in a final judgment in the criminal action that the act or omission from which the civil liability may arise did not exist. (emphasis supplied) Sec. 2. Contents of the judgment.–xxx In case the judgment is of acquittal, it shall state whether the evidence of the prosecution absolutely failed to prove the guilt of the accused or merely failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. In either case, the judgment shall determine if the act or omission from which the civil liability might arise did not exist. (emphasis supplied)
Thus, the rule is that the acquittal of an accused of the crime charged will not necessarily extinguish his civil liability, unless the court declares in a final judgment that the fact from which the civil liability might arise did not exist.[19] Courts can acquit an accused on reasonable doubt but still order payment of civil damages in the same case.[20] It is not even necessary that a separate civil action be instituted.[21] In this case, the MTC held that it could not ascertain with moral certainty the wanton and reckless manner by which petitioner drove the bus in view of the condition of the highway where the accident occurred and the short distance between the bus and the taxi before the collision. However, it categorically stated that while petitioner may be acquitted based on reasonable doubt, he may nonetheless be held civilly liable. [22] The RTC added that there was no finding by the MTC that the act from which petitioner’s civil liability may arise did not exist. Therefore, the MTC was correct in holding petitioner civilly liable to the heirs of the victims of the collision for the tragedy, mental anguish and trauma they suffered plus expenses they incurred during the wake and interment.[23] In view of the pronouncements of the MTC and the RTC, we agree with the conclusion of the CA that petitioner was acquitted not because he did not commit the crime charged but because the RTC and the MTC could not ascertain with moral conviction the wanton and reckless manner by which petitioner drove the bus at the time of the accident. Put differently, petitioner was acquitted because the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. However, his civil liability for the death, injuries and damages arising from the collision is another matter. While petitioner was absolved from criminal liability because his negligence was not proven beyond reasonable doubt, he can still be held civilly liable if his negligence was established by preponderance of evidence.[24] In other words, the failure of the evidence to prove negligence with moral certainty does not negate (and is in fact compatible with) a ruling that there was preponderant evidence of such negligence. And that is sufficient to hold him civilly liable. Thus, the MTC (as affirmed by the RTC and the CA) correctly imposed civil liability on petitioner despite his acquittal. Simple logic also dictates that petitioner would not have been held civilly liable if his act from which the civil liability had arisen did not in fact exist. Anent the second issue, it would be well to remind petitioner of the time-honored doctrine that this Court is not a trier of facts.[25] The rule finds greater relevance in this case because the MTC,[26] the RTC[27] and the CA[28] uniformly held that it was Jimmy Padua, and not Gerardo Breis, Sr., who was driving the taxi at the time of the accident. There are of course instances[29] when this Court can embark on a re-examination of the evidence adduced by the parties during trial. Sad to say, none of those instances is present here. WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby DENIED. Costs against petitioner. SO ORDERED. Puno, C.J., (Chairperson), Carpio, Leonardo-De Castro and Bersamin, JJ., concur.