Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-14414 April 27, 1960
SEVERINO SALEN and ELENA SALBANERA, plaintiffs-appellants,
vs.
JOSE BALCE, defendant-appellee.
Marciano C. Dating, Jr. for appellants.
Severino Balce for appellee.
BAUTISTA ANGELO, J.:
On February 5, 1957, plaintiffs brought this action against defendant before the Court of First Instance of Camarines Norte to recover the sum of P2,000.00, with legal interest thereon from July 18, 1952, plus attorney' fees and other incidental expenses.
Defendant, in his answer, set up the defense that the law upon which plaintiffs predicate their right to recover does not here apply for the reason that law refers to quasi-delicts and not to criminal cases.
After trial, the court sustained the theory of defendant and dismissed the complaint with costs. Hence the present appeal.
Plaintiffs are the legitimate parents of Carlos Salen who died single from wounds caused by Gumersindo Balce, a legitimate son of defendant. At the time, Gumersindo Balce was also Single, a minor below 18 years of age, and was living with defendant. As a result of Carlos Salen's death, Gumersindo Balce accused and convicted of homicide and was sentenced to imprisonment and to pay the heirs of the deceased an indemnity in the amount of P2,000.00. Upon petition of plaintiff, the only heirs of the deceased, a writ of execution was issued for the payment of the indemnity but it was returned unsatisfied because Gumersindo Balce was insolvent and had no property in his name. Thereupon, plaintiffs demanded upon defendant, father of Gumersindo, the payment of the indemnity the latter has failed to pay, but defendant refused, thus causing plaintiffs to institute the present action.
The question for determination is whether appellee can be held subsidiary liable to pay the indemnity of P2,000.00 which his son was sentenced to pay in the criminal case filed against him.
In holding that the civil liability of the son of appellee arises from his criminal liability and, therefore, the subsidiary liability of appellee must be determined under the provisions of the Revised Penal Code, and not under Article 2180 of the new Civil Code which only applies to obligations which arise from quasi-delicts, the trial court made the following observation:
The law provides that a person criminally liable for a felony is also civilly liable (Art. 100 of the Revised Penal Code). But there is no law which holds the father either primarily or subsidiarily liable for the civiliability inccured by the son who is a minor of 8 years. Under Art. 101 of the Penal Code, the father is civilly liable for the acts committed by his son if the latter is an imbecile, or insane, or under 9 years of age or over 9 but under 15, who has acted without discernment. Under Art. 102, only in keepers and tavern-keepers are held subsidiarily liable and under Art. 103 of the same Penal Code, the subsidiary liability established in Art. 102 shall apply only to "employers, teachers, persons and corporations engaged in any kind of industry for felonies committed by their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices or employees in the discharge of their duties." By the principle of exclusio unus exclusio ulterius, the defendant in this case cannot be held subsidiary liable for the civil liability of Gumersindo Balce who has been convicted of homicide for the killing of the plaintiff's son Carlos Salen.
Art. 2180 of the Civil Code, relied by the plaintiff's, is not applicable to the case at bar. It applies to obligations which arise from quasi-delicts and not obligations which arise from criminal offenses. Civil liability arising from criminal negligence or offenses is governed by the provisions of the Penal Code and civil liability arising from civil negligence is governed by the provision of the Civil Code. The obligation imposed by Art. 2176 of the New Civil Code expressly refers to obligations which arise from quasi-delicts. And obligations arising from quasi-delict (Commissioner's note). And according to Art. 2177, the 'responsibility for fault of negligence under Art. 2176 is entirely separate and distinct from the civil liabilty arising from negligence under the Penal Code. . . .
While we agree with the theory that, as a rule, the civil liability arising from a crime shall be governed by the provisions of the Revised Penal Code, we disagree with the contention that the subsidiary liability of persons for acts of those who are under their custody should likewise be governed by the same Code even in the absence of any provision governing the case, for that would leave the transgression of certain right without any punishment or sanction in the law. Such would be the case if we would uphold the theory of appellee as sustained by the trial court.
It is true that under Article 101 of the Revised Penal Code, a father is made civilly liable for the acts committed by his son only if the latter is an imbecile, an insane, under 9 years of age, over 9 but under 15 years of age, who act without discernment, unless it appears that there is no fault or negligence on his part. This is because a son who commits the act under any of those conditions is by law exempt from criminal liability (Article 12, subdivisions 1, 2 and 3, Revised Penal Code). The idea is not to leave the act entirely unpunished but to attach certain civil liability to the person who has the deliquent minor under his legal authority or control. But a minor over 15 who acts with discernment is not exempt from criminal liability, for which reason the Code is silent as to the subsidiary liability of his parents should he stand convicted. In that case, resort should be had to the general law which is our Civil Code.
The particular law that governs this case is Article 2180, the pertinent portion of which provides: "The father and, in case of his death or incapacity, the mother, are responsible for damages caused by the minor children who lived in their company." To hold that this provision does not apply to the instant case because it only covers obligations which arise from quasi-delicts and not obligations which arise from criminal offenses, would result in the absurdity that while for an act where mere negligence intervenes the father or mother may stand subsidiarily liable for the damage caused by his or her son, no liability would attach if the damage is caused with criminal intent. Verily, the void that apparently exists in the Revised Penal Code is subserved by this particular provision of our Civil Code, as may be gleaned from some recent decisions of this Court which cover equal or identical cases.
A case in point is Exconde vs. Capuno, 101 Phil., 843, the facts of which are as follows:
Dante Capuno, a minor of 15 years of age, lives in the company of his father, Delfin Capuno. He is a student of the Balintawak Elementary School in the City of San Pablo and a member of the Boy Scout Organization of his school. On Marcy 31, 1949, on the occasion of a certain parade in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal in the City of San Pablo, Dante Capuno was one of those instructed by the City School Supervisor to join the parade. From the school, Dante Capuno, together with other students, boarded a jeep. When the jeep started to run, Dante Capuno took hold of the wheel and drove it while the driver sat on his left side. They have not gone far when the jeep turned turtle and two of its passengers, Amando Ticson and Isidro Caperina died as a consequence. The corresponding criminal action for double homicide through reckless imprudence was instituted against Dante Capuno. During the trial, Sabina Exconde, as mother of the deceased Isidro Caperina, reserved her right to bring a separate civil action for damages against the accused. Dante Capuno was found guilty of the criminal offense charged against him. In line with said reservation of Sabina Exconde, the corresponding civil action for damages was filed against Delfin Capuno, Dante Capuno and others.
In holding Delfin Capuno jointly and severally liable with his minor son Dante Capuno arising from the criminal act committed by the latter, this Court made the following ruling:
The civil liability which the law imposes upon the father and, in case of his death or incapacity, the mother, for any damages that may be caused by the minor children who live with them, is obvious. This is a necessary consequence of the parental authority they exercise over them which imposes upon the parents the "duty of supporting them, keeping them in their company, educating them in proportion to their means", while, on the other hand, gives them the "right to correct and punish them in moderation" (Arts. 134 and 135, Spanish Civil Code). The only way by which they can relieved themselves of this liability is if they prove that they exercised all the diligence of a good father of a family to prevent the damage (Art. 1903, last paragraph, Spanish Civil Code.) This defendants failed to prove.
Another case in point is Araneta vs. Arreglado 104 Phil., 524; 55 Off. Gaz. [9] 1961. The facts of this case are as follows:
On March 7, 1951, while plaintiff Benjamin Araneta was talking with the other students of the Ateneo de Manila while seated atop a low ruined wall bordering the Ateneo grounds along Dakota Street, in the City of Manila, Dario Arreglado, a former student of the Ateneo, chanced to pass by. Those on the wall called Dario and conversed with him, and in the course of their talk, twitted him on his leaving the Ateneo and enrolling in the De La Salle College. Apparently, Arreglado resented the banter and suddenly pulling from his pocket a Japanese Luger pistol (licensed in the name of his father Juan Arreglado), fired the same at Araneta, hitting him in the lower jaw, causing him to drop backward, bleeding profusely. Helped by his friends, the injured lad was taken first to the school infirmary and later to the Singian Hospital, where he lay hovering between life and death for three days. The vigor of youth came to his rescue; he rallied and after sometime finally recovered, the gunshot would left him with a degenerative injury to the jawbone (mandible) and a scar in the lower portion of the face, where the bullet had plowed through. The behavior of Benjamin was likewise affected, he becoming inhibited and morose after leaving the hospital.
Dario Arreglado was indicted for frustrated homicide and pleaded guilty, but in view of his youth, he being only 14 years of age, the court suspended the proceedings as prescribed by Article 80 of the Revised Penal Code. Thereafter, an action was instituted by Araneta and his father against Juan Arreglado, his wife, and their son Dario, to recover material, moral and exemplary damages. The court of first instance, after trial, sentenced the Arreglados to pay P3,943.00 as damages and attorney's fees. From this decision, the Araneta appealed in view of the meager amount of indemnity awarded. This Court affirmed the decision but increased the indemnity to P18,000.00. This is a typical case of parental subsidiary liability arising from the criminal act of a minor son.
Wherefore, the decision appealed from is reversed. Judgement is hereby rendered ordering appellee to pay appellants the sum of P2,000.00, with legal interest thereon from the filing of the complaint, and the costs.
Paras, C.J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Labrador, Concepcion, Endencia, Barrera and Gutierrez David, JJ., concur.
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