Title
Asilo, Jr. vs. People
Case
G.R. No. 159017-18
Decision Date
Mar 9, 2011
A 20-year lease dispute arose when a municipality demolished a lessee's store without a court order, leading to criminal and civil liability for officials, with damages awarded to the lessee.
store owner
damages
demolished
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-21975)

Petitioners and Respondents

Petitioners on review: Paulino S. Asilo, Jr. (seeking reversal of criminal and civil findings) and Victoria Bueta Vda. de Comendador (substituting for the late Mayor Comendador, advancing arguments regarding extinction of liability and damages). Respondents: The People of the Philippines (prosecution) and private parties Visitacion and Cesar Bombasi (claimants for civil damages).

Key Dates and Procedural Posture

Material dates: lease executed 15 March 1978 (20‑year lease, extendible), municipal market fire 1986 (store found intact), demolition ordered and carried out 15 October 1993, civil action for damages filed 19 August 1994, criminal information filed 22 February 1996, consolidation order issued 4 March 1997, dismissal of cases against Angeles 22 September 1999 (following his death), Sandiganbayan decision convicting Comendador and Asilo and awarding civil damages on 28 April 2003, and the Supreme Court decision affirming with modification rendered on appeal (decision referenced in the record).

Applicable Law and Legal Standards

Primary criminal statute: Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti‑Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), Section 3(e) (acts causing undue injury or giving unwarranted benefits done with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence). Relevant constitutional guarantee: due process under the 1987 Constitution (applicable because the decision date is post‑1990). Civil law sources: Civil Code provisions on estoppel (Art. 1431), provisions on independent civil actions not arising from criminal acts (Art. 31), and Art. 32(6) (liability for violations of rights such as deprivation of property without due process). Procedural and administrative authorities invoked include Section 4, Presidential Decree No. 1606 (consolidation of civil and criminal claims before the Sandiganbayan), and Rule 39, Sec. 10(d) of the Rules of Court (special court order required before demolition/removal of improvements in execution).

Factual Background

The Municipality of Nagcarlan leased a market lot and store to Visitacion’s mother on 15 March 1978 for twenty years, expressly permitting the lessee to build and with preferential rights in market modifications. Visitacion succeeded to the lease and secured annual mayor’s permits through January 1993. After the 1986 market fire, a government engineer certified that Visitacion’s store remained intact. Beginning 1 September 1993, municipal notices and Sangguniang Bayan Resolutions (Nos. 156 and 183) directed demolition or authorized the Mayor to take steps (including filing unlawful detainer) to remove occupants to permit construction of a new market. Visitacion contested the authority to demolish without court order and offered to accept comparable space in the new market; she obtained a temporary restraining order but the demolition proceeded on 15 October 1993 under the authorization of Mayor Comendador, with Asilo and Angeles supervising.

Demolition, Claimed Losses, and Initial Claims

The demolition destroyed the two‑storey concrete building and contents; an engineer (Winston Cabrega) estimated loss at P437,900 (P400,000 for the concrete building; P37,900 for contents). The Spouses Bombasi filed a civil action for damages and injunction and, separately, a criminal complaint for violation of RA 3019 Sec. 3(e) against Mayor Comendador, Asilo, and Angeles.

Consolidation, Deaths of Accused, and Pretrial Developments

The Sandiganbayan consolidated the civil and criminal actions pursuant to PD No. 1606. Alberto S. Angeles died on 16 November 1997; the prosecution did not object to the motion to drop him and the Sandiganbayan dismissed the cases against him on 22 September 1999 (dismissal became final). Demetrio Comendador died on 17 September 2002; his counsel later argued that his death extinguished both criminal and civil liabilities, a contention the Sandiganbayan partially accepted (extinguishing criminal liability but maintaining civil liability insofar as it was independent).

Sandiganbayan Findings and Orders

The Sandiganbayan found Comendador and Asilo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating RA 3019 Sec. 3(e) and sentenced them under the Indeterminate Sentence Law to an indeterminate term (minimum 6 years 2 months to maximum 10 years 1 day). The Sandiganbayan ordered the Municipality, Comendador, and Asilo jointly and severally to pay plaintiffs P437,900 as actual damages, P100,000 as moral damages, and P30,000 as attorney’s fees; it denied exemplary damages. The court dismissed the cases against certain occupants who were found lawful occupants. The Sandiganbayan also gave Visitacion the option to accept market space offered by the municipality (subject to rent and permit fees) and denied injunctive relief as moot.

Issues Raised on Appeal

Key appellate arguments included: Asilo’s claim that he acted in good faith and merely complied with a superior’s lawful order (thus lacking the mens rea required under Sec. 3(e)); the contention by Victoria Bueta that the death of Mayor Comendador extinguished not only criminal but also civil liability; and challenges to the sufficiency of proof for the amount of actual damages claimed by the Spouses Bombasi.

Supreme Court’s Analysis of Criminal Liability under RA 3019 Sec. 3(e)

The Court reiterated the elements of Section 3(e): public office, commission of the prohibited act in relation to official duties, causing undue (actual) injury or conferring unwarranted benefit, and the presence of manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence. The Court agreed with the Sandiganbayan that the demolition caused actual injury (undue injury), and that the demolition was performed without judicial authorization and contrary to restraining orders and other procedural protections. The Court found that the Sangguniang Bayan resolutions neither authorized summary demolition nor provided lawful grounds to dispense with judicial process. The Court also characterized the conduct as attended by evident bad faith (a state of mind importing palpable, fraudulent, or dishonest purpose), concluding that the requisite culpable mental state for Sec. 3(e) was established as to Comendador and Asilo.

Supreme Court’s Findings on Administrative Powers, Nuisance Claims, and Estoppel

The Court rejected the defense that the structure was a nuisance per se (nuisance per se being an inherently actionable nuisance under all circumstances), noting evidence that the building had not been affected by the 1986 fire. It held that the Sangguniang Bayan resolutions, and the Municipal Council’s authorization, did not substitute for a court order authorizing demolition, and that the municipal officers were estopped from denying the legitimacy of plaintiffs’ occupancy after granting annual business permits. The combination of lack of lawful authority to demolish and municipal estoppel supported the finding of bad faith and liability.

Survival of Civil Liability after Death of Accused

Applying the established rule in People v. Bayotas, the Court distinguished civil liability that is strictly derivative of, and dependent upon, a criminal conviction (which may be extinguished by the accused’s death pending appeal) from civil liability that rests on an independent source of obligation. The Court held that the civil claim in this case was not solely ex delicto but was also grounded on provisions of the Civil Code concerning human relations (Art. 31 and Art. 32(6)) and the constitutional right to due process; consequently, the civil liability survived the death

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