Case Summary (G.R. No. 151452)
Key Dates
• April 25, 1994: Information filed charging Sibayan with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and injuries
• Dec. 17, 1998: Sibayan convicted; civil liability reserved for separate action
• Oct. 20, 2000: Petitioners file complaint for damages in RTC
• Feb. 26 & July 16, 2001: Trial court dismisses complaint for prescription and improper service; denies reconsideration
• Sept. 10, 2001 & Jan. 9, 2002: Court of Appeals dismisses certiorari petition; denies reconsideration
• July 29, 2005: Supreme Court grants petition, remands for further proceedings
Applicable Law
• 1987 Constitution (decision post-1990)
• Revised Penal Code Arts. 100, 103, 104
• Civil Code Arts. 2176–2177, 1146
• 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure, Rule 111, § 1 (reservation of civil action)
Factual Background and Criminal Reservation
Sibayan’s bus struck a van, killing four occupants and injuring five. He was convicted of reckless imprudence (penalty: 2 years, 4 months & 1 day to 4 years & 2 months). Petitioners expressly reserved their right to a separate civil action; hence the municipal court did not pronounce civil liability in its 1998 judgment.
Separate Civil Complaint and Dismissal Grounds
In October 2000 petitioners sued Sibayan, Viron Transit and its president for civil indemnity ex delicto. Viron Transit moved to dismiss based on prescription, improper service, laches, defective non-forum-shopping certification, and corporate personality. Trial court held the cause of action to be quasi‐delict, barred by the four-year prescription under Civ. Code Art. 1146, and also noted improper service through an undesignated employee.
Appellate Proceedings and Remedy Question
Petitioners filed a certiorari petition with the CA, asserting grave abuse of discretion in treating their claim as quasi‐delict. The CA dismissed for choosing certiorari over appeal, deeming appeal available and exceptions inapplicable. Reconsideration was denied.
Petitioners’ Contentions
They urge that their claim arises from civil liability ex delicto under the RPC, accruing at the finality of Sibayan’s conviction and prescribing in ten years. They claim the trial court abused its discretion by recharacterizing the cause of action as quasi‐delict and that certiorari should be allowed to vindicate their substantive right.
Respondents’ Counterarguments
They maintain that the complaint pleads negligence under Civ. Code Arts. 2176–2180, triggering a four-year prescription from the accident date. They argue Sibayan’s conviction without a civil award precludes subsidiary liability under RPC Art. 103, and stress procedural deficiencies (improper certificate, lack of certified order, incomplete parties’ details).
Supreme Court’s Civil Liability Analysis
Under RPC Art. 100, a felony conviction carries implied civil liability (restitution, reparation, indemnification), subject to waiver or reservation per Rule 111, § 1. The reservation for separate civil action preserved petitioners’ right to recover civil liability ex delicto. Allegations of negligence in the complaint do not convert the reserved cause into quasi‐delict when the criminal civil aspect remains unadjudicated.
Distinction of Remedies and Prescription
An injured party may choose between (a) enforcing civil liability ex delicto under the RPC (10-year prescription from final conviction) and (b) pursuing quasi-delict under the Civil Code (4-year prescription from accrual)
...continue readingCase Syllabus (G.R. No. 151452)
Facts
- On April 25, 1994, an Information was filed charging Dionisio M. Sibayan with Reckless Imprudence Resulting to Multiple Homicide and Multiple Physical Injuries after his southbound Viron Transit bus collided with a northbound Lite Ace van.
- The collision caused the deaths of the van’s driver and three passengers—including a two-month-old infant—and injuries to five other passengers.
- After trial, on December 17, 1998, Sibayan was convicted and sentenced to two years, four months, and one day up to four years and two months’ imprisonment; the court did not adjudicate civil liability due to petitioners’ express reservation to file a separate civil action.
- Pursuant to that reservation, on October 20, 2000, petitioners commenced a civil complaint for damages against Sibayan, Viron Transportation Company, Inc., and its President/Chairman Virgilio Q. Rondaris in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City, Branch 101.
Trial Court Proceedings
- Viron Transit moved to dismiss on grounds of:
- Prescription and laches (arguing a four-year prescriptive period for quasi-delict under Art. 1146, Civil Code)
- Improper service of summons (served on Jessica Ubalde without designation)
- Defective non-forum-shopping certification
- Dropping of Rondaris due to corporate personality separate from the company
- Petitioners opposed, asserting:
- Their cause of action arises from the final conviction and reservation, hence prescribes in ten years from finality of judgment (no appeal taken)
- Service was valid under Rule 111 reservation practice
- The RTC granted the motion, dismissing the complaint for prescription (treating it as a quasi-delict action) and, in a subsequent order, revisited but declined to dismiss on service grounds.
- Petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was denied on the same prescription rationale.
Court of Appeals Proceedings
- Petitioners filed a petition for certiorari