Article 14 and 33 of Civil Code

The Civil Code 

R.A. No. 386

Chapter 1

Effect and Application of Laws

 Article 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be
obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject to the
principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations.

Meaning: If a crime is committed within the Philippine territory, the law applies obligatory penal laws and those of public security and safety.

Exemptions:

1. Offense is committed by a foreign sovereign  or diplomatic representatives while on the Philippine territory.

2. Crime is committed inside a public or armed vessel of a foreign country. 

Questions

1. An American Citizen on his vacation committed a crime in Manila, will he be prosecuted for  criminal liability?

-Yes. He can be penalized on the crime he committed since the rule is clear that that those who sojourn in the Philippine territory is bounded by the this law.

2. An American ambassador committed the same crime in Manila, will he be prosecuted for a criminal liability?

-No. Ambassadors, on the other hand are granted diplomatic immunities. The remedy is for him to be recalled by his government and granting him persona non grata.

3. A merchant vessel entered the Philippine territory and an offense was committed inside the said vessel, would it be triable in the country?

-Yes, exemptions only include crimes committed inside a public or armed vessel of a foreign country. 

Article 33. In cases of defamation, fraud, and physical injuries, a civil action for damages, entirely separate and distinct from the criminal action, may be brought by the injured party. Such civil action shall proceed independently of the criminal prosecution, and shall require only a preponderance of evidence.

Definition of terms

Defamation -  In Article 353 of the Philippines Revised Penal Code, libel is defined as “a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or circumstance tending to cause dishonor, discredit or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.”

Fraud- In Article 1338 of Civil Code, it is defined as fraud when, through insidious words or machinations of one of the contracting parties, the other is induced to enter into a contract which, without them, he would not have agreed to.

Physical Injuries- shall be used in its generic sense and includes death. It shall be understood to mean bodily injury, not the crime of physical injuries. It includes consummated, frustrated or attempted homicide.

Preponderance of evidence- the weight, credit and value of the aggregate evidenced of one is superior to the other

Question

1. Is there a need to reserve the right to prosecute civil liability of a criminally liable person?

- Generally speaking, there is no more need to reserve the right to prosecute the civil action under Articles 32, 33 34 and 2176 of the Civil Code because the foundation of these articles is Article 100 of the Revised Penal code which provides that every person who is criminally liable shall also be civilly liable.

While the Rules of Court require the reservation, what is reserved is the right to file a civil action to enforce the civil liability arising from the crime charged as a felony, otherwise, it is deemed filed with the criminal action. -Reservation of the independent civil action (under Rule 111, Section 1, of the Rules of Court)

Case

YAKULT PHILIPPINES AND SALVADO vs. CA et al

G.R. No. 91856

October 5, 1990

FACTS:

A five-year old boy, Roy Camaso, while standing on the sidewalk of M. de la Fuente Street, Sampaloc, Manila, was sideswiped by a Yamaha motorcycle owned by Yakult Philippines and driven by its employee, Larry Salvado. Salvado was charged with the crime of reckless imprudence resulting to slight physical injuries in an information that was filed with the then City Court of Manila. Later on, a complaint for damages was filed by Roy Camaso represented by his father, David Camaso, against Yakult Philippines and Larry Salvado in the RTC of Manila.

A decision was rendered in the civil case ordering defendants to pay jointly and severally the plaintiff for actual expenses for medical services and hospital bills, attorney’s fees and the costs of the suit. 

Petitioners’ claimed that the civil action for damages for injuries arising from alleged criminal negligence of Salvado, being without malice, cannot be filed independently of the criminal action under Article 33 of the Civil Code. Further, it is contended that under Section 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on Criminal Procedure such a separate civil action may not be filed unless reservation thereof is expressly made.

The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition. The motion for reconsideration was denied.

ISSUE: 

Can a civil action instituted after the criminal action was filed prosper even if there was no reservation to file a separate civil action?

HELD: 

The petition is DENIED. The questioned decisions of the CA are hereby AFFIRMED