Professional Documents
Culture Documents
*
G.R. No. 132601. January 19, 1999.
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* EN BANC.
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functions on the part of the court with reference to the ending of the
cause that the judicial authority terminates by having then passed
completely to the Executive. The particulars of the execution itself,
which are certainly not always included in the judgment and writ of
execution, in any event are absolutely under the control of the
judicial authority, while the executive has no power over the person
of the convict except to provide for carrying out of the penalty and
to pardon. Getting down to the solution of the question in the case
at bar, which is that of execution of a capital sentence, it must be
accepted as a hypothesis that postponement of the date can be
requested. There can be no dispute on this point. It is a well-known
principle that notwithstanding the order of execution and the
executory nature thereof on the date set or at the proper time, the
date therefor can be postponed, even in sentences of death. Under
the common law this postponement can be ordered in three ways:
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pass their litmus test only when they can be fair to him who is
momentarily the most hated by society.
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death penalty, falls short of the strict norm set forth by the
Constitution. I and some of my brethren on the Court, who hold
similarly, have consistently expressed this stand in the affirmance
by the Court of death sentences imposed by Regional Trial Courts.
Courts; Judgments; The rule of immutability of final and execu-
tory judgments admits of settled exceptions·concededly, the Court
may suspend the execution of a final judgment when it becomes
imperative in the higher interest of justice or when supervening
events warrant it.·The doctrine has almost invariably been that
after a decision becomes final and executory, nothing else is further
done except to see to its compliance since for the Court to adopt
otherwise would be to put no end to litigations. The rule
notwithstanding, the Court retains control over the case until the
full satisfaction of the final judgment conformably with established
legal processes. Hence, the Court has taken cognizance of the
petition assailing before it the use of lethal injection by the State to
carry out the death sentence. In any event, jurisprudence teaches
that the rule of immutability of final and executory judgments
admits of settled exceptions. Concededly, the Court may, for instance,
suspend the execution of a final judgment when it becomes
imperative in the higher interest of justice or when supervening
events warrant it. Certainly, this extraordinary relief cannot be
denied any man, whatever might be his station, whose right to life
is the issue at stake.
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RESOLUTION
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PUNO, J.:
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„ENTRY OF JUDGMENT
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1 Stoll v. Gottlieb, 305 US 165, 172; 59 S. Ct. 134, 138; 83 L. ed. 104
[1938].
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and that the same has, on November 6, 1998 become final and
executory and is hereby recorded in the Book of Entries of
Judgment.
Manila, Philippines.
Clerk of Court
By: (SGD) TERESITA G. DIMAISIP
Acting Chief
Judicial Records Office‰
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xxx
„the finality of a judgment does not mean that the Court has lost
all its powers nor the case. By the finality of the judgment, what the
court loses is its jurisdiction to amend, modify or alter the same.
Even after the judgment has become final the court retains its
3
jurisdiction to execute and enforce it. There is a difference between
the jurisdiction of the court to execute its judgment and its
jurisdiction to amend, modify or alter the same. The former
continues even after the judgment has become final for the purpose of
enforcement of judgment; the latter terminates when the judgment
4
becomes final. x x x For after the judgment has become final facts
and circumstances may transpire which can render the execution
5
unjust or impossible.
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Acuna, 63 O.G. 358; Gabaya v. Hon. R. Mendoza, 113 SCRA 400; Bueno
Industrial and Development Corp. v. Encaje, 104 SCRA 388.
5 Ibid., pp. 14-15 citing Molina v. dela Riva, 8 Phil. 569; Behn Meyer &
Co. v. McMicking, 11 Phil. 276; Warmer Barnes & Co. v. Jaucian, 13 Phil.
4; Espiritu v. Crossfield, 14 Phil. 588; Mata v. Lichauco, 36 Phil. 809; De
la Costa v. Cleofas, 67 Phil. 686; Omar v. Jose, 77 Phil. 703; City of
Butuan v. Ortiz, 113 Phil. 636; De los Santos v. Rodriguez, 22 SCRA 551;
City of Cebu v. Mendoza, 66 SCRA 174.
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justice. For this purpose, Section 6 of Rule 135 provides
that „when by law jurisdiction is conferred on a court or
judicial officer, all auxiliary writs, processes and other
means necessary to carry it into effect may be employed by
such court or officer and if the procedure to be followed in
the exercise of such jurisdiction is not specifically pointed
out by law or by these rules, any suitable process or mode of
proceeding may be adopted which appears conformable to
the spirit of said law or rules.‰ It bears repeating that what
the Court restrained temporarily is the execution of its own
Decision to give it reasonable time to check its fairness in
light of supervening events in Congress as alleged by
petitioner. The Court, contrary to popular misimpression,
did not restrain the effectivity of a law enacted by
Congress.
The more disquieting dimension of the submission of the
public respondents that this Court has no jurisdiction to
restrain the execution of petitioner is that it can diminish
the independence of the judiciary. Since the implant of
republi-
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„Sec. 13. The Supreme Court shall have the power to promulgate
rules concerning pleading, practice and procedure in all courts, and
the admission to the practice of law. Said rules shall be uniform for
all courts of the same grade and shall not diminish, increase, or
modify substantive rights. The existing laws on pleading, practice
and procedure are hereby repealed as statutes, and are declared
Rules of Court, subject to the power of the Supreme Court to alter
and modify the same. The Congress shall have the power to repeal,
alter or supplement the rules concerning pleading, practice and
procedure, and the admission to the practice of law in the
Philippines.‰
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„x x x x x x x x x
5. Instead of filing a comment on Judge PonferradaÊs
Manifestation however, herein respondent is submitting the instant
Manifestation and Motion (a) to stress, inter alia, that the non-
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II
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The text and tone of this provision will not yield to the
interpretation suggested by the public respondents. The
provision is simply the source of power of the President to
grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons and remit
fines and forfeitures after conviction by final judgment. It
also provides the authority for the President to grant
amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the
members of the Congress. The provision, however, cannot
be interpreted as denying the power of courts to control the
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III
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petitioner will preclude any further relief for all rights stop
at the graveyard. As life was at stake, the Court refused to
constitutionalize haste and the hysteria of some partisans.
The CourtÊs majority felt it needed the certainty that the
legislature will not change the circumstance of petitioner
as alleged by his counsel. It was believed that law and
equitable considerations demand no less before allowing
the State to take the life of one of its citizens.
The temporary restraining order of this Court has
produced its desired result, i.e., the crystallization of the
issue whether Congress is disposed to review capital
punishment. The public respondents, thru the Solicitor
General, cite posterior events that negate beyond doubt the
possibility that Congress will repeal or amend the death
penalty law. He names these supervening events as follows:
xxx
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SEPARATE OPINION
VITUG, J.:
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not reopen the case to investigate the facts that show the need for
postponement. If one of the ways is by direction of the court, it is
acknowledged that even after the date of the execution has been
fixed, and notwithstanding the general rule that after the Court of
First Instance has performed its ministerial duty of ordering the
execution, functus est officio suo, and its part is ended, if however a
circumstance arises that ought to delay the execution, there is an
imperative duty to investigate the emergency and to order a
postponement. x x x.‰
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majority.
SEPARATE OPINION
PANGANIBAN, J.:
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SEPARATE OPINION
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after the Per Curiam Decision of this Court was promulgated on June 25,
1996.
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3
Motion for Reconsideration filed by his previous counsel,
this transcendental issue was not brought up. Hence, it
was not passed upon by this Court in its Decision affirming
4
the trial courtÊs sentence of death.
„Sec. 19. (1) Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel,
degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall death
penalty be imposed, unless for compelling reasons involving heinous
crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for it. Any death penalty
already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion perpetua.‰ (Italics
supplied)
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27, 1987, (per J. Melencio-Herrera) and People vs. Atencio, 156 SCRA
242, December 10, 1987 (per C.J. Narvasa). It is time that these cases
are revisited by this Court.
6 This quote is taken from I Record of the Constitutional Commission,
p. 676 (July 17, 1986) as follows:
„Fr. Bernas:
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12
amending certain provisions of the Revised Penal Code;
13
(2) by incorporating a new article therein; and (3) by
14
amending certain special laws.
But RA 7659 did not change the nature or the elements
of the crimes stated in the Penal Code and in the special
laws. It merely made the penalty more severe. Neither did
its provisions (other than the preamble, which was cast in
general terms) discuss or justify the reasons for the more
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Heinous Crimes
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SCRA 676, December 6, 1995; People vs. Albert, 251 SCRA 136,
December 11, 1995.
12 Art. 114·Treason; Art. 123·Qualified Piracy; Art. 246·Parricide;
Art. 248·Murder; Art. 255·Infanticide; Art. 267·Kidnapping and
Serious Illegal Detention; Art. 294·Robbery with violence against or
intimidation of persons; Art. 320·Destructive Arson; Art. 335·Rape.
13 Art. 211-A on Qualified Bribery.
14 Section 2, RA 7080·Plunder; Secs. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of Article II of
RA 6425·Prohibited Drugs; Secs. 14, 14-A and 15 of Article III of said
RA 6425·Carnapping.
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impose the extreme penalty. Just the same however, the law did not
explain why said circumstances would make the crimes heinous. Neither
did it set forth the compelling reasons therefor.
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„So we did not go that far from the Revised Penal Code, Mr.
President, and from existing special laws which, before abolition of
the death penalty, had already death as the maximum penalty.‰
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743:
135
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Compelling Reasons
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preamble of RA 7659 made some attempt at meeting this
requirement. But such effort was at best feeble and
inconsequential. It should be remembered that every word
or phrase in the Constitution is
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27
on and on, in the same manner that another proposition
·that the real deterrent to crime is the certainty of
immediate arrest, prosecution and conviction of the culprit
without unnecessary risk, expense and inconvenience to
the victim, his heirs or his witnesses·can be argued
28
indefinitely. This debate can last till the academics grow
weary of the spoken word, but it would not lessen the
constitutionally-imposed burden of Congress to act within
the „heinousness‰ and „compelling reasons‰ limits of its
death-prescribing power.
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death penalty. At any rate, does the sponsor think that in removing
the death penalty, it would not affect, one way or another, the crime
rate of the country?
FR. BERNAS. The position taken by the majority of those who
voted in favor of this provision is that means other than the death
penalty should be used for the prevention of crime.‰
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„(1) Since the reimposition of the death penalty, 186 persons have
been sentenced to death. At the end of 1994, there were 24 death
penalty convicts, at the end of 1995, the number rose to 90; an
average of seven (7) convicts per month; double the monthly
average of capital sentences imposed the prior year. From January
to June 1996, the number of death penalty convicts reached 72, an
average of 12 convicts per month, almost double the monthly
average of capital sentences imposed in 1995.
(2) Of the 165 convicts polled, approximately twenty one percent
(21%) earn between P200 to P2,900 monthly; while approximately
twenty seven percent (27%) earn between P3,000 to P3,999 monthly.
Those earning above P4,000 monthly are exceedingly few: seven
percent (7%) earn between P4,000 to P4,999, four percent (4%) earn
between P5,000 to P5,999, seven percent (7%) earn between P6,000 to
P6,999, those earning between P7,000 to P15,000 comprise only four
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percent (4%), those earning P15,000 and above only one percent
(1%). Approximately thirteen percent (13%) earn nothing at all,
while approximately two percent (2%) earn subsistence wages with
another five percent (5%) earning variable income. Approximately
nine percent (9%) do not know how much they earn in a month.
(3) Thus, approximately two-thirds of the convicts, about 112 of
them, earn below the government-mandated minimum monthly
wage of P4,290; ten (10) of these earn below the official poverty line
set by government. Twenty six (26) earn between P4,500.00 and
P11,000.00 monthly, indicating they belong to the middle class; only
one (1) earns P30,000.00 monthly. Nine (9) convicts earn variable
income or earn on a percentage or allowance basis; fifteen (15)
convicts do not know or are ensure of their monthly income. Twenty
two (22) convicts earn nothing at all.
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Epilogue
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encyclical Evangelium Vitae (A Hymn to Life),
„punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided
upon, and ought not
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„55. This should not cause surprise: to kill a human being, in whom
the image of God is present, is a particularly serious sin. Only God
is the master of life! Yet from the beginning, faced with the many
and often tragic cases which occur in the life of individuals and
society, Christian reflection has sought a fuller and deeper
understanding of what GodÊs commandment prohibits and
prescribes. There are, in fact, situations in which values proposed
by GodÊs Law seem to involve a genuine paradox. This happens for
example in the case of legitimate defence, in which the right to
protect oneÊs own life and the duty not to harm someone elseÊs life
are difficult to reconcile in practice. Certainly, the intrinsic value of
life and the duty to love oneself no less than others are the basis of
a true right to self-defence. The demanding commandment of love of
neighbor, set forth in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus,
itself presupposes love of oneself as the basis of comparison: ÂYou
shall love your neighbor as yourselfÊ (Mk 12:31). Consequently, no
one can renounce the right to self-defence out of lack of love for life
or for self. This can only be done in virtue of a heroic love which
deepens and transfigures the love of self into a radical self-offering,
according to the spirit of the Gospel Beatitudes (cf. Mt. 5:38-40).
The sublime example of this self-offering is the Lord Jesus himself.
Moreover, Âlegitimate defence can be not only a right but a grave
duty for someone responsible for anotherÊs life, the common good of
the family or of the State.Ê Unfortunately it happens that the need
to render the aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes
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thus, in the end, with GodÊs plan for man and society. The primary purpose of
the punishment which society inflicts is „to redress the disorder caused by the
offence.‰ Public authority must redress the violation of personal and social
rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a
condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this
way authority also fulfills the purpose of defending public order and ensuring
peopleÊs safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and
help to change his or her behavior and be rehabilitated.
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It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of
the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not
go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute
necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend
society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization
of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.
In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic
Church remains valid: „If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives
against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons,
public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better
correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in
conformity to the dignity of the human person.‰
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