People of the Philippines Vs. Aubrey Enriquez Soria G.R. No. 248372. August 27, 2020

'''People of the Philippines Vs. Aubrey Enriquez Soria G.R. No. 248372. August 27, 2020 '''is part of the List of SC Decisions of the Supreme Court. xxx

Case Details

 * People of the Philippines Vs. Aubrey Enriquez Soria
 * G.R. No. 248372. August 27, 2020
 * Peralta
 * https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/66324
 * Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1613, otherwise known as the New Arson Law.

Issues
The CA affirmed the findings of the trial court that the conviction of the appellant is justified upon circumstantial evidence. The appellate court held that the circumstances point to appellant as the author of the crime. As to appellant's contention that her admission of guilt made before news reporter Sorote should not be considered as it was not done intelligently and was made with coercion, the CA observed that appellant voluntarily agreed to take part in the interview and even provided details on how the arson was committed.

Both the trial and appellate courts held that the following circumstances point to the logical conclusion that appellant commenced and caused the fire: Here, Sorote interviewed appellant in person after she was arrested by the police investigators. As correctly observed by the CA, appellant had not only agreed to be interviewed; she also provided details on why and how she perpetrated the offense, thus the admission of guilt made before Sorote is admissible in evidence against her.
 * 1)         February 22, 2012, at about 2 a.m., Parcon, Jr. and his family were sleeping in their house at Holy Family Village I, Banilad, Cebu City;
 * 2)         After having been roused from his sleep by [the] smell of smoke, Parcon, Jr. leaped from his bed and slightly opened the door of his room to check outside;
 * 3)         Parcon, Jr. saw a thick cloud of smoke on the second floor and fire spreading on their stairs;
 * 4)         Parcon, Jr. opened the fire exit by the window of their bedroom and hi s family passed [through] it to jump onto the roof of their garage, away from the fire;
 * 5)         The firemen recovered the burned remains of Cornelia Tagalog and noted that accused-appellant was missing;
 * 6)         At early dawn on even date, Parcon, Jr.'s neighbor, the witness Umandak spoke with accused-appellant who had with her a bag which later turned out to be owned by the deceased Cornelia Tagalog, and that appellant had fled the village by climbing over a fence and jumping over to the adjacent Holy [F]amily Village II;
 * 7)         At about 6:00 a.m., another resident of Holy Family Village I, witness Umandak, told Parcon, Jr. that he saw and spoke with a woman, later identified as the appellant;
 * 8)         After the appellant was arrested following a hot pursuit operation, police investigators recovered from the appellant two cellular phones that belonged to Parcon, Jr. as well as a handbag, cash and personal effects belonging to the deceased Cornelia Tagalog as identified by Parcon, Jr. and Cornelia (sic)[.]
 * 9)         Appellant admitted to a news reporter that she burned employment documents inside Parcon, Jr.'s house and that she was willing to face the consequences of her actions.

Clearly, appellant's confession to the news reporter was given free from any undue influence from the police authorities. Sorote acted as a member of the media when he interviewed appellant, and there was evidence presented that would show that Sorote was acting under the direction and control of the police. More importantly, appellant voluntarily supplied the details surrounding the commission of the offense.

Decisions
WHEREFORE, the Court AFFIRMS the Decision of the Court of Appeals, dated April 30, 2019, in CA-G.R. CEB CR. HC. No. 02503, finding appellant Aubrey Enriquez Soria GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Arson with Homicide, with the following MODIFICATIONS:

(1) The awarded civil indemnity to the heirs of Cornelia Tagalog is INCREASED to Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (P75,000.00); (2) The award of moral damages in favor of the heirs of Cornelia Tagalog is INCREASED to Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (P75,000.00); (3) The award of exemplary damages in favor of the heirs of Cornelia Tagalog is INCREASED to Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (P75,000.00); (4) The award of exemplary damages in favor of Mariano Parcon, Jr. is INCREASED to Seventy-Five Thousand Pesos (P75,000.00); and (5) Appellant is also ordered to pay interest on these amounts at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum from the time of finality of this Resolution until fully paid.

SO ORDERED.

Caguioa, J. Reyes, Jr., Lazaro-Javier, and Lopez, JJ., concur.