G.R. No. L-8325 October 25, 1955
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. AVELINO PANTIG, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Manila. The court acquitted the appellant, Avelino Pantig, of the crime of estafa. However, in the same judgment of acquittal, the court ordered him to pay the offended party, Consuelo R. Pablo, the amount of P1,200. This sum was alleged in the information to have been obtained through false and fraudulent representations. The trial court found as a fact that the P1,200 was received by the defendant-appellant as a loan.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court, after acquitting the defendant of the criminal charge of estafa, can still order him to pay a civil liability to the offended party in the same criminal case.

RULING

No. The portion of the judgment ordering the payment of P1,200 is revoked. The Supreme Court ruled that the civil liability included in a criminal action is only that which arises from and is a consequence of the criminal act. Since the defendant-appellant was acquitted of the crime charged, no civil liability arising from that criminal act can be imposed upon him in the criminal case. The trial court’s own finding that the money was received as a loan established that the liability for its return arises from a civil contract (of loan), not from a criminal act. Such civil liability may not be enforced in the criminal proceeding. The acquittal is affirmed, but the order for payment is set aside, without prejudice to the filing of a separate civil action for the recovery of the amount.