Dying declaration; exception to hearsay evidence rule

For a dying declaration[1] to constitute an exception to the hearsay evidence rule,[2] four (4) conditions must concur: 

(a) The declaration must concern the cause and surrounding circumstances of the declarant's death; 

(b) That at the time the declaration was made, the declarant is conscious of his impending death; 

(c) The declarant was competent as a witness; and 

(d) The declaration is offered in a criminal case for Homicide, Murder, or Parricide where the declarant is the victim.[3] 

On the other hand, a statement to be deemed to form part of the res gestae, and thus, constitute another exception to the rule on hearsay evidence, requires the concurrence of the following requisites: 

(a) The principal act, the res gestae, is a startling occurrence; 

(b) The statements were made before the declarant had time to contrive or devise; and 

(c) The statements must concern the occurrence in question and its immediately attending circumstances.[4]

[1] Section 37, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court provides:

Section 37. Dying declaration. — The declaration of a dying person, made under the consciousness of an impending death, may be received in any case wherein his death is the subject of inquiry, as evidence of the cause and surrounding circumstances of such death.

[2] "Evidence is hearsay when its probative force depends in whole or in part on the competency and credibility of some persons other than the witness by whom it is sought to produce." (See Espineli v. People, G.R. No. 179535, June 9, 2014.) See also Section 36, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court.

[3] People v. Salafranca, G.R. No. 173476, February 22, 2012.

[4] People v. Villarico, Sr., 662 Phil. 399, 418 (2011).