AVELINO ANGELES, PETITIONER, V. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

Before this Court is the petitioner’s Motion For Reconsideration of the Decision Promulgated on February 28, 2014.^[1]

The petitioner seeks the reconsideration of our Decision, which dismissed his Petition for Review
and affirmed the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Naic, Cavite,
Branch 15 finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of
acts of lasciviousness.

The petitioner’s motion must fail.

First, contrary to the petitioner’s allegation that he received a
copy of our Decision on March 13, 2014, the Registry Return Card^[2]
plainly reveals that his counsel received the said Decision on March
12, 2014. Thus, the petitioner had fifteen (15) days from notice
thereof or until March 27, 2014 to file his motion for reconsideration.
However, the petitioner filed the instant motion on March 28, 2014 or a
day late. This is clearly violative of Section 1, Rule 52 of the 1997
Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended, which provides:

“Section 1. Period for filing. — A party may file a
motion for reconsideration of a judgment or final resolution within
fifteen (15) days from notice thereof, with proof of service on the
adverse party.”

Second, even if we brush aside the above technical lapse, a careful
examination of the motion reveals that the arguments raised therein are a
mere rehash of the arguments previously found and raised in the Petition for Review,
which have already been fully considered and passed upon by this Court.
It must be stressed that discussing each and every issue and/or
argument all over again would be a useless ritual, which will surely
waste this Court’s time, effort, and resources. Hence, in the absence
of any new and substantial argument, this Court finds no cogent reason
to reverse, modify or reconsider our Decision.

WHEREFORE, in view of the above premises, the instant Motion For Reconsideration of the Decision Promulgated on February 28, 2014 is DENIED.

SO ORDERED.

Sorongon^[*] and Inting,^[**] JJ., concur.

^[*] Vice Justice Ricardo R. Rosario, per Raffle conducted on May 5, 2014.

^[**] Vice Justice Leoncia R. Dimagiba, per Raffle conducted on May 5, 2014.

^[1] Rollo, pp. 96-102.

^[2] Rollo, p. 86 (dorsal portion).