MANILA — The security guard who was ran over by an SUV near a mall in Mandaluyong City last year has settled the criminal case against the driver of the SUV, his lawyer confirmed Monday.

“Nag-settle…And tinanggap naman dahil sabi nga e, kahit dalawang taon siyang hindi magtrabaho bilang security guard, mas malaki pa yung naibigay yata sa kanya na financial assistance,” lawyer Federico Biolena, co-counsel of security guard Christian Floralde, told ABS-CBN News in a phone call.

(He settled. He accepted the financial assistance because he said it's bigger than his 2-year pay.)

He declined to disclose how much the settlement amount was.

A dashcam video that later went viral captured the moment an SUV, driven by Jose Antonio Sanvicente, ran over Floralde.

• TIMELINE: The viral Mandaluyong hit-and-run incident

Prosecutors found probable cause to charge Sanvicente in court with frustrated homicide, saying there was intent to kill Floralde. They noted that he did not reduce his speed, stop nor change direction after Floralde was pinned by his vehicle.

• SUV driver in viral hit-and-run indicted for frustrated homicide

But Sanvicente, in September 2022, pleaded not guilty to the charge. His lawyers said what happened was an accident.

According to Biolena, the settlement led to the dismissal of the frustrated homicide charge against Sanvicente by a Mandaluyong court because his client accepted the defense of the accused.

“It was a necessary consequence…if there is no complainant, how can the case progress? And then yun na nga, tinatanggap naman ni Floralde yung depensa na talagang purely accidental, hindi sinasadya yung pagkasagasa sa kanya kung kaya’t pumayag na siya i-settle,” he explained.

“Tsaka hindi naman, sa tingin ko, kasi may x-ray naman at that time, nakita ko naman na up and about siya,” he added.

(Floralde accepted the defense that it was purely accidental, which is why he settled. There were x-ray results at that time and I also saw that he was up and about.)

Asked how his client was doing, Biolena said he has not had any communication with Floralde since he decided to accept the settlement around August or September last year.

Sought for comment, Sanvicente’s lawyer, Danny Macalino, instead referred ABS-CBN News to the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court.

The incident, which angered social media users, led to a manhunt for Sanvicente, who later surrendered to then-Philippine National Police officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. at Camp Crame.