G.R. No. L-68940 May 9, 1988
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MATEO ABAGON and ABNER ONGONION, accused-appellants.

FACTS

The accused-appellants, Mateo Abagon and Abner Ongonion, were charged with Murder for the killing of Celis Lupango on the evening of April 17, 1981, in Barangay Pinamarubuhan, Mobo, Masbate. The prosecution evidence established that the victim was celebrating a birthday inside a store when Ongonion and Abagon entered and successively stabbed him. After Lupango fell, the assailants left. When the victim’s brother and others attempted to carry him for medical aid, they were fired upon by a group including the appellants. The group then approached the prostrate victim and took turns stabbing him with bolos and knives. The post-mortem examination revealed multiple fatal stab and incised wounds.
The defense presented alibis and a conflicting narrative. Abagon claimed he was at home and only went to the scene after hearing commotion. Ongonion admitted the killing but claimed self-defense, alleging that the victim initially attacked him with a knife during a struggle inside the store, and he stabbed Lupango in response. He denied the presence of Abagon and the subsequent group attack outside the store. The trial court rejected these defenses, convicted both appellants of murder, and sentenced them accordingly.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether the trial court correctly convicted the appellants of the crime of murder, qualified by treachery and committed in conspiracy.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalties. The Court found the prosecution’s version credible and rejected the defenses. Ongonion’s claim of self-defense failed because he did not prove unlawful aggression by the victim; his own testimony indicated he gained possession of the knife and continued to stab the already wounded victim, indicating a vindictive intent rather than a defensive act. The alibi of Abagon was likewise dismissed as weak and unsubstantiated.
The Court ruled that conspiracy was sufficiently established. The appellants acted in concert with a unity of purpose and execution, entering the store together to attack the unsuspecting victim. Treachery was also present, as the attack was sudden and unexpected, ensuring the execution of the crime without risk to the assailants from any defense the victim could make. Given the abolition of the death penalty, the proper penalty for murder is reclusion temporal maximum to reclusion perpetua. For Abagon, with no modifying circumstances, the penalty was set in its medium period. For Ongonion, the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender warranted the penalty in its minimum period. The indemnity to the heirs was increased to Thirty Thousand Pesos (P30,000.00).