G.R. No. 191194 ; October 20, 2010
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. ASTRO ASTROLABIO ASIS alias “MULOK/ TOTO,” Accused-Appellant.

FACTS

Accused-appellant Astro Astrolabio Asis was charged with the murder of Barangay Captain Kanapia Kinudalan. The prosecution evidence established that on the evening of August 21, 2003, at a videoke house in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, Asis, after a drinking session, approached Kinudalan, who was seated alone, and stabbed him four times. A waitress witnessed the sudden attack. The victim was brought to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival due to fatal stab wounds, including two that pierced his heart. A .45 caliber pistol was recovered from the victim’s waist.
Asis admitted to the killing but invoked self-defense. He claimed that when he approached Kinudalan, the latter made a motion as if to draw a weapon from his waist. Knowing the victim to be habitually armed, Asis alleged he stabbed him out of fear for his life, believing Kinudalan was about to shoot him.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals correctly affirmed the conviction of the accused-appellant for Murder, rejecting his claim of self-defense and appreciating the qualifying circumstance of treachery.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The legal logic is twofold. First, the claim of self-defense was correctly rejected. When an accused invokes self-defense, the burden of proof shifts to him to establish by clear and convincing evidence the concurrence of unlawful aggression, reasonable necessity of the means employed, and lack of sufficient provocation. Here, Asis failed to prove unlawful aggression on the part of the victim. The mere motion of the victim’s hand toward his waist, without any actual drawing or aiming of a weapon, does not constitute a positive act of real danger or imminent peril to life. Furthermore, the nature of the attack—four stab wounds, two fatally penetrating the heart—negates the reasonable necessity of the means employed for self-preservation.
Second, the killing was qualified by treachery. The essence of treachery is the employment of means, methods, or forms of execution that deliberately ensure the attack without risk to the aggressor from any defense the victim might make. The evidence showed that Asis suddenly approached the unsuspecting victim, who was seated and alone, and launched a swift and unexpected stabbing attack. This deprived Kinudalan of any opportunity to defend himself, as evidenced by the fact that his firearm remained tucked in his waist, unfired and undrawn. The mode of attack was deliberately adopted to accomplish the killing without risk to Asis. Therefore, the crime was properly classified as Murder, qualified by treachery, and the penalty of reclusion perpetua was correctly imposed.