GR L 38348; (January, 1983) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-38348 January 27, 1983
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ERNESTO ONAVIA, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
The accused, Ernesto Onavia, was a prisoner serving a sentence of reclusion perpetua for Robbery in Band with Double Homicide and Multiple Rape at the New Bilibid Prisons. He was a member of the “Genuine Ilocano Gang” (GIG). On April 4, 1971, he and another inmate, Romeo Pasmala, fatally stabbed Federico Mansilungan, a member of the rival “Sigue-sigue Commando Gang,” inside the prison compound. The victim sustained multiple mortal stab wounds. An information for Murder qualified by treachery and evident premeditation, and attended by recidivism, was filed. After the prosecution rested its case, the accused, through counsel, moved to withdraw his plea of not guilty and substitute it with a plea of guilty. The trial court accepted the plea but still allowed the accused to testify. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court correctly appreciated the qualifying and aggravating circumstances and properly imposed the death penalty.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The Court held that the killing constituted Murder qualified by evident premeditation. The accused’s own testimony and sworn statement established that his gang leader had ordered him to kill any rival gang member, and he armed himself and waited for an opportunity, which demonstrated the requisite planning and determination. However, the Court found that treachery was not present because the attack was frontal and the victim, a fellow inmate and gang member, could have been aware of the potential danger, negating the element of surprise. The special aggravating circumstance of quasi-recidivism under Article 160 of the Revised Penal Code was properly applied since the accused committed the felony while serving his sentence. This circumstance mandates the imposition of the penalty in its maximum period, which for Murder is death. Nevertheless, the Court, considering the accused’s plea of guilty as an indication of submission to the law and a moral disposition to reform, and due to the lack of sufficient votes to affirm the death penalty, reduced the sentence to reclusion perpetua. The civil indemnity was also increased to P12,000.00.