G.R. No. 173822 ; October 13, 2010
SALVADOR ATIZADO and SALVADOR MONREAL, Petitioners, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.

FACTS

Petitioners Salvador Atizado and Salvador Monreal, along with Danilo Atizado, were charged with the murder of Rogelio Llona on April 18, 1994, in Castilla, Sorsogon. The prosecution’s eyewitness, Simeona Mirandilla, Llona’s common-law wife, testified that she and the victim were at a house when she heard gunshots. She saw Atizado pointing a gun at the already prostrate Llona and, after shouting at him, she then saw Monreal pointing his gun at her while adjusting its cylinder. The petitioners fled. Medical evidence confirmed Llona died from two gunshot wounds in the back. The defense interposed alibi, claiming the petitioners were elsewhere, and suggested they were implicated only because they worked for an uncle alleged to be the mastermind. The Regional Trial Court convicted Atizado and Monreal of murder qualified by treachery, sentencing each to reclusion perpetua. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the petitioners’ conviction for murder based on the eyewitness testimony of Mirandilla.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty for Monreal due to his minority. The Court upheld the credibility of Mirandilla’s testimony. Her positive identification of the petitioners, given her proximity to the event and the illumination from a nearby lamp post, was found credible and sufficient for conviction. The defense of alibi cannot prevail over this positive identification. The qualifying circumstance of treachery was correctly appreciated as the attack from behind was sudden, rendering the victim defenseless. However, the Court found that Monreal was a minor, being 17 years old at the time of the crime. Applying the penalty provisions for a minor under Article 68 of the Revised Penal Code, the penalty next lower in degree than reclusion perpetua should be imposed. The indeterminate sentence law being inapplicable, and with no aggravating circumstances, the penalty imposed is the minimum period of the penalty next lower, which is prision mayor in its minimum period. Since Monreal had already served more than this modified sentence, the Court ordered his immediate release. The awards for civil indemnity and moral damages were increased to ₱75,000.00 each, and temperate damages of ₱25,000.00 were granted in lieu of actual damages.