GR L 2190; (October, 1949) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2190; October 19, 1949
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FRANCISCO ABALOS, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
During the Japanese occupation, appellant Francisco Abalos, a constabulary soldier, was part of a detachment that went on patrol to Gandara, Samar. In the early morning of May 14, 1944, the group, seeking a guerrilla named Maximo Cabueños, arrived at a house where they found Vicente Cipriano, whom they used as a guide. While the soldiers encircled the barrio, Abalos and another soldier, Artemio Merida, accompanied by Cipriano, went to the house of Jesus Rama. Upon their arrival, Maximo Cabueños jumped out of a window and fled to a ricefield. Abalos pursued and shot Cabueños, hitting him in the stomach, which caused his death that same afternoon. The prosecution presented eyewitnesses Merida and Cipriano. The defense was alibi, with Abalos claiming he was merely guarding the bancas used by the detachment and did not shoot the victim.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in convicting Francisco Abalos of murder.
RULING
No, but the crime is homicide, not murder. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the offense. The defense of alibi was insufficient to overcome the direct and positive testimony of the prosecution witnesses. However, the qualifying circumstance of treachery was not present. The shooting was sudden, prompted by the victim’s flight, and the positions of both were accidental, not deliberately chosen by the accused to ensure the execution without risk. Therefore, appellant is guilty only of homicide under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code. The penalty was modified to an indeterminate sentence ranging from 6 years and 1 day of prision mayor to 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day of reclusion temporal.
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