G.R. No. L-3740 November 26, 1951
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. DONATO TORTUGA, JOSE TORTUGA, VICENTE TORTUGA, MARCELINO TORTUGA and ANDRES TORTUGA, defendants. MARCELINO TORTUGA, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

Lorenzo Torreon was killed on October 9, 1944, in Cantamugday, Jetafe, Bohol. Donato Tortuga and his sons Jose, Vicente, Marcelino, Andres, and Marciano (the latter killed by guerillas after arrest) were charged with murder. The Court of First Instance of Bohol acquitted Donato, Jose, Vicente, and Andres on reasonable doubt but convicted Marcelino Tortuga of homicide, considering abuse of superior strength and the victim’s age (over 60). Marcelino was sentenced to an indeterminate penalty and appealed.
The prosecution evidence showed that on the morning of the incident, Lorenzo Torreon hired laborers to plow his land. Donato Tortuga and his armed sons (with bolos, Marcelino with a spear) approached. The laborers fled. The Tortugas crossed a creek to where Lorenzo was. When Lorenzo shouted to talk things over, Jose told him to drop his bolo, which he did. Marciano then hacked him from behind, and Jose stabbed him in the abdomen. As Lorenzo tried to flee, his trousers got caught on a barbed wire fence; he stumbled, rose, but was speared in the back by Marcelino. After he fell, the group continued attacking him until he died. An inquest revealed multiple wounds and bruises on the body.
The defense, through barrio lieutenant Maximo Enriquez (a relative of the Tortugas), claimed that only Marciano killed Lorenzo due to a dispute over destroyed cornfields, and that the other accused were elsewhere. The defense argued that the eyewitness accounts were unreliable because one described wound did not match the weapon.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of First Instance erred in convicting Marcelino Tortuga of homicide instead of murder, and whether the qualifying circumstance of treachery was present.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the judgment, finding Marcelino Tortuga guilty of murder. The Court held that the killing was attended by treachery. Lorenzo Torreon, after being ordered to drop his weapon, was defenseless when attacked from behind and by multiple assailants employing means to ensure the crime’s consummation without risk to themselves. This qualifying circumstance of treachery absorbs the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superior strength. The victim’s age (around 60) did not constitute disregard of respect due to age, as the crime was committed without regard to it. The crime is murder without other aggravating or mitigating circumstances. The penalty under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code was imposed in its medium period. Marcelino Tortuga was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, with accessories of law, to indemnify the heirs of the deceased in the sum of P2,000, and to pay one-fifth of the costs in the first instance and the costs in this instance.