G.R. No. 104872 -73 June 1, 1994
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Elbert Amar y Soledad and Aldefonso de la Pena y Hernandez, accused-appellants.

FACTS

Accused-appellants Elbert Amar and Aldefonso de la Pena were charged with murder in two separate informations for the killing of Emmanuel Caballero on June 26, 1988. The prosecution’s case, established mainly through eyewitness Virgilio de Luna, was that at about 6:00 p.m., Amadeo Lactao, the two accused, and two others were having a drinking session when Sgt. Caballero passed by. After declining an invitation to drink and proceeding to de Luna’s house, Caballero passed the group again. Lactao shot at Caballero but hit Amar instead. Caballero then drew his service pistol and shot Lactao. De la Pena then hacked Caballero’s right hand with a bolo, causing him to drop his gun. Amar then repeatedly stabbed Caballero with what appeared to be an icepick. As Caballero fell, Lactao got up and shot him four times. Caballero died on the spot. The defense presented a different version, claiming Caballero initially accosted Lactao, shot him, and that Amar was merely trying to pacify Caballero while de la Pena stood shocked, with Virgilio de Luna being the aggressor who tried to stab Amar. The Regional Trial Court convicted both accused of murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. They appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in finding the appellants guilty beyond reasonable doubt based on uncorroborated eyewitness testimony allegedly contradicting autopsy findings, in not crediting the defense eyewitness testimonies, and in failing to appreciate ill motive on the part of prosecution witness Virgilio de Luna.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction with modifications. The Court found the prosecution’s account, as testified by Virgilio de Luna, to be more consistent with the autopsy findings, which showed Caballero suffered multiple gunshot wounds, four stab wounds, an incised wound, a lacerated wound, and a hack wound. The defense version was deemed unbelievable as it could not account for how Caballero sustained four stab wounds given the persons they claimed were present. The Court held that the accused-appellants, together with the deceased Amadeo Lactao, conspired to inflict injury on Caballero. However, the qualifying circumstance of evident premeditation was not clearly established; thus, the crime was homicide, not murder. The penalty was modified to an indeterminate sentence of 8 years and 1 day of prision mayor as minimum to 14 years, 8 months and 1 day of reclusion temporal as maximum. The civil indemnity was increased from P30,000.00 each to P50,000.00 each.