GR 108084; (August, 1995) (Digest)
G.R. No. 108084. August 14, 1995.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. TIMOTEO SABAL, ANTONIO LASPONA, and BEN SEPADA, accused. ANTONIO LASPONA, accused-appellant.
FACTS
The accused, Antonio Laspona, along with Timoteo Sabal and Ben Sepada, was charged with Murder for the killing of Sergio Dejoras. The information alleged that on December 7, 1986, in Toledo City, the three accused, armed with rifles, conspired and shot Dejoras with treachery and evident premeditation. Only Laspona was arrested and tried; his co-accused remained at large. The prosecution presented eyewitness Marcelo Alcontin, who testified that after a community meeting, the three armed accused followed Dejoras and his companion. Alcontin, ordered to follow them, witnessed from 30-40 meters away as the three accused simultaneously fired their rifles at the victims, causing Dejoras’s instant death. The defense consisted solely of Laspona’s denial and alibi that he was at his house in another barangay at the time.
The Regional Trial Court convicted Laspona of Murder, sentencing him to an indeterminate penalty. On appeal, the Court of Appeals determined the proper penalty was reclusion perpetua and, pursuant to procedural rules, certified the case to the Supreme Court for final review.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals correctly found accused-appellant Antonio Laspona guilty of Murder qualified by abuse of superior strength.
RULING
Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The Court upheld the trial court’s assessment of witness credibility, finding Marcelo Alcontin’s positive identification of Laspona as one of the armed assailants to be clear, credible, and consistent. His testimony established that Laspona, together with his two co-accused, acted in concert to attack the unarmed victims suddenly from behind, exploiting their numerical and weaponry advantage. This constituted the qualifying circumstance of abuse of superior strength, correctly modifying the killing from Homicide to Murder.
The legal logic is twofold. First, conspiracy was sufficiently proven by the accused’s collective and simultaneous action in firing at the victims. Consequently, precise evidence on which accused inflicted the fatal wound was unnecessary; the act of one is imputed to all conspirators. Second, for the penalty, Murder under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code is punishable by reclusion temporal to death. With no aggravating or mitigating circumstances proven, the prescribed penalty is the medium period, which is reclusion perpetua. The Court thus modified the penalty from the RTC’s imposition and sentenced Laspona to reclusion perpetua, with corresponding civil indemnity.