G.R. Nos. 111098-99; April 3, 2003
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. PIO BISO alias BISOY, EDUARDO YALONG alias BULOY, appellants.

FACTS

On February 16, 1984, Dario Pacaldo made sexual advances on Teresita Yalong at her family’s eatery in Tondo, Manila. Teresita’s brother, appellant Eduardo Yalong, witnessed the act but was unable to intervene due to Dario’s superior size. The incident was reported to the police, and Dario was apprehended but later released after a failed settlement. Enraged, Eduardo sought out his cousin, appellant Pio Biso, an ex-convict. Together with two others, they lay in wait for Dario near his home. Upon Dario’s arrival, the group assaulted him. An eyewitness, Porfirio Perdigones, saw Eduardo hold Dario while Pio stabbed him with a fan knife. Eduardo also stabbed the victim. The mortally wounded Dario managed to crawl home and, before dying, identified his assailants to his father and brother as Eduardo, Pio, and their two companions.

ISSUE

Whether the appellants are guilty of murder qualified by treachery.

RULING

Yes, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for murder but modified the penalty. The Court found that the prosecution proved the appellants’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt through the credible and consistent testimonies of the eyewitness, Porfirio Perdigones, and the dying declarations of the victim to his father and brother. These declarations, made with full consciousness of impending death, are admissible as evidence. The qualifying circumstance of treachery was duly established. The attack was sudden and unexpected, executed in a manner that deprived the unarmed victim of any chance to defend himself. The appellants consciously adopted this mode of attack, as evidenced by their lying in wait. However, the Court applied the Indeterminate Sentence Law favorably to appellant Pio Biso, modifying his penalty to an indeterminate sentence. The appellants were also ordered to pay civil indemnity and exemplary damages to the victim’s heirs.