GR 112721; (March, 1995) (Digest)
G.R. No. 112721 March 15, 1995
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. EFREN RIVERO, accused-appellant.
FACTS
Accused-appellant Efren Rivero was charged with the murder of his father-in-law, Leon Gutierrez. The prosecution’s evidence established that on March 18, 1982, in San Ramon, Lagonoy, Camarines Sur, while Leon Gutierrez was walking along a path with Demetrio San Juan ahead of him, Efren Rivero attacked Gutierrez from behind with a bolo, inflicting thirteen fatal hack wounds, which caused his death. The victim was found dead about thirty meters from the accused’s house. The accused-appellant claimed self-defense, alleging that the victim, armed with a bolo, forced his way into his house and attacked him first, prompting him to retaliate. The trial court rejected this defense, finding the prosecution’s version credible and convicting Rivero of murder, sentencing him to reclusion perpetua.
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether the accused-appellant acted in complete self-defense, thereby justifying the killing and exempting him from criminal liability.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty. The Court ruled that the accused-appellant failed to prove the essential requisites of self-defense: unlawful aggression on the part of the victim, reasonable necessity of the means employed, and lack of sufficient provocation. The Court found the accused’s version not credible, as the victim was found dead thirty meters away from the house, and no bloodstains were presented to support the claim that the attack occurred inside. The nature and number of wounds (thirteen hack wounds) inflicted on the victim, including one at the back, indicated a sudden attack from behind without risk to the accused, constituting treachery, which qualified the killing to murder. The Court appreciated the mitigating circumstances of voluntary surrender and sufficient threat from the victim but offset one with the alternative circumstance of relationship. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the penalty was reduced to an indeterminate sentence ranging from ten (10) years and one (1) day of prison mayor maximum as minimum to seventeen (17) years, four (4) months, and one (1) day of reclusion temporal maximum as maximum.