G.R. No. 117483 -84 December 12, 1997
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. NORLITO CARA, EMILIANO LORENZANA, ROBERT NATIVIDAD and DIONISIO PAULO, accused-appellants.

FACTS

On the night of June 29, 1991, during an induction program at the Barangay Colorado Community Center, accused-appellants, all CAFGU members under Cpl. Reynaldo Dugay, fired a gun while drunk. Barangay Captain Abelardo Esquivel reprimanded them and told them to leave. They returned later in full battle gear, danced with their firearms, and were again reprimanded by Esquivel, which angered them. Esquivel and his group left for his house. The accused followed and surrounded the house. When Cpl. Dugay called for Esquivel to come out, his son Bernardo went out instead. Dugay grabbed Bernardo, who ran back. At Dugay’s order, all accused fired at Bernardo, hitting him. Witnesses Romeo Chan and George Prudenciano saw the accused fire. Leonida Esquivel, Bernardo’s mother, ran to help him and was also fired upon and hit. Both managed to get inside the house. While neighbors were preparing a hammock to bring the wounded to the hospital, Gertulo Nario was hit by a bullet from the accused and died instantly. Bernardo and Leonida Esquivel survived due to medical treatment. Two Informations were filed: one for the murder of Hertulo/Gertulo Nario and one for the double frustrated murder of Bernardo and Leonida Esquivel. The Regional Trial Court convicted each accused of two counts of frustrated homicide and one count of murder. The accused appealed.

ISSUE

The main issues involved the appreciation of conspiracy, the credibility of evidence, and the legal characterization of the killing as murder when committed “with the aid of armed men.”

RULING

The Supreme Court AFFIRMED the trial court’s decision in Criminal Case No. Br. 20-479, finding appellants guilty of murder for the death of Gertulo Nario. The Court MODIFIED the decision in Criminal Case No. Br. 20-369, finding appellants guilty beyond reasonable doubt of two counts of frustrated murder (not frustrated homicide) for the shootings of Bernardo and Leonida Esquivel. The Court held that conspiracy was proven by the accused’s collective and simultaneous firing of guns at the victims upon Dugay’s order. The killing of Nario was qualified as murder due to the circumstance of “aid of armed men,” as the accused, all armed, acted in concert to ensure the commission of the crime. The Court found the prosecution witnesses credible. The penalty for each count of frustrated murder was set at an indeterminate penalty of six years, one month, and eleven days of prision mayor, as minimum, to twelve years, five months, and eleven days of reclusion temporal, as maximum. The award of moral damages was deleted for lack of factual basis. Civil indemnity and actual damages for Nario’s death were sustained.