G.R. No. 124127 June 29, 1998
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. REY SOLIS, accused-appellant.

FACTS

On October 12, 1994, at the Mangaldan Public Market, accused-appellant Rey Solis was charged with murder for stabbing Eduardo Uligan. The prosecution presented eyewitness Flora Cera, who testified that she saw Solis, from a distance of about one and a half meters, come from behind Uligan, strangle him, and stab him once in the left chest with a “balisong” knife. The victim died from the wound. The defense presented only Solis, who admitted the killing but claimed self-defense. He testified that he accidentally bumped the victim, who then slapped him and pulled out a knife; they grappled for the knife, and Solis, after wresting it away, stabbed Uligan while holding him by the neck. The Regional Trial Court found Solis guilty of murder qualified by treachery and sentenced him to death. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court for automatic review.

ISSUE

1. Whether the trial court erred in finding accused-appellant guilty of murder qualified by treachery.
2. Whether the trial court erred in sentencing accused-appellant to death and in not considering the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender.

RULING

1. The trial court erred in finding the killing to be murder qualified by treachery. The Supreme Court found that the prosecution failed to prove the qualifying circumstance of treachery. The eyewitness account did not establish that the accused employed means, methods, or forms in the execution of the crime that deliberately ensured its execution without risk to himself from any defense the victim might make. The attack from behind, while the victim was buying ingredients, did not per se constitute treachery as the victim could have been aware of the aggression. The killing was therefore homicide, not murder.
2. The trial court erred in imposing the death penalty. The Supreme Court modified the penalty. Since the crime committed is homicide under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code, and no mitigating or aggravating circumstances were present, the penalty is reclusion temporal in its medium period. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, accused-appellant is sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of Nine (9) years and Four (4) months of prision mayor as minimum to Sixteen (16) years, Five (5) months and Nine (9) days of reclusion temporal as maximum. The claim of voluntary surrender was not proven, as the accused’s act of seeking assistance to surrender was not spontaneous and he was apprehended by police officers.
The Supreme Court also modified the award of damages, reducing the actual damages to P6,400.00 (from P68,000.00) for lack of sufficient evidence, while sustaining the awards of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity and P50,000.00 as moral damages. The forfeiture of the knife was sustained.