GR L 11089; (June, 1958) (Digest)
March 11, 2026GR 130140 Puno (Digest)
March 11, 2026G.R. No. 135065; August 8, 2001
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. BENNY CABANGCALA y ABRASIA, RENATO CABANGCALA y ABRASIA alias “RENE”, and DANILO CABANGCALA y ABRASIA alias “DANNY”, accused-appellants.
FACTS
On February 7, 1997, in Barangay Pangangaan, Umingan, Pangasinan, accused-appellants Benny, Renato, and Danilo Cabangcala, together with their cousin Rovellano Abrasia, conspired to kill Dionisio “Isio” Pascual. The plan was formed after drinking gin, prompted by a prior quarrel between the victim’s son and the appellants’ younger brother. Danny monitored the victim’s location throughout the evening. When the victim was walking home, the appellants ambushed him. Benny struck the victim twice on the head with a bamboo pole. All three brothers then mauled him, ignoring his pleas for mercy. Danny made a statement indicating the motive was vengeance for being clubbed by the victim’s son. After rendering the victim unconscious, they carried him to a field, mauled him further, transported his body via sled to the mountains of Barangay Ricos, buried him in a pit, and covered it with soil. The victim was reported missing on March 14, 1997. Following an investigation and the statement of eyewitness Rovellano Abrasia, the police exhumed the victim’s cadaver on March 25, 1997. The post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death as cerebral hemorrhage secondary to multiple skull fractures. The appellants were arrested while preparing to leave their home.
ISSUE
The primary issue for automatic review and appeal was the correctness of the judgment, particularly the imposition of the death penalty for the crime of murder, and the determination of the proper penalties for all accused-appellants, considering that one was a minor at the time of the crime.
RULING
The Supreme Court AFFIRMED the conviction for murder but MODIFIED the penalties. The death penalty imposed by the trial court on Benny and Renato Cabangcala was reduced to reclusion perpetua, as no aggravating circumstances were present. For Danilo Cabangcala, who was a minor, the penalty was lowered by one degree to prision mayor maximum to reclusion temporal medium (10 years and 1 day to 17 years and 4 months). Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, his sentence was set at 6 years and 1 day of prision mayor minimum, as minimum, to 14 years and 3 months of reclusion temporal minimum, as maximum. The appellants were also ordered to solidarily pay the heirs of Dionisio Pascual P50,000.00 as civil indemnity and P50,000.00 as moral damages.
