GR 137613; (November, 2001) (Digest)
G.R. No. 137613 November 14, 2001
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROSALITO @ Liklik CABOQUIN Y DEL ROSARIO, accused-appellant.
FACTS
Accused-appellant Rosalito Caboquin was charged with Murder for the fatal stabbing of Pablito Talingting on October 3, 1991, in Kawayan, Biliran. Eyewitnesses Paquito Benaldo and Olivo Matuguinas testified that while they, the victim, and others were singing in front of a store, the accused suddenly appeared and repeatedly stabbed Pablito in the chest with a balisong. The attack was so swift that the group was stunned and motionless. The victim staggered and fell dead shortly after. The accused fled and evaded arrest for years until he was located in a Quezon City detention cell in 1995, where he was using the alias “Lito Mendoza.”
The accused interposed the defense of alibi, claiming he was in Malabon, Metro Manila, at the time of the incident, either at home or at a birthday party. He denied any knowledge of the killing until his turnover to Biliran authorities in 1995. The trial court rejected his defense, convicted him of Murder qualified by treachery, and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, also ordering him to pay moral damages to the victim’s heirs.
ISSUE
Whether or not the qualifying circumstance of treachery attended the killing, thereby properly qualifying it as Murder.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction for Murder. The legal logic centers on the proper appreciation of treachery (alevosia) under Article 14(16) of the Revised Penal Code. The Court held that treachery is present when the means of execution are deliberately and consciously adopted by the offender to ensure the offense’s commission without risk to himself arising from any defense the victim might make.
The attack, though frontal, was sudden and unexpected. The victim was unarmed and seated peacefully with friends, rendering him utterly defenseless. The swiftness of the assault insured its execution without any possibility of retaliation or self-defense from the victim or his companions. The essence of treachery—the adoption of a method that directly and specially ensures the act’s execution without risk to the aggressor—was thus satisfied. The penalty of reclusion perpetua was affirmed. The Court modified the damages, additionally awarding P50,000.00 as civil indemnity ex delicto, which is mandatory in murder cases, alongside the moral damages upheld by the trial court.