G.R. No. 29151 , November 19, 1928
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ELIAS CABONIALDA, defendant-appellant.

Ponente: Avanceña, C.J.

FACTS

On or about October 24, 1927, in Barrio San Antonio, Basey, Samar, the victim Arcadio Tabunda went to a well to fetch water. The appellant, Elias Cabonialda, who suspected Tabunda of taking palawan leaves from his orchard, attacked Tabunda with a stick, leaving him unconscious. Feliciana Baya, Tabunda’s common-law wife, heard his cries for help and witnessed Cabonialda beating the unconscious Tabunda with the stick. She helped Tabunda home, where he suffered from pain, bruises, and swelling on his abdomen, shoulder, and left forearm. Tabunda died twenty-one days after the assault.

Cabonialda admitted hitting Tabunda on the left temple during an encounter but raised two defenses: (1) he acted in self-defense, claiming Tabunda initiated the attack and later slipped and fell while carrying water; and (2) Tabunda’s death was due to his poor health resulting from a prior accident where he was run over by a hand car three years earlier.

ISSUE

Whether the appellant, Elias Cabonialda, is criminally liable for the death of Arcadio Tabunda.

RULING

Yes, the appellant is criminally liable for homicide. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of First Instance of Samar.

The Court rejected the appellant’s claim of self-defense as incredible, noting that the deceased was a cripple, smaller, and thinner than the appellant, making it unlikely that the deceased initiated the attack. The claim that the deceased slipped and fell was deemed highly improbable and unproven.

The Court also rejected the defense that the victim’s prior health condition caused his death. It ruled that even if the blows inflicted by the appellant caused death because the victim was not in good health, such circumstance does not exempt the appellant from criminal liability, citing precedents (*U.S. vs. Samea*, 15 Phil. 227; *U.S. vs. Fenix*, 11 Phil. 95).

The judgment finding the appellant guilty of homicide and sentencing him to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of *reclusion temporal*, with accessories, indemnification of the heirs in the amount of P1,000, and payment of costs, was affirmed.