GR 32993; (September, 1976) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-32993 September 28, 1976
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. DOMINGO MANLANGIT, DEMOSTHENES MANLANGIT, and DEMETRIO MANLANGIT, defendants, DEMOSTHENES MANLANGIT, and DEMETRIO MANLANGIT, appellants.
FACTS
Laureto Urot was stabbed to death on November 17, 1969. Demetrio Manlangit and his sons, Demosthenes and Domingo, were prosecuted and convicted of murder by the lower court. Demetrio and Demosthenes were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, while Domingo received a lesser indeterminate penalty after his voluntary surrender was appreciated as a mitigating circumstance. Domingo later withdrew his appeal. Demosthenes and Demetrio appealed, contending that Domingo’s act was justifiable as defense of a relative, claiming Domingo intervened to save his father, Demetrio, who was allegedly prone on the ground and about to be knifed by Urot.
The prosecution’s evidence consisted of witnesses who testified to the attack. Buenaventura Omania stated he heard Urot shout he was attacked by three persons and saw the three Manlangits at the scene, but admitted it was twilight and he did not see who inflicted the stab wounds. Clecio Abaquita testified he heard a shout for help and found Urot already wounded; he only learned the identities of the assailants from Urot’s dying declaration at the hospital. Romeo Onido, presented as an eyewitness, demonstrated that the three accused surrounded and boxed Urot but explicitly stated he did not see who stabbed the victim.
ISSUE
Whether the appellants, Demosthenes and Demetrio Manlangit, are guilty of murder or a lesser offense, and the extent of their criminal liability.
RULING
The Supreme Court modified the lower court’s judgment. The plea of defense of a relative was rejected as lacking persuasiveness based on the evidence. However, the Court found the crime committed was homicide, not murder. The qualifying circumstance of alevosia (treachery) was not sufficiently proven, as the prosecution witnesses did not see the actual stabbing and could not describe the manner of attack to establish that the assailants employed means to ensure the victim’s defenselessness.
Furthermore, the Court ruled that the appellants’ liability was merely that of accomplices, not principals. The evidence, including Domingo’s admission and the prosecution witnesses’ testimonies, failed to establish that Demosthenes and Demetrio directly participated in the fatal stabbing. Their presence and acts of surrounding and boxing the victim constituted cooperation in the crime by previous or simultaneous acts, but not direct execution. Consequently, the penalty for accomplices in homicide was imposed. Demosthenes and Demetrio Manlangit were each sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of six years of prision correccional as minimum to eight years of prision mayor as maximum. The award of civil indemnity was affirmed.