GR 74736; (February, 1991) (Digest)
G.R. No. 74736 ; February 18, 1991
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. BALTAZAR ALAN ALITAO, HENRY OCCENA and WILFREDO APUNGAN (at large), accused, BALTAZAR ALAN ALITAO and HENRY OCCENA, accused-appellants.
FACTS
Accused-appellants Baltazar Alan Alitao and Henry Occena, security guards of Talisay-Silay Milling Company (TASIMICO), along with Wilfredo Apungan (at large), were charged with murder for the killing of Jason Concepcion on February 24, 1981. The information alleged conspiracy, evident premeditation, treachery, and taking advantage of superior strength. Only Alitao and Occena were tried, pleading not guilty. The Regional Trial Court of Bacolod City convicted them of murder and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua, ordering them to indemnify the heirs.
The prosecution presented eyewitnesses Paterno Gallanero and Carlos Jalandoon, both TASIMICO employees. Gallanero testified that he saw Alitao holding the victim and later, together with Occena, hitting and boxing him. Alitao struck the victim with a shotgun butt, causing him to fall. When Gallanero intervened, the appellants warned him off. Jalandoon testified he saw the victim lying on railway tracks with Alitao poking a gun at him, Occena pushing him, and Apungan stabbing him. The victim’s dying declaration to his brother identified the appellants and Apungan as his attackers. The medico-legal report confirmed injuries from bladed and blunt instruments.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in: (1) finding conspiracy; (2) appreciating the qualifying circumstance of taking advantage of superior strength; and (3) not acquitting the appellants due to alleged lack of evidence on individual culpability.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, finding the appeal without merit. On conspiracy, the Court ruled it was sufficiently established by the simultaneous and concerted actions of the appellants, which logically indicated a common design to attack the victim. The eyewitness accounts detailed a coordinated assault where Alitao and Occena worked together to subdue and injure the victim, with Apungan joining in. Conspiracy renders each conspirator equally liable for the acts of others in furtherance of the common design, irrespective of the extent of individual participation. The dying declaration and medico-legal findings corroborated this collective action.
Regarding superior strength, the Court held the circumstance was correctly appreciated. The evidence showed the unarmed victim was attacked by two uniformed security guards armed with a shotgun and a third person with a bladed weapon. This numerical and weaponry advantage constituted taking advantage of superior strength, qualifying the killing to murder. The claim of lack of individual culpability was rejected precisely because of the established conspiracy; the appellants’ collective responsibility was imputed from their concerted acts. The Court modified the civil liability, increasing the indemnity to P50,000.00 conformably to prevailing jurisprudence.