GR 83697; (October, 1991) (Digest)
G.R. No. 83697 -98. October 4, 1991.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FRANCISCO BENITEZ, JR. @ JIMMY and ROMEO ILUSTRISIMO, accused-appellants.
FACTS
Accused-appellants Francisco Benitez, Jr. and Romeo Ilustrisimo, along with an at-large accomplice, were charged with the murder of Ferdinand Andra on June 21, 1980, in Ternate, Cavite. The prosecution presented eyewitnesses Arnold Diones and Armando Andra, who testified that they saw the attack. Diones heard Benitez instruct the group, “You hold him, and I’ll be the one who will stab.” Shortly after, Ilustrisimo and Rodante Cesar held the victim while Benitez stabbed him. Armando Andra, attracted by the victim’s shouts for help, witnessed the stabbing under illumination from moonlight and nearby house lights. The victim’s father, Gonzalo Andra, testified that his son identified the appellants as his assailants while being transported to the hospital. The trial court convicted both appellants of murder, appreciating the aggravating circumstance of nighttime and sentencing them to reclusion perpetua.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred in convicting the appellants of murder and in appreciating the aggravating circumstance of nighttime.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the penalty and damages. The Court found the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses credible, consistent, and sufficient to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The positive identification by two eyewitnesses, corroborated by the victim’s ante-mortem statement to his father, overcame the appellants’ denial and alibi. The Court, however, corrected the trial court’s legal errors. Nocturnity was improperly appreciated as an aggravating circumstance because the evidence showed the crime scene was well-lit by moonlight and artificial light, and there was no proof the appellants deliberately sought the cover of darkness to facilitate the crime. Furthermore, the Court clarified that reclusion perpetua is an indivisible penalty with no medium period. Applying prevailing jurisprudence, the proper penalty for murder under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, absent any modifying circumstance, is reclusion perpetua. The Court also increased the civil liability, ordering the appellants to jointly pay the heirs of the victim P38,000.00 as actual damages and P50,000.00 as civil indemnity for death.