GR 84612; (March, 1992) (Digest)
G.R. No. 84612 March 11, 1992
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. DIOSDADO AVILA, AGAPITO AGRABIO and AURELIO SILVOZA, accused, DIOSDADO AVILA and AGAPITO AGRABIO, accused-appellants.
FACTS
On October 23, 1985, Governor Gregorio P. Murillo of Surigao del Sur was shot dead. An information for murder was filed against Diosdado Avila, Agapito Agrabio, and Aurelio Silvoza. Upon arraignment, all pleaded not guilty. The trial court, in a decision dated July 12, 1988, found Avila and Agrabio guilty of murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment, while acquitting Silvoza. Avila and Agrabio timely appealed this decision. After the trial court forwarded the records to the Supreme Court, it issued an amended decision dated August 1, 1988, finding Avila and Agrabio guilty of rebellion instead of murder. The prosecution objected to this amended decision, arguing the trial court had lost jurisdiction.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court correctly convicted appellants of murder, or whether the crime committed was rebellion.
RULING
The Supreme Court held that the amended decision dated August 1, 1988, had no legal force and effect because the trial court had lost jurisdiction after the appeal was perfected. The valid subject of review is the July 12, 1988 decision. Upon review, the Court found appellants Avila and Agrabio guilty of rebellion, not murder. The evidence showed that at the time of the killing, appellants were members of the New People’s Army (NPA) liquidating squad and killed Governor Murillo upon orders from their NPA commander for politically motivated reasons (alleged corruption and favoring military bodyguards). Following the precedent in People vs. Manglallan, such a politically motivated killing by NPA members constitutes rebellion. The crime was committed on October 23, 1985, when Presidential Decree No. 1834 was in effect. Appellants, as mere participants executing commands, fall under the second paragraph of Article 135 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by P.D. 1834, punishable by reclusion temporal. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law and considering no aggravating or mitigating circumstances, the penalty was set at twelve (12) years and one (1) day to twenty (20) years of reclusion temporal.