G.R. No. 86159 -60 February 28, 1994
People of the Philippines, plaintiff-appellee, vs. Rogelio Pelones, accused-appellant.

FACTS

Accused-appellant Rogelio Pelones was convicted of Murder for the death of Guillermo Solina and Frustrated Murder for the injuries of Jose Malto. The victims were co-employees of Pelones at the New Star Farm in Talisay, Tiaong, Quezon. Pelones was dismissed after Solina reported to the farm owner that Pelones stole chickens and brought a girl to a farm hut. Shortly before midnight on August 18, 1986, while Malto and Solina were inside a poultry farmhouse, Pelones, together with five other armed men, suddenly appeared. They forcibly dragged the victims outside, made them face a wall, and upon a signal, Pelones attacked Solina while another assailant attacked Malto. Malto, though critically wounded, escaped and survived to testify. Solina died from his injuries. Pelones claimed alibi, stating he was at home with his wife and mother-in-law about three kilometers away during the incident. The trial court rejected his defense and convicted him.

ISSUE

The primary issue is whether the trial court erred in convicting accused-appellant Rogelio Pelones of Murder and Frustrated Murder based on the credibility of the prosecution’s evidence, particularly the testimony of eyewitness Jose Malto, and in appreciating the qualifying and aggravating circumstances.

RULING

The Supreme Court AFFIRMED the conviction but MODIFIED the penalties. The Court upheld the trial court’s findings on the credibility of witness Jose Malto, rejecting all of Pelones’s attacks on Malto’s testimony as without merit. The Court found the testimony of Malto, corroborated by the medical findings of Dr. Vicente G. Umali, sufficient to establish Pelones’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The Court also found conspiracy among the attackers. However, the Court ruled that the qualifying circumstance of evident premeditation was not proven, as the prosecution failed to establish the time when the offender determined to commit the crime, an act manifestly indicating he clung to his determination, and a sufficient lapse of time for reflection. The aggravating circumstances of abuse of superior strength and nighttime were properly appreciated. The crime was committed by a band, but this was absorbed in the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superior strength. For Murder, the penalty was reduced to reclusion temporal maximum to reclusion perpetua, and applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the Court imposed an indeterminate sentence of twelve (12) years of prision mayor maximum as minimum, to twenty (20) years of reclusion temporal maximum as maximum. For Frustrated Murder, the penalty was reduced to prision mayor medium to reclusion temporal medium, and the Court imposed an indeterminate sentence of eight (8) years, four (4) months and ten (10) days of prision mayor medium as minimum, to twelve (12) years, six (6) months and twenty (20) days of reclusion temporal minimum as maximum. The indemnity awards of P30,000.00 to the heirs of Guillermo Solina and to Jose Malto were sustained.