GR L 2428; (June, 1949) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2428; June 20, 1949
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROQUE MARIQUINA, ET AL., defendants. ROQUE MARIQUINA, appellant.
FACTS
On May 18, 1944, in Iloilo, appellant Roque Mariquina and his co-accused Quirico Tobingan (at large) went to the house of Jose Española. Tobingan pointed a gun at Española while Mariquina tied his hands and beat him with a cane. They dragged him to a creek where Tobingan shot him to death. Mariquina then gouged out the victim’s left eye with his cane and stuffed mud into his mouth. The motive was resentment over a prior incident where Española had recovered and returned a bicycle the accused had commandeered. The prosecution presented eyewitnesses, including the victim’s wife and father-in-law, and the barrio lieutenant. The defense claimed Mariquina was merely present and tried to intervene, but the trial court found this story incredible.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court correctly convicted Roque Mariquina of the crime of murder.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. The facts established treachery as the qualifying circumstance, as the attack was sudden and rendered the victim defenseless. The court also found the aggravating circumstance of cruelty, due to the gouging of the eye and stuffing of mud after the killing. While these circumstances would normally warrant the death penalty, the lack of sufficient votes for its imposition resulted in the affirmance of the penalty of reclusion perpetua as originally imposed by the trial court. The Court found the prosecution witnesses credible and the defense evidence unconvincing.
AI Generated by Armztrong.