G.R. No. L-36364 November 25, 1982
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JUANITO DASCIL, TONY JAIRETTSING @ Malaya and JOHN DOE @ PABLING, defendants, JUANITO DASCIL, appellant.

FACTS

On March 22, 1969, in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan, Hilario Agdeppa was shot and killed. Eyewitnesses Conrado Oroseo and Pablo Honorio testified that appellant Juanito Dascil, a uniformed policeman, and his co-accused were in a jeep that trailed Agdeppa, who was on a motorcycle. The jeep stopped ahead, and as Agdeppa passed, Dascil and his companions alighted and fired multiple shots at him, causing his death. The trial court convicted Dascil of murder, qualified by evident premeditation and treachery, and aggravated by nocturnity and the use of a motor vehicle, imposing the death penalty.

ISSUE

Whether the killing was qualified by evident premeditation and treachery and aggravated by the use of a motor vehicle and nocturnity.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but modified the appreciation of the circumstances. Evident premeditation was not proven, as the record failed to show when the accused conceived and resolved to commit the crime. Nocturnity was also not properly appreciated, as there was no evidence the accused deliberately sought the cover of night; furthermore, it is absorbed by treachery under the circumstances. However, treachery was correctly established. The attack was sudden, with the assailants signaling the victim to slow down before firing, ensuring the execution without risk to themselves and depriving Agdeppa of any chance to defend. The aggravating circumstance of using a motor vehicle was properly considered, as the jeep facilitated the pursuit of the motorcycle-bound victim and the escape. With treachery as a qualifying circumstance and the use of a motor vehicle as an aggravating circumstance without any mitigating factor, the imposition of the death penalty was affirmed.