G.R. No. L-48131 May 30, 1983
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. GERONCIO MENDEZ, alias, Baby, and ABING BOLIOC, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

This case involves the automatic review of the death penalty imposed on Geroncio Mendez and Abing Bolioc for the murder of Roberto Boiser. The prosecution established that in October 1974, Boiser, his relatives, and Angel Ibañez were passengers in a pedicab. Upon reaching an ascending road, Boiser alighted. Felimon Mendez then suddenly attacked Boiser with a piece of wood. Subsequently, Geroncio Mendez, Abing Bolioc, and others emerged and joined the assault. Geroncio Mendez stabbed Boiser with a hunting knife, while Bolioc and others struck him with wood. When Ibañez pleaded for Boiser’s life, Geroncio Mendez chased and stabbed Ibañez to death as well. The accused were charged with double murder.
At trial, Geroncio Mendez claimed he was merely a distant witness to the incident and fled out of fear. Bolioc did not testify, but his co-accused Celestino Mendez presented an alibi, claiming Bolioc was at home cooking two kilometers away. The trial court convicted both Geroncio Mendez and Bolioc of the murder of Boiser, sentencing them to death. It also convicted them for the murder of Ibañez, imposing reclusion perpetua. Only the death sentence for Boiser’s killing is under automatic review.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether the trial court correctly convicted Geroncio Mendez and Abing Bolioc of murder for the killing of Roberto Boiser and properly imposed the death penalty.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions but modified the penalties. The trial court correctly found the killing of Boiser to be murder, qualified by evident premeditation and aggravated by treachery, warranting the death penalty under the law. The positive identification by prosecution eyewitnesses conclusively established the participation of both appellants, overriding Geroncio Mendez’s denial and the alibi presented for Bolioc. The court found the witnesses’ testimonies credible and consistent.
However, for lack of the necessary votes to impose the death penalty, the Court commuted Geroncio Mendez’s sentence to reclusion perpetua. Regarding Abing Bolioc, the Court considered a post-conviction motion claiming he was a minor (14 years old) at the time of the crime. While the applicable Child and Youth Welfare Code did not grant a suspended sentence for crimes punishable by death or reclusion perpetua, the Revised Penal Code entitled him to a two-degree reduction of the penalty due to minority. Consequently, his penalty was reduced to an indeterminate sentence of four years of prision correccional as minimum to eight years and one day of prision mayor medium as maximum for Boiser’s murder. The judgment for Ibañez’s murder had become final.