G.R. No. L-68459. March 4, 1986.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FLORENCIO ESTILLORE y RABINA, accused-appellant.

FACTS

The prosecution established that on June 6, 1983, in Tagbilaran City, the victim Restituto Gabato was reading a newspaper inside a store. Appellant Florencio Estillore entered, approached Gabato from behind, and immediately stabbed him in the stomach with a Batangas knife. The wounded victim attempted to shield himself with a small table. Estillore then threw a weighing scale at him before fleeing. A police sergeant, alerted by shouts, chased and apprehended Estillore, who surrendered a bloodied knife. Gabato died from the stab wound.
The appellant interposed self-defense, claiming Gabato had threatened him previously and, on the day of the incident, blocked his path and attempted to smash him with a table, forcing him to draw his knife. He presented no corroborating evidence. The trial court convicted him of Murder, qualified by evident premeditation, and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, appreciating the generic aggravating circumstance of treachery and the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender.

ISSUE

The primary issues were whether the qualifying circumstance of evident premeditation and the generic aggravating circumstance of treachery were correctly appreciated, and whether a plea of guilty to a lesser offense should be considered mitigating.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the trial court’s judgment. It ruled that evident premeditation was not proven, as the prosecution failed to establish the time appellant determined to commit the crime, an act showing he clung to that determination, and a sufficient interval for reflection. The claim that he carried the knife as a bus conductor negated premeditation.
However, the Court upheld the finding of treachery. The attack was sudden: appellant approached the unsuspecting victim from behind while he was reading and stabbed him without warning, ensuring the victim had no opportunity for defense or retaliation. Since treachery was not alleged in the Information but proven at trial, it could only be considered a generic aggravating circumstance, not a qualifier.
The Court found no record of a plea of guilty to a lesser offense of Homicide, thus correctly rejecting it as a mitigating circumstance. Only voluntary surrender was properly appreciated. With evident premeditation discarded, the crime is Homicide. The generic aggravating circumstance of treachery is offset by the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender, warranting the penalty in its medium period.
The Court modified the conviction to Homicide and imposed an indeterminate penalty of 8 years and 1 day of prision mayor, as minimum, to 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day of reclusion temporal, as maximum. Civil indemnity was increased to P30,000.00.