G.R. No. L-9328; May 28, 1958
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. AMBROSIO PAUNIL and ALFREDO PAUNIL, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

On the evening of April 4, 1952, around 9:00 PM, Daniel Dacalos, the acting mayor of Naga, Cebu, was shot while standing at the door of his store in Barrio Langtad. He was hit on the left arm and died the next morning from acute hemorrhage due to his wounds. The investigation indicated the shots were fired from near an artesian well about 40 meters across the road from the store. Dacalos, a Nacionalista Party member recently appointed acting mayor, had earlier that evening refused a request from Cocopati Paunil to allow cockfighting, prompting a warning that “something bad would happen.” Witness Santiago Emnace testified that around 8:00 PM, he saw appellants Ambrosio Paunil and Alfredo Paunil near the artesian well. After fetching water and returning home, he heard two rifle shots. After the second shot, by moonlight, he saw the two appellants running across a field, with Alfredo carrying a .30 caliber rifle Emnace had previously seen in Alfredo’s possession. Witness Eriberto Dacalos, hearing shots while playing pool, ran out and upon the second shot saw Alfredo Paunil in the act of lowering a rifle near the artesian well. Witness Silvino Abayata, who was in the store, also heard the shot from the direction of the well and saw two persons there. The defense of the appellants consisted of denial and alibi, claiming they were asleep in their respective houses at the time of the shooting.

ISSUE

Whether the guilt of appellants Ambrosio Paunil and Alfredo Paunil for the murder of Daniel Dacalos has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court finding the appellants guilty of murder. The Court found the testimonies of prosecution witnesses credible and sufficient to establish that the appellants were the only persons present at the scene of the shooting at the time it occurred and that Alfredo Paunil was seen with a rifle. Their guilt was proven beyond reasonable doubt. The crime was qualified by alevosia (treachery). Nocturnity was not separately considered as an aggravating circumstance as it was absorbed by treachery. The appellants, having acted jointly and with conspiracy, were both held liable. The defense of alibi was rejected as insufficient to overcome the positive identification by the prosecution witnesses. The sentence of reclusion perpetua, joint and several indemnity to the heirs of the deceased in the sum of P6,000, and payment of costs was affirmed.