G.R. No. 129732 - People vs. Basco y Salao

The case involves the killing of Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. on May 3, 1992, in Tondo, Manila.
The incident occurred during a drinking spree in front of the victim’s residence, where several individuals, including the accused Mario Basco y Salao, were present.
An altercation arose among the group, notably when Emy, a cousin of the victim, warned Mario about playing with a “balisong” (knife), which led to an exchange of words and physical maneuvering.

During the gathering, after initial minor confrontations involving insults and physical gestures with the knife, a more serious dispute erupted when Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. became involved after cursing the accused.
Following a momentary pacification by Jaime Macanas, a neighbor and policeman, the situation briefly subsided with Mario’s wife intervening.
Soon after, while Rolando was called inside the house for supper by his children, the accused reappeared at the doorstep and resumed his hostile behavior by cursing the victim.
At a critical moment when Rolando stood to drink water, the accused fired multiple shots:

First shot causing the victim to fall.
Second shot, almost immediately after the first, hitting the victim on the chest.
A third shot fired at close range to ensure the killing, with evident treachery.

A through-and-through wound to the head, with the point of entry at the left temporal region and the exit at the right parieto-occipital region, showing an oblique upward and backward trajectory.
A wound with the point of entry at the left mandible, causing fractures and tissue lacerations.
A through-and-through wound in the right upper thorax, with details indicating a trajectory that injured the upper lobe of the right lung and fractured the scapula.

Additional evidence included internal findings such as severe intracranial bleeding, blood clots, bone fragments, and the recovery of a deformed slug from the cervical vertebra.
The presence of partially digested food with an alcoholic odor in the stomach further contextualized the drinking spree.

Conceded that a drinking spree had taken place and acknowledged a heated exchange.
Claimed that he went to the victim’s house with the intent to apologize after realizing his mistake.
Alleged that upon arriving at the doorstep, a struggle ensued when the victim pointed a gun at him, prompting him to grapple for the gun, which allegedly fell and accidentally discharged.

The trial court, after considering testimonies—especially that of Ednalyn Buenaventura, the victim’s daughter—and the meticulous medico-legal evidence, found the accused guilty of murder.
On July 19, 1996, the trial court sentenced Mario Basco y Salao to reclusion perpetua and ordered him to pay the victim’s family damages, which included compensation for death, loss of income, burial expenses, and other associated costs.
The accused-appellant later raised an appeal contesting:

Whether the trial court erred in dismissing the mitigating circumstance of incomplete self-defense proposed by the accused.

Specifically, whether the allegation that the fatal shots were accidentally discharged due to a struggle was credible.

Whether the trial court erred in ordering the accused to shoulder the financial burden for burial expenses and in imposing the penalty of reclusion perpetua.

This includes scrutiny over the awarded damages, particularly the compensation awarded for loss of income, burial expenses, and other related costs.

Whether the evidence supported the qualification of the killing as murder by establishing evident premeditation through treachery.

The issue centers on whether the actions (such as approaching the victim at the moment he was vulnerable during supper and firing multiple shots) demonstrate a deliberate and treacherous methodology.