Facts:
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES charged
SERGIO BATO and
ABRAHAM BATO by Information dated July 7, 1989 with the murder of
Ernesto Flores, Sr. allegedly committed on or about May 9, 1988 in the Municipality of Pastrana, Province of Leyte. The accused were arraigned on January 15, 1990, pleaded not guilty, and were tried before the Regional Trial Court presided by Executive Judge Lolita O. Gal-lang. The prosecution offered two witnesses,
Ernesto Flores, Jr., the victim’s son, who testified that the Bato brothers invited his father to drink at Barangay Hibucawan, that after about two hours they tied the elder Flores’s hands with a rope and took him away, and that the next morning the victim’s mutilated body was found at the Binaha-an River about five kilometers from where he was last seen; and
Dr. Virisimo Opiniano, who performed the autopsy and found multiple hacking and stab wounds with death due to shock secondary to an almost decapitating wound. The defense denied participation and produced Pfc. Benjamin Montanejos to show the police blotter entry did not name suspects and to challenge the reporting sequence. The trial court found both accused guilty of murder under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code and imposed penalties under the Indeterminate Sentence Law, and the Court of Appeals affirmed guilt but increased the penalty to
reclusion perpetua, certifying the case to the Supreme Court pursuant to Section 13, Rule 124, Rules of Court; during the pendency of the appeal
Sergio Bato died, leaving only
Abraham Bato to prosecute his appeal before the Supreme Court.
Issues:
Was the evidence, which the prosecution characterized as circumstantial and rested largely on the testimony of
Ernesto Flores, Jr., sufficient to convict
Abraham Bato of murder beyond reasonable doubt?; Was the aggravating circumstance of
treachery established by the prosecution?; Did the Court of Appeals properly increase the penalty to
reclusion perpetua?
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: