G.R. No. 187462 - Kho vs. Republic

An Information was filed in the Court of First Instance of Oriental Mindoro charging Carlos Castillo and his son, Marincho Castillo, with murder.
The case involved two defendants, with only Carlos Castillo appealing the judgment.

In October 1959, an altercation occurred between Marincho Castillo and Juan Vargas when Vargas slapped Marincho due to an incident involving a stray cow damaging Vargas’s plants.
During the altercation, Marincho Castillo uttered the words, "You, Manong Joan, will have your own day," which foreshadowed future conflict.

Around 5:30 o’clock in the afternoon in barrio Hallbago, Pola, Oriental Mindoro, the fatal incident took place.
At the scene, Carlos Castillo was seen holding a gun while speaking face to face with Juan Vargas.
Marincho Castillo approached from behind and attacked Juan Vargas by hacking him on the head with a bolo.
As Marincho was about to strike the victim a second time, Carlos Castillo allegedly commanded, "You kill him."
Later that evening, Marincho Castillo, accompanied by Carlos Castillo, surrendered to the authorities.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Juan Vargas died instantaneously from severe hemorrhage due to multiple head wounds.

The prosecution introduced the testimony of Jose Ilagan, who claimed to have seen both Castillo (with Carlos holding a revolver and Marincho carrying a bolo) hastening towards the poblacion, suggesting a joint pursuit of Vargas.
The credibility of the witness testimony was questioned due to:

The discrepancy in timing, as the original altercation took place in October 1959, whereas the fatal attack occurred in December 1959.
The incident’s proximity (approximately twenty meters from Carlos Castillo’s house), which raised doubts about the likelihood of them searching for Vargas, implying instead that Vargas might have been passing by.

Whether Carlos Castillo’s utterance "You kill him," made after Marincho had already commenced the fatal attack, is sufficient to hold him liable as a co-principal by inducement in the crime of murder.
Whether the testimony of the witness, Jose Ilagan, which purportedly indicates a conspiracy between Carlos and Marincho Castillo, holds credibility and meets the requirement of showing that the inducement was the determining cause of the murder.