Case Digest (G.R. No. 34386)
Facts:
People of the Philippines v. Ludovico C. Doctolero alias "Ecoy", Conrado C. Doctolero alias "Condring", and Virgilio C. Doctolero alias "Vergel", G.R. No. L-34386, February 07, 1991, Supreme Court Second Division, Regalado, J., writing for the Court.The prosecution (the People of the Philippines) charged appellants Ludovico, Conrado and Virgilio Doctolero with multiple murder and physical injuries for events that occurred on November 8, 1970 in Barrio Binday, San Fabian, Pangasinan; Antonio Doctolero was also charged but later acquitted. The information alleged that the Doctoleros, armed with bolos, attacked and killed Epifania Escosio, Lolita de Guzman Oviedo, and Marcelo Doctolero, and inflicted wounds on the minor Jonathan Oviedo.
At trial in the Court of First Instance, Branch II, Pangasinan, the People presented eyewitnesses—Marcial Sagun, Maria Sagun, and Paciencia Sagun-Diamoy—and police testimony (Sgt. Delfin Ronquillo) describing the Doctoleros throwing stones, going up to the Sagun house, and the subsequent hacking and stabbing of the two women and the child, followed by the killing of Marcelo on the road. Medical and health-officer reports detailed multiple, severe incised and chopping wounds on the deceased and specified the child’s wounds and 15-day hospitalization.
The accused offered a contrary narrative, chiefly from Ludovico: an initial confrontation at a road crossing in which Marcial Sagun and Antonio Oviedo allegedly attacked Ludovico, Ludovico’s retreat to his father Antonio’s house, then a subsequent impulsive or mistaken encounter upstairs in which Ludovico claimed to have hit Epifania and later fatally wounded Marcelo, asserting a sequence tinged with self-defense and sudden impulse. Conrado denied participation and raised an alibi, but his account was corroborated only by co-accused testimony.
The trial court convicted Ludovico as principal in the murders and of injuries to the child and found Conrado and Virgilio guilty as accomplices; it sentenced Ludovico to three counts of cadena perpetua and additional months of arresto mayor for the child’s injury, and Conrado and Virgilio to multiple indeterminate prison terms (prision mayor to reclusion temporal) and lesser arresto mayor for the injury; the court ordered each accused to indemnify the heirs P12,000 per deceased. Ludovico withdrew his appeal on May 17, 1976 and judgment as to him became final; Virgilio died October 22, 1983 during the pendency of this review, leaving Conrado as the sole appellant before the Court.
On review, the Supreme Court (Second Division) sustained the conviction of Conrado as an accomplice but modified the penalties: it reduced the penalty for the injuries to the child to 20 days of arresto menor (as less serio...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether appellant Conrado Doctolero is criminally liable as an accomplice to the murders and to the injuries inflicted on Jonathan Oviedo.
- Whether the wounds inflicted on Jonathan Oviedo constitute slight or less serious physical injuries and what penalty is proper under Article 265 of the Revised Penal Code.
- Whether the death of appellant Virgilio Doctolero during the appeal extinguishes his civil liability and whether the award of indemnity should be increased to the amount fixed under subsequent case law for all ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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