G.R. No. 198270 - Morillo vs. People

On or about September 23, 1994, in the Municipality of Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, three accused—Rosendo Ernosa (accused-appellant), Victoriano Ernosa, and Nicolas Tarasona (alias Felagioa)—were implicated in the killing of Carlos Magno y Claro.
The information alleged that these accused, armed with bladed weapons, stones, and, in the case of Rosendo Ernosa, also a wooden stick, conspired with evident premeditation, treachery, and abuse of superior strength in the commission of murder.
Accused Nicolas Tarasona died while escaping from jail and was not arraigned, while Rosendo and his son, Victoriano, pleaded not guilty upon arraignment.

Early in the morning at Barangay Bagong Silang, while Carlos Magno and Joselito Bacordo were cutting grass on a lot, the accused approached the scene.

The victim, aware of the preexisting animosity (stemming from a land dispute), attempted to flee and seek help from passers-by Efren Solivio and Zaldy Sabolbura.
As the victim tried to escape, the assailants chased him, pelted him with stones, and engaged in a violent confrontation that escalated into a physical fight.

During the melee, the victim, after initially trying to defend himself with a bolo, turned to confront his attackers:

Accused-appellant Rosendo Ernosa and accused Tarasona managed to knee and hack the victim, with the latter eventually inflicting fatal wounds.
At one point, the victim, though fighting back by stabbing and hacking, was repeatedly attacked—first by accused Tarasona and later by Rosendo Ernosa.

The victim first wounded one of the accused, causing him to fall.
As the victim rose, Rosendo Ernosa proceeded to stab him on the chest and hack him on the head.

The involvement of additional persons became evident when accused Victoriano Ernosa, arriving with law enforcement personnel (Sgt. Porras and Renato Torbiso), joined the fray and repeatedly stabbed the victim, though later his actions were treated separately by the court.

Dr. Benjamin Gonzaga conducted the autopsy, establishing that the victim sustained multiple wounds from single-edged and double-bladed weapons, with fatal injuries including two stab wounds on the chest and a hack wound to the head that transected the spinal column.
Jaime Pangaral testified that, four days prior to the incident, he overheard the accused discussing their intent to kill the victim.
The prosecution’s witnesses, notably Joselito Bacordo and Efren Solivio, vividly recounted the sequence of events that led to the victim’s death.

There was a land dispute with the victim.
The assault began when he tried to pacify a heated argument between the victim and Nicolas Tarasona, and it was the victim who initiated physical aggression by hacking him on the left eyebrow.

Accused Victoriano Ernosa testified that he was informed about his father’s condition by Zaldy Sabolbura and later brought him to the hospital.
The Regional Trial Court of Bacolod City, Branch 49, in Criminal Case No. 94-16753, rendered a decision on September 24, 1998, convicting Rosendo Ernosa of murder and acquitting Victoriano Ernosa for lack of sufficient evidence to prove his participation in the crime.

Whether the trial court erred in convicting accused-appellant Rosendo Ernosa of murder despite the alleged absence of sufficient qualifying evidence to prove evident premeditation and treachery.

Examination of whether the evidence presented (including the bare allegation by Jaime Pangaral) sufficiently established the qualifying circumstance of evident premeditation.
Analysis of whether the use of bladed weapons and the sequence of the attack constituted treachery.

Whether the direct testimonies of prosecution witnesses (Joselito Bacordo and Efren Solivio) regarding the sequence of events and the actions of the accused, which were pivotal in establishing the credibility of the criminal act, should be given deference despite the defendant’s claims of self-defense and the victim being the unlawful aggressor.