G.R. No. 129556 - People vs. Gado

On January 30, 1992, Melencio Manalang, Jr., while having a drinking session with friends at the residence of Juanito Vicente, decided to leave the gathering.
Accused-appellant Rey Gado, along with Juanito Vicente and companions (including a female identified as Emma Gallos and an unnamed male relative of hers), undertook to bring the victim home.
During the journey along Fleur de Liz Street, Rey Gado allegedly stabbed Melencio Manalang, Jr. in the abdomen.
In the scuffle that ensued, as the victim attempted to free himself, Rey Gado and his companions fled, prompting the victim to grab a stone and hurl it toward them.

After the attack, while proceeding home, the victim was encountered by barangay tanod Fernando Reyes who assisted him by offering transport home.
Upon reaching his house at about 9 o’clock in the evening, the victim slumped on the floor and requested his father, Melencio Manalang, Sr., to take him to the hospital.
During transit in a jeep to Perpetual Help Hospital, the victim reiterated details of the attack and identified Rey Gado as his assailant.
Despite receiving medical attention at the hospital, the victim succumbed to his injuries around 2 o’clock in the early morning of January 31, 1992.

An Information charging Rey Gado and Emma Gallos with murder was filed on September 15, 1992, followed by an arrest order issued on September 17, 1992, which was left unserved initially.
The case was archived on February 22, 1993, until Rey Gado was eventually served an alias writ of arrest on May 30, 1994, while detained on unrelated charges in Calamba, Laguna.
Both accused were arraigned on November 21, 1994, entering pleas of not guilty, with Emma Gallos eventually being detained while Rey Gado maintained his innocence based on an alibi.

The sworn testimony and affidavit of eye witness Fernando Reyes, which was later recanted by the witness.
The dying declaration of the victim as relayed by his father, Melencio Manalang, Sr., during which the victim identified Rey Gado as the assailant.

Additional testimony from the victim’s father detailed the circumstances of the stabbing, including the involvement of accomplices and the sequence of the victim’s actions from the scene to the hospital.
The defense raised a strong alibi, claiming Rey Gado was at a store in Sucat, Cupang, Muntinlupa during the commission of the crime, and Emma Gallos asserted she was at home attending to her sick daughter.

The trial court, after considering the evidence—including the dying declaration and other corroborative testimonies—found Rey Gado guilty of murder, qualifying the killing by treachery due to the method of the stabbing which left the victim defenseless.
Despite the retraction of Fernando Reyes’s affidavit, the trial court upheld the victim’s dying declaration as admissible and credible.
Rey Gado was sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to indemnify the heirs of the victim with P50,000.00 plus an award of additional P50,000.00 for reimbursement of medical and burial expenses, though the latter was later modified.

Whether the trial court erred in giving credence to the affidavit of eye witness Fernando Reyes, especially after his retraction.
Whether the statements made by the victim, as testified by Melencio Manalang, Sr., qualify as a dying declaration.

Whether the trial court improperly disregarded the alibi presented by accused-appellant Rey Gado.
Whether sufficient evidence exists to establish the guilt of Rey Gado beyond reasonable doubt despite the challenged witness testimony.

Whether the sentence of reclusion perpetua is justified under the facts and circumstances of the case, given the qualification of murder by treachery.
Whether the awarding of actual damages in the amount purchased by the court should be modified in view of the evidence presented regarding the victim's actual expenses.