G.R. No. 180898 - Philippine Charter Insurance Corp. vs. Petroleum Distributors and Services Corp.

The crimes occurred on November 18, 1996, in Iloilo City when WILLIAM, armed with an unlicensed .380 caliber “Llama” pistol (Serial No. 170257), committed the offenses.

WILLIAM boarded a jeepney bound for Libertad Plaza with several passengers, including the victim, Jose Eduardo Reteracion.
He suddenly drew his unlicensed firearm and threatened Reteracion to deliver his money under the risk of being shot.
WILLIAM fired successive shots aimed at the victim’s neck, resulting in Reteracion’s death, while also taking a sum of money amounting to P67,500.00.

Testimonies from witnesses and police officers established that after firing the gun, WILLIAM abandoned his bloodstained jacket and money was scattered along the route.
The confiscated firearm was identified by the PNP Firearms Unit as unlicensed, and a paraffin test on WILLIAM’s hands yielded positive results for gun powder nitrate, indicating a recent discharge.
Ballistic evidence linked the spent shells from the recovered bullets to those obtained from the victim’s body.

Upon arraignment on January 6, 1997, WILLIAM initially pleaded “not guilty” to both charges.
After the prosecution presented evidence and called three witnesses, he moved to withdraw his plea and entered a plea of “guilty.”
Despite his plea change, trial on the merits continued with a joint trial of the two criminal cases.

WILLIAM was found guilty of robbery with homicide and illegal possession of firearm.
He was sentenced to reclusion perpetua for the robbery with homicide and to the penalty of death for illegal possession of firearm.

P50,000 as death indemnity
P191,835 for burial and wake expenses (later reduced to P117,672.26)
An award for the unrecovered portion of the money taken (initially P39,000, later reduced to P19,300)
P100,000 as moral damages (later reduced to P50,000)

WILLIAM filed a Notice of Appeal, contesting the imposition of the death penalty for illegal possession of firearm on the ground that:

R.A. No. 8294 (amending P.D. No. 1866) should be applied retroactively, thus converting the charge from a separate offense to an aggravating circumstance in the killing.
The new law, being more favorable, would reduce the penalty related to illegal possession of firearm.

The procedural issue of the improper direction of the appeal to the Court of Appeals was raised, although the Supreme Court maintained its jurisdiction in reviewing cases imposing reclusion perpetua or higher.

Whether the use of an unlicensed firearm in the commission of the killing during the robbery should be regarded as a separate offense (illegal possession of firearm) or merely as an aggravating circumstance in the crime of robbery with homicide.
Whether R.A. No. 8294, which amended P.D. No. 1866, may be retroactively applied in this case to benefit the accused, given that it offers lighter penalties for illegal possession of firearm.
Whether the imposition of differing penalties—death for illegal possession of firearm and reclusion perpetua for robbery with homicide—violates the rule against the ex post facto application of laws by aggravating the accused’s penalty relative to when the offense was committed.
Whether the procedural application of appeal, including the notice of appeal filed by WILLIAM to the Court of Appeals (despite jurisdictional rules), is valid for the purposes of review by the Supreme Court.