G.R. No. L-1567 - People vs. Salico

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-1567)

Facts of the Case

On December 29, 1989, a vehicular collision occurred between a Ford Fiera driven by the victim, Benito Ng Suy, and an orange Toyota Tamaraw driven by Virgilio Abogada, in which Patricio Amigo was a passenger. After the minor collision, a verbal confrontation ensued between Benito and Virgilio. Patricio intervened, exchanged words with Benito, and twice taunted him regarding his Chinese ancestry. Patricio left but returned moments later, took a five-inch knife from his waist, and stabbed Benito twice in the chest. Benito attempted to flee; Patricio pursued him, embraced him and thrust the knife repeatedly, inflicting multiple stab wounds (thirteen wounds in all) to the left arm, chest, abdomen and left thigh with penetration into thoracic and abdominal organs. Bystanders did not effectively intervene; Benito was transported to San Pedro Hospital, operated on and later airlifted to Chinese General Hospital in Manila. After several weeks, Benito died of sepsis resulting from his multiple stab wounds.

Procedural History

Initial Information: Charged with frustrated murder under Article 248 (as acts sufficient to produce murder were performed but death did not immediately follow). The accused pleaded not guilty.
Amended Information: Following the victim’s death, prosecution filed an amended information charging murder.
Trial court decision: Found accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder under Article 248 and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua; ordered payment of costs and awarded civil damages (actual, compensatory, and moral).
Appeal: Accused-appellant appealed, principally arguing that under Section 19(1), Article III of the 1987 Constitution (in effect at the time of the offense) the death penalty had been abolished and thus the appropriate penalty range for murder should be adjusted downward to reclusion temporal in its medium period.

Issue Presented

Whether, in light of Section 19(1), Article III of the 1987 Constitution (which prohibits imposition of the death penalty except as provided by Congress and reduces existing death sentences to reclusion perpetua), the appropriate penalty for murder absent qualifying aggravating circumstances should be reclusion perpetua (as held by the trial court) or a lower period of reclusion temporal (as argued by the accused).

Applicable Constitutional and Statutory Provisions

Section 19(1), Article III, 1987 Constitution: provides that the death penalty shall not be imposed unless Congress provides for it for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, and that if already imposed it shall be reduced to reclusion perpetua.
Article 248, Revised Penal Code: prescribes the penalty for murder and the ranges of minimum, medium and maximum periods applicable under the statute.
Article 64, par. 1, Revised Penal Code: guides computation of penalties within the applicable range when no modifying circumstance is present.

Court’s Analysis on the Effect of Section 19(1) on Penalty Ranges

The Court examined and reconciled prior decisions addressing the impact of the constitutional provision on the statutory penalty scheme. Earlier decisions (as in Gavarra, Masangkay, Atencio, and Intino) had treated the constitutional reduction of the death penalty as necessitating a reconfiguration of the remaining penalty ranges into three new periods, with the result that reclusion perpetua became the maximum, and the remaining ranges were redistributed. The Court, reviewing that line of authority (citing People v. Muñoz and related jurisprudence), concluded that the text of Section 19(1) does not expressly or by necessary implication require alteration of the other periods specified in Article 248; the provision prohibits the imposition of death and reduces an imposed death sentence to reclusion perpetua, but it does not state that the remaining statutory ranges (minimum and medium) are to be redivided or otherwise modified. The Court therefore returned to the original interpretation: Section 19(1) only eliminates the death penalty (or reduces an imposed death sentence to reclusion perpetua), but leaves the statutory minimum and medium periods under Article 248 intact. The Court acknowledged potential inequities (for example, persons who would formerly have been subject to death and those who committed murder without aggravating circumstances now potentially facing the same medium period), but observed that such policy or legislative inequities must be addressed by the legislature or by the grant of executive clemency, not by judicial re-writing of statutory penalty ranges.

Application of Law to the Present Case

Applying the restored doctrine, the Court found that the statutory penalty ranges under Article 248 remain unchanged except for the abolition of death as a pen

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. L-1567)

Court and Citation

Reported at 322 Phil. 40, Third Division, G.R. No. 116719, decided January 18, 1996.
Decision authored by Justice Melo; Narvasa, C.J. (Chairman), Davide, Jr., Francisco, and Panganiban, JJ., concurred.

Procedural Posture

Accused Patricio Amigo was initially charged by Information with frustrated murder under Article 248 in relation to Article 5 of the Revised Penal Code; he pleaded not guilty.
After the victim died, an amended Information charging murder was filed.
The trial court found accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder under Article 248 and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua, imposed civil indemnity and damages.
Accused-appellant appealed, contesting the penalty imposed in light of Section 19(1), Article III of the 1987 Constitution and arguing that the death penalty had been abolished when the offense was committed.
The Supreme Court (Third Division) reviewed the appeal and affirmed the trial court decision.

Facts — Overview of the Incident (December 29, 1989)

On December 29, 1989, around 1:00 P.M., Benito Ng Suy was driving a gray Ford Fiera from his store at No. 166-A, Ramon Magsaysay Avenue, Davao City, with several children as passengers.
While traversing the National Highway of Bajada, an orange Toyota Tamaraw driven by Virgilio Abogada made an unexpected left turn, causing a head-on collision with the Ford Fiera; slight damage occurred to the Tamaraw's right bumper.
Patricio Amigo (alias "Bebot") was a passenger in the Tamaraw, seated at the right front seat beside Virgilio; he was a vulcanizer at Linglingas vulcanizing shop.
After both drivers alighted, Benito and Virgilio engaged in a verbal confrontation. Patricio intervened and told Benito to leave, prompting Benito to rebuke him for interfering.
Patricio taunted Benito with the remark "You are Chinese, is it you?" Benito confirmed he was Chinese; Patricio then left but returned about a minute later and repeated the taunt.
Patricio drew a five-inch knife from his waist and stabbed Benito twice in the chest; Benito attempted to evade and run but Patricio pursued, embraced him, and stabbed him repeatedly, the last wound striking the left side of Benito's body.
Jocelyn Ng Suy (daughter) attempted to intervene and called for help; attempts to exit the vehicle were initially impeded; many bystanders failed to assist.
After the assault, Patricio fled when he saw witnesses; Benito was carried to San Pedro Hospital and later airlifted to Chinese General Hospital in Manila.
Benito suffered multiple stab wounds (thirteen) and underwent surgery, ICU confinement for three weeks, and ultimately died after three weeks of confinement; cause of death recorded as sepsis (an overwhelming infection, indicating systemic circulation of infection).

Charges and Amended Information

Original Information (frustrated murder): alleged that on or about December 29, 1989 in Davao City, accused, armed with a knife, with treachery and evident premeditation and with intent to kill, attacked and stabbed Benito Ng Suy inflicting multiple penetrating wounds (left arm, left chest, abdomen, left thigh, penetration to left pleural cavity, diaphragm, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, mid-transverse colon) performing all acts of execution which should have produced murder but did not by reason of causes independent of his will (timely and able medical assistance).
Amended Information (murder): filed after the victim's death, charging that on or about December 29, 1989, accused, armed with a knife, with treachery and evident premeditation and with intent to kill, attacked and stabbed Benito Ng Say (sic) causing multiple wounds which caused his death and consequent loss and damage to heirs.

Trial Court Findings and Sentence

The court a quo found accused Patricio Amigo guilty beyond reasonabl