Title
People vs. Canete
Case
G.R. No. 120495
Decision Date
Mar 12, 1998
Accused-appellants convicted of Homicide and Frustrated Homicide for 1988 attack; claims of self-defense and alibi dismissed; abuse of superior strength unproven.
homicide
frustrated homicide
alibi defense

Case Summary (G.R. No. 120495)

Factual Background

On June 11, 1988, Ramon Paculanan, his wife Avelina, and Arnold Margallo were traveling toward their home in Sugbongcogon, Misamis Oriental. As they passed near the house of accused-appellants German Canete and others of the Canete family, they saw German, Harvey, and Dominic, all surnamed Canete. German allegedly held a flashlight and a bolo, while Dominic allegedly held an Indian pana.

According to the evidence as summarized by the Court of Appeals, the accused-appellants accosted the passersby and asked why they were shouting. Ramon and his companions replied that they were not shouting but singing. Shortly thereafter, Ramon and Margallo were attacked and hacked several times by the three accused-appellants using bolos. The attack resulted in Ramon’s death. Dominic allegedly let loose an arrow that hit Margallo’s right buttock, and Margallo was also hacked at the back by German.

Margallo managed to roll down toward a banana plantation edge. Avelina embraced Ramon’s lifeless body, pleaded for mercy, and the accused-appellants left. Margallo later returned to carry Ramon but could not because the Indian pana was embedded in his buttock. Two women arrived and carried Ramon to a chapel. Ramon was later brought to the clinic of Dr. Precioso Tacandang in Silay, Misamis Oriental, but Ramon was dead on arrival. The record further showed that the arrow was turned over to the Chief of Police without issuance of a receipt, and the bolo used by German was found on June 12, 1988 and likewise turned over to the Chief of Police.

Criminal Charges and Trial Court Rulings

The accused-appellants were charged under two separate Informations, each anchored on the same date, time, and general location of the assaults.

In Criminal Case No. 994-M(88), the Information alleged murder, asserting that the accused-appellants, armed with bolos and Indian pana, acted with intent to kill, with evident premeditation and superior strength, and conspired and mutually helped one another in stabbing Ramon Paculanan, inflicting fatal wounds that caused Ramon’s death.

In Criminal Case No. 995-M(88), the Information alleged frustrated homicide, alleging that the accused-appellants, conspiring and mutually helping one another with intent to kill and with the use of a sharp pointed bolo and a home-made Indian pana, attacked Arnold Margallo and inflicted physical injuries. The Information alleged that all acts of execution had been performed that would have produced homicide, but that the victim did not die due to timely medical assistance.

After arraignment, the trial court conducted a joint trial. It then convicted the accused-appellants of homicide in Criminal Case No. 994-M(88) and frustrated homicide in Criminal Case No. 995-M(88). The Court of Appeals later modified the murder conviction in Criminal Case No. 994-M(88) by raising the penalty to reclusion perpetua for abuse of superior strength; it correspondingly increased the imposable penalty in Criminal Case No. 995-M(88) to six years of prision correcional to twelve years of prision mayor. The Court of Appeals also addressed sentencing mechanics under Section 13, Rule 124 by certifying the case to the Supreme Court for review.

Supreme Court Procedural Handling of the Appeal

After the Court of Appeals’ modification, the case reached the Supreme Court through certification. The Supreme Court considered Section 13, Rule 124 of the Rules of Court in relation to the appellate modification that affected the penalty. Since the Supreme Court treated the offense as leading to reclusion perpetua, it ordered that bondsmen surrender the accused-appellants within ten (10) days from notice to the court of origin, and that the trial judge commit the accused-appellants to the Bureau of Corrections within five (5) days from surrender.

However, Dominic Canete, due to minority, had been previously released on recognizance through undertakings by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Because he could not be re-arrested and remained at large, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal on July 24, 1996, with the dismissal later entered on September 2, 1996. The Supreme Court then proceeded to review only the cases as to the remaining accused-appellants, German and Harvey Canete, since Dominic’s appeal had already been dismissed. The Court afforded German and Harvey the opportunity to file a supplemental brief, but none was filed, so their earlier brief before the Court of Appeals became the basis for the Supreme Court’s review.

Issues Raised on Review

The Supreme Court identified the significant issues as the claim by German Canete of self-defense and the alibi invoked by Harvey Canete. The Court noted that other assigned errors—particularly those concerning the trial court’s credibility findings—were not discussed extensively because, after review, the Court found the evaluation “fundamentally sound.” The Court also considered the issue of lack of motive insignificant because the prosecution witnesses had positively identified the accused-appellants as the perpetrators. In support, the Court cited People vs. Cabodoc, stating that motive need not be proven when the accused has been positively identified.

German Canete’s Claim of Self-Defense and Its Rejection

German Canete claimed self-defense by insisting that Ramon Paculanan and Arnold Margallo had “begrudged” him because German was responsible for the impounding of the victims’ goats by municipal authorities. German testified that on the night of June 11, 1988, he had been in his farmhouse, awakened by sounds, and had thereafter encountered an attack. He stated that he parried blows, retreated toward his house while using Ramon as a shield, and eventually pushed Ramon forward toward the other attackers. German further claimed that Avelina struck his back with a coconut palm.

The Supreme Court held that, even if German’s narrative were assumed to be true, it did not establish all the indispensable elements of complete self-defense. These elements were articulated as: (1) unlawful aggression against the person asserting self-defense; (2) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel the unlawful aggression; and (3) lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself. Upon pleading self-defense, the burden shifted to the accused to prove the plea by clear and convincing evidence, referencing People vs. Viernes.

The Supreme Court found that German failed to show clear and convincing evidence of unlawful aggression. It observed that German’s own narration did not account for how he allegedly avoided sustaining any injury despite the claimed attack. It also noted that beyond German’s testimony, no other evidence on unlawful aggression appeared in the record. Further, German’s claim that he repelled the aggression using Ramon as a human shield did not explain how Ramon sustained the injuries that caused his death.

The Supreme Court relied on the post mortem findings by Dr. Precioso Tacandang. The record showed multiple stab wounds and a stab wound to the right buttock, among other injuries, and these numerous injuries were inconsistent with a theory that German merely repelled an attack. The Supreme Court emphasized that in similar cases it had examined the nature and number of wounds inflicted to assess the veracity of self-defense, noting that such injuries often disprove the plea. It cited Guevarra vs. CA and other cases to underscore the significance of wound characteristics.

The Court analogized to People vs. Maceda, where the number of wounds indicated that the act was no longer self-defense but a determined effort to kill. The Supreme Court concluded that the injuries inflicted upon Ramon and the injuries inflicted upon Arnold Margallo—hack wound at the back and the Indian pana embedded in his buttocks—disproved German’s claim. It found that German offered no explanation for how the victims sustained the numerous and gruesome wounds.

Harvey Canete’s Alibi and Its Rejection

Harvey Canete claimed alibi, asserting that he slept at the Canete residence in the Poblacion of Sugbongcogon on the night of June 11, 1988. He supported this with testimony that he had been suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis since June 1987, had been confined from June 2 to June 6, 1987 at Maria Reyna Hospital in Cagayan de Oro under Dr. Luis Borja, and had been prescribed rest for two years with ongoing treatment and injections. He stated that he remained in the Poblacion house because it was near the health center, and that he would occasionally go to the farmhouse by the sea.

A co-tenant, Bernardino Luquinario, testified that Harvey was home early that night. However, on cross-examination, Luquinario admitted that he could not see what was inside the Canete house and thus lacked means to confirm Harvey’s presence within the house. The Supreme Court also considered that Dominic, Harvey’s co-accused and half-brother, admitted that the distance between the Poblacion and Sitio Balongis was only one kilometer, or a walk of not more than thirty (30) minutes.

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts’ view that alibi was not credible. It reiterated doctrinal points: alibi places the accused at the relevant time in a different place than the scene of the crime such that physical presence at the locus criminis is rendered impossible, and alibi is inherently weak. It cited People vs. Villaruel and People vs. Acob for the characterization of alibi, and it further cited People vs. Montealto. It also reiterated the rule that alibi can prosper only if the accused shows he was so far away he could not have been physically present at the crime scene or its immediate vicinity. It referenced cases holding that even distances of two, three, or five kilometers were not necessarily too far to preclude presence when travel was by walking.

Given the short distance of only one kilometer between the Poblacion house and the crime scene,

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