Case Summary (G.R. No. L-69346)
Procedural History
In December 1981, the Provincial Fiscal charged the four respondents with robbery with homicide, alleging robbery of P 10,000 aggravated by treachery, premeditation, corpse-outraging, nocturnity, uninhabited place, and enhancement by weighing down the victim to prevent discovery. Nulla pleaded guilty but later invoked self-defense; Cunag and Jimenez pleaded not guilty; Velasco remained at large. The RTC, Branch XVI, Naval, Leyte, convicted Nulla, Cunag, and Jimenez on September 12, 1984, for robbery with homicide under Article 294(1) and imposed the death penalty on Nulla, reclusion perpetua on Cunag, and prision correccional to prision mayor on Jimenez. All three appealed.
Admissibility of Extrajudicial Confessions
Nulla’s and Cunag’s written statements, taken by PC officers without counsel during custodial interrogation, violated their constitutional rights under the 1973 Constitution and the safeguards articulated in People v. Galit. The Supreme Court rejected these confessions as inadmissible, leaving Sanchez’s testimony as the sole basis for guilt.
Sole Prosecution Witness: William Sanchez
Sanchez, one of the boat crew, testified that Nulla surprised Mecaral on the cabin roof, hacked him twice, then ordered Velasco to retrieve the money and Cunag to fetch the anchor and trailer. Nulla and Cunag tied these heavy objects to Mecaral’s body, and ordered disposal overboard. Sanchez’s account negated any self-defense theory.
Claim of Self-Defense
Nulla asserted he preemptively struck Mecaral during a supper scuffle in self-defense. The Court found this implausible: Mecaral had not posed imminent deadly danger after missing a single bolo thrust; there was no necessity to use lethal force; the immediate weighing-down and disposal of the body, and subsequent use of the victim’s money and boat, demonstrated intent to kill and conceal. The RTC’s credibility findings were accorded deference and sustained.
Criminal Liability of Respondents
– Prudencio Nulla: Principal in robbery with homicide, having killed Mecaral to facilitate taking of money.
– Bembo Cunag: Accomplice (Article 18), providing contemporaneous assistance by fetching and using the anchor and trailer, and sharing in the proceeds.
– Alberto Jimenez: Acquitted on reasonable doubt. His presence at the beach and exchanges with Nulla were potentially innocent (inquiring about rice sale rather than homicide), and the evidence admitted two interpretations.
– Efren Velasco: At large; not tried on appeal.
Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances
Aggravating (Nulla):
– Treachery (sudden and unexpected attack)
– Nocturnity (nighttime commission)
– Uninhabited place (open sea)
Mitigating (Nulla): Plea of guilt
No cruelty finding (uncertainty whether Mecaral was alive when drowned).
Penalties and Their Modification
– Nulla:
Case Syllabus (G.R. No. L-69346)
Facts of the Case
- On or about March 20, 1981, merchant Agustin Mecaral loaded 56 sacks of rice aboard his pump boat “Two Brothers” at Barangay Agpangi, Naval, Leyte, with four crew members: Prudencio Nulla, Bembo Cunag, Efren Velasco, and William Sanchez.
- The rice was sold at P160 per sack on the islands of Maripipi (Leyte), Sto. Nino (Samar), and Almagro (Samar), leaving only 1½ sacks unsold.
- On the evening of March 22, 1981, near Maripipi Island, Mecaral was struck twice on the head with a bolo by Prudencio Nulla, rendering him senseless on the boat’s deck.
- Nulla and Cunag tied the anchor and a 65-kilo trailer to Mecaral’s body with rope and threw him overboard; he sank and disappeared.
- Before disposal of the body, Mecaral’s money (approximately P10,000) was taken by the crew.
- That same night, the three surviving crew members beached at Barangay Aslom, Naval, where they fetched Nulla’s wife and three children on his instructions.
- Nulla, Sanchez, and Cunag sailed to Cebu; Jimenez followed by another boat only to Bigatangan Island; Velasco parted ways earlier.
- Nulla and company traveled to Cebu City by bus, then to Tagum, Davao by vessel, stayed a month, and returned to Cebu, where they were arrested by P.C. soldiers and brought back to Leyte on the “Two Brothers.”
- Velasco went to Tacloban and Calbayog, then telegrammed Mecaral’s widow of the killing, and was never arrested.
Procedural History
- September 24, 1981: PC officers in Naval took written statements from Cunag, Nulla, and Sanchez (Exhibits C, D, and I) after advising them of constitutional rights; Judge Patino conducted preliminary investigation of Nulla and Velasco.
- Early December 1981: Provincial Fiscal filed information in Regional Trial Court for robbery with homicide against Nulla, Cunag, Jimenez, and Velasco, alleging robbery of P10,000 and killing aggravated by treachery, premeditation, desecration of the corpse, nocturnity, uninhabited place, and deliberate augmentation of wrong.
- Arraignment: Nulla pleaded guilty then testified claiming self-defense; Cunag and Jimenez pleaded not guilty; Velasco never arraigned and remained at large.
- September 12, 1984: RTC Branch XVI, Naval, Leyte (Judge Villamor) found Nulla, Cunag, and Jimenez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the special complex felony of robbery with homicide (Art. 294(1), RPC) and meted penalties:
• Nulla – Death penalty (later reduced to reclusion perpetua), P20,000 indemnity.
• Cunag – Reclusion perpetua, P10,000 indemnity.
• Jimenez – 6 years prision correccional to 10 years prision mayor, P2,000 indemnity. - All three appealed to the Supreme Court.
Issues on Appeal
- Whether the extra-judicial confessions of Nulla and Cunag were admissible despite custodial interrogation without counsel.
- Whether William Sanchez’s testimony, the sole direct account, was credible and sufficient.
- Whether Nulla’s claim of justifiable self-defense negated criminal liability.
- Proper classification of liability for each accused: principal or accomplice.
- Whether the com