G.R. No. L-48642 - People vs. Salcedo

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-48642)

Factual Background

In the morning of September 24, 1975, six G.I.G. prisoners assigned as kitchen boys—Rodolfo Querrer, Virgilio Domingo Jose Obanil, Cirilo Monroy, Aniceto Nino, and Pacifico Catabay—went to Dormitory No. 4-D to deliver breakfast rations. They parked their truck about three meters from the dormitory. While Catabay supervised the unloading of food, members of the Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang suddenly rushed out from the dormitory with improvised deadly weapons. Acting on the command of Generoso Dungca, alias “Boy Kamatis,” who shouted “Kill them all,” they attacked the kitchen boys.

Prison guards arrived shortly thereafter, quelled the melee, and immediately brought the injured prisoners to the NBP hospital for treatment. Cirilo Monroy died that morning due to hemorrhage, described as acute, massive, secondary to multiple stab wounds, caused by a sharp, pointed, single-bladed instrument, as found by Dr. Bienvenido Munoz of the NBI. The remaining kitchen boys—Querrer, Virgilio Domingo Jose Obanil, Aniceto Nino, and Pacifico Catabay—suffered stab wounds which Dr. Luz Alma Santos of the NBP hospital stated could have caused death but for timely medical intervention.

Information, Arraignment, and Case Posture

Following the investigation, the attackers were identified and charged with Murder and Multiple Frustrated Murder. The information filed by the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal dated February 3, 1977 named Generoso Dungca, Tomas Salcedo, Roberto Esguerra, Roberto Madayao, and Alberto Leban as accused.

At arraignment on February 10, 1977, all accused except Tomas Salcedo pleaded not guilty. Generoso Dungca was not arraigned because he had escaped on April 23, 1976 and remained at large. The trial court ordered the mandatory presentation of evidence against Tomas Salcedo, who pleaded guilty, and proceeded to trial on the merits for those who pleaded not guilty.

Trial Court Proceedings and Findings

Judge Villaluz rendered judgment on August 30, 1977. The trial court found beyond reasonable doubt that Tomas Salcedo, Roberto Esguerra, Roberto Madayao, and Alberto Leban were the assailants who attacked the victims at the time and place alleged. It found that the attack was planned beforehand, was evidently premeditated, and was executed with concert so suddenly as to throw the victims off guard at the moment they were delivering breakfast rations in Brigade Dormitory No. 4-D, where the accused were quartered. The trial court also found that the assailants were armed with improvised deadly weapons, which they must have prepared secretly for some time for the purpose of committing the crimes.

The trial court held that the elements of treachery, evident premeditation, and recidivism were sufficiently established. The accused raised self-defense. Their version, as summarized by the trial court, described a prior altercation involving Cirilo Monroy and Tomas Salcedo, after which a “free for all fight” allegedly ensued when the other kitchen boys rushed to rescue Monroy; in relation to Alberto Leban, the defense claimed that stones and commotion led him to retaliate, and that he later picked up a knife from the opposite gang and struck it.

The trial court rejected self-defense for lack of supporting evidence that the victims were armed during the incident. It further noted that none of the accused were injured, while the victims sustained fatal and serious injuries. It found substantial evidence that the accused were the ones who possessed the deadly weapons used, including a spear, ice picks, and darts, which were surrendered to prison guards by Generoso Dungca and by an unidentified inmate from Dormitory No. 4-D, with some weapons recovered near the water tank of the dormitory.

Conviction, Penalties, and Automatic Review

For the death of Cirilo Monroy, the trial court sentenced each accused to suffer the penalty of death and ordered indemnity of P12,000.00, moral damages of P5,000.00, exemplary damages of P5,000.00, jointly and severally, and the proportionate share of costs. For Multiple Frustrated Murder, it imposed a penalty described as from seventeen (17) years, four (4) months and one (1) day of reclusion temporal, minimum, to twenty (20) years of reclusion temporal, maximum, with moral damages and exemplary damages of P5,000.00 each, jointly and severally, plus proportionate costs.

Because the trial court imposed the death penalty, the case went to the Supreme Court for automatic review.

Supreme Court Proceedings: Death of a Accused

The Court considered the case submitted for decision on January 8, 1981 without appellants’ reply brief. During the pendency of the appeal, Roberto Esguerra died in prison on January 8, 1981 of massive hemoptysis, secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis, moderately advanced. The then Acting Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Vicente R. Raval, informed the Court through a letter dated August 2, 1982.

Upon confirmation by the Solicitor General, who recommended the dismissal of the case insofar as the criminal liability of Esguerra was concerned, the Court in a resolution dated September 28, 1982 dismissed the case as to his criminal liability, without prejudice to the determination of his civil liability to be recovered from his estate.

Issues and Appellants’ Assignment of Error

In their brief, appellants raised a single assignment of error, asserting that the trial court failed to prove the crimes charged with clear and convincing evidence beyond reasonable doubt.

The Parties’ Contentions and the Court’s Evaluation

The appellants invoked self-defense, insisting on the occurrence of an earlier altercation and portraying the subsequent incident as retaliatory. They also challenged the sufficiency of the prosecution evidence.

The Court reviewed the record and sustained the trial court’s factual findings. It held that no reason existed to disturb the trial court’s conclusions because a complete review of the evidence raised no doubt as to the correctness of the findings that the accused were the assailants who attacked the victims on September 24, 1975. The Court recognized that the trial court found the attack preplanned and executed suddenly and in concert, and that improvised deadly weapons were used.

The Court likewise upheld the trial court’s rejection of self-defense. It agreed that the accused failed to show evidence that the victims were armed during the incident, and it relied on the asymmetry of injuries: the victims suffered fatal and serious wounds, while the accused sustained no injuries. The weapons used, as found by the trial court, were supported by the evidence on record, including the surrender of weapons to prison guards and the recovery of some near the dormitory’s water tank.

Disposition, Civil Effects, and Applicable Constitutional Rule on the Death Penalty

The Court affirmed the judgment in toto except as to the amount of indemnity for the death of Cirilo Monroy, which it increased to P30,000.00. It also clarified that the earlier dismissal in the Court’s September 28, 1982 resolution covered only the criminal liability of Roberto Esguerra, and not his civil liability, if any, to be determined in accordance with the applicable principles.

As to the penalty, the Court applied the governing constitutional rule. It held that, under the 1987 Constitution, the death penalty has been abolished until such time as Congress may decide to reimpose the same. Accordingly, it automatically commuted the trial court’s death sentence to reclusion perpetua.

Finally, the Court ordered the Provincial Fiscal of Rizal to make arrangements for the apprehension of Generoso Dungca, who had escaped and was at large, so that he could be brought to trial.

Doctrinal Takeaway

The

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. L-48642)

The appeal assailed the decision of Judge Onofre A. Villaluz of the then Circuit Criminal Court of Pasig, Metro Manila, dated August 30, 1977, convicting the accused of Murder and Multiple Frustrated Murder.
The criminal acts were alleged to have occurred inside the National Penitentiary, also known as the New Bilibid Prison, in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila.
The accused and the victims were all convicted prisoners serving final sentences in the New Bilibid Prison.
The Court treated the case as subject to automatic review because the trial court imposed the death penalty.

Parties and Procedural Posture

The People of the Philippines prosecuted the case as plaintiff-appellee.
Tomas Salcedo, Roberto Esguerra, Roberto Madayao, and Alberto Leban appeared as defendants-appellants.
The Provincial Fiscal of Rizal filed the information dated February 3, 1977, charging Murder and Multiple Frustrated Murder.
The accused Tomas Salcedo, Roberto Esguerra, Roberto Madayao, and Alberto Leban were arraigned on February 10, 1977.
The accused except Tomas Salcedo pleaded not guilty, while Tomas Salcedo pleaded guilty.
The trial court ordered the mandatory presentation of evidence against Tomas Salcedo upon his guilty plea, and conducted trial on the merits for the others.
The trial court rendered judgment on August 30, 1977, convicting all four accused who appeared before it.
The case reached the Court for automatic review because the trial court imposed the death penalty.
The case was considered submitted for decision on January 8, 1981 without the appellants’ reply brief.
The accused-appellant Roberto Esguerra died in prison on January 8, 1981, prompting dismissal of the case as to his criminal liability.
The Court’s resolution dated September 28, 1982 dismissed the criminal case against Roberto Esguerra, without prejudice to civil liability recoverable from his estate.
The Court affirmed the trial court’s conviction except for the modification of the indemnity for the death of Cirilo Monroy.

Key Factual Allegations

The fatal incident occurred at about 10:00 o’clock in the morning of September 24, 1975.
Six prisoners belonging to the rival gang G.I.G. (Genuine Ilocano Gang), assigned as kitchen boys, delivered breakfast rations to Brigade Dormitory No. 4-D, which housed the Sigue-Sigue Sputnik gang.
The victims who came to Dormitory No. 4-D to deliver food included Rodolfo Querrer, Virgilio Domingo Jose Obanil, Cirilo Monroy, Aniceto Nino, and Pacifico Catabay.
The kitchen boys parked their truck about three meters from Dormitory No. 4-D.
While Catabay supervised the unloading of the food, the accused’s gang rushed out with improvised deadly weapons.
The attack was ordered by the gang leader Generoso Dungca, alias “Boy Kamatis,” who shouted “Kill them all.”
Prison guards arrived and restored order, after which the injured were immediately brought to the NBP Hospital for treatment.
Cirilo Monroy died that morning due to “hemorrhage, acute, massive, secondary to multiple stab wounds,” caused by a sharp, pointed, single-bladed instrument, as found by the Medico-Legal Officer, Dr. Bienvenido Munoz of the NBI.
The other injured kitchen boys sustained stab wounds that were described as potentially fatal absent timely medical intervention, based on the testimony/report of Dr. Luz Alma Santos of the NBP Hospital.
The prosecution attributed the assailants to the accused and alleged a planned beforehand attack executed with suddenness to overwhelm the victims while they were delivering breakfast rations.
The trial record also showed that Generoso Dungca escaped from prison on April 23, 1976 and remained at large.

Charges and Convictions

The information charged Murder for the death of Cirilo Monroy.
The information also charged Multiple Frustrated Murder for the injuries to the other victims.
The trial court found the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of Murder and Multiple Frustrated Murder.
For the murder of Cirilo Monroy, the trial court sentenced each accused to suffer the penalty of death, to indemnify the heirs of Cirilo Monroy in the amount of P12,000.00, and to pay moral damages of P5,000.00 plus another P5,000.00 as exemplary damages, jointly and severally, and to pay proportionate shares of the costs.
For Multiple Frustrated Murder, each accused was sentenced to reclusion temporal within the range of seventeen (17) years, four (4) months and one (1) day to twenty (20) years, plus moral damages of P5,000.00, plus another P5,000.00 as exemplary damages, jointly and severally, and costs.
Because the decision imposed the death penalty, the Court conducted automatic review.

Defense Theory

The accused raised self-defense as their principal theory.
The accused’s narrative, as summarized by the trial court, described an earlier confrontation between Cirilo Monroy and T