People v. Bacay
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: On February 20, 1971, in Sariaya, Quezon, Mariano Bacay, together with Margarito Watiwat, allegedly attacked and stabbed Pedro Macatangay, inflicting several mortal wounds which caused his death. The information charged the accused with murder, qualified by abuse of superior strength, evident premeditation, and treachery. Procedural History: The Court of First Instance of Quezon found Mariano Bacay guilty of murder, qualified by abuse of superior strength, and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua. Margarito Watiwat, the co-accused, died during the pendency of the trial, and the charge against him was dismissed. The Petition: Mariano Bacay appealed the decision of the trial court.
Issue(s)
Whether the trial court erred in finding the appellant guilty of murder qualified by abuse of superior strength, and whether the crime committed is murder or homicide. Whether the appellant's defense of alibi is credible.
Ruling
The decision of the trial court is modified. Mariano Bacay is found guilty of homicide and sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of ten (10) years of prision mayor, as minimum, to fifteen (15) years of reclusion temporal, as maximum. He is also ordered to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Pedro Macatangay in the amount of P30,000.00.
Ratio Decidendi
On the qualification of murder by abuse of superior strength and the crime committed: The Court held that the trial court erred in concluding that the offense was qualified by abuse of superior strength. It is a settled rule that abuse of superior strength can be considered only where the accused deliberately used excessive force out of proportion to the means of defense available to the person attacked. The mere fact that two aggressors inflicted fatal wounds does not, by itself, show abuse of superior strength in the absence of proof demonstrating that they cooperated in such a manner as to secure advantage from their superior number to weaken the defense. The Court cited People v. Cabiling and People v. Bello. The prosecution witness Venancio Abdon declared that he saw appellant Bacay and his co-accused Watiwat with their hands on the victim's shoulder while their other hands were raised to press down on the deceased's back, after which the latter fell. The Court found this circumstance, coupled with the fact that the meeting was unexpected and accidental, hardly indicated a deliberate use of numerical superiority or abuse of superior strength. The Court also noted that holding the victim's shoulder did not necessarily immobilize him to render him completely helpless. In the absence of a clear showing that abuse of superior strength or any other qualifying circumstance attended the commission of the crime, the Court concluded that the crime committed was homicide, not murder. The penalty for homicide is reclusion temporal, which the Court imposed in its medium period. The Court modified the penalty imposed by the trial court. Instead of reclusion perpetua for murder, it imposed an indeterminate penalty of ten (10) years of prision mayor, as minimum, to fifteen (15) years of reclusion temporal, as maximum, for homicide. The indemnity to the heirs was also increased from P12,000.00 to P30,000.00. On the appellant's defense of alibi: The Court found the appellant's alibi unworthy of credence. It could not prevail over the clear, positive, and convincing testimony of the eyewitness, Venancio Abdon, who was only two meters away from the assailants and had known them for over twenty years. The Court noted that alibi as a defense can easily be fabricated.
Main Doctrine
The mere fact that two aggressors inflicted fatal wounds on the deceased does not, by itself, show abuse of superior strength in the absence of proof demonstrating that they cooperated in such a manner as to secure advantage from their superior number to weaken the defense. In the absence of clear showing that abuse of superior strength or any other qualifying circumstance had attended its commission, the crime committed is homicide.