PEOPLE v. PANERIO and ORTEZA, G.R. No. 205440 | 2018
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Appellee,
-versus-
YOLANDO PANERIO and ALEX ORTEZA, Appellant.
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G.R. No. 205440, THIRD DIVISION, January 15, 2018,
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Full text:
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Ponente: MARTIRES, J
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Doctrine:
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Most important among the requisites of self-defense is unlawful aggression which is the condition sine qua non for upholding self-defense as justifying circumstance. Unless the victim commits unlawful aggression against the accused, self-defense, whether complete or incomplete, cannot be appreciated, for the two other essential elements of self-defense would have no factual and legal bases without any unlawful aggression to prevent or repel.
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Synopsis:
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In a billiard hall in Mintal, Davao City, Yolando Panerio and Alex Orteza, both drunk, caused disruption by scattering the billiard balls, prompting the games to stop. Later, they saw Elesio Ung on the road and repeatedly stabbed him while under the influence of alcohol. Panerio used a fan knife while Orteza used an ice pick. Elesio sustained 11 stab wounds and died the next day despite being rushed to the hospital by witness Olivar. Panerio and Orteza were arrested, but Orteza managed to escape. The two were charged with Murder, but Panerio invoked self-defense, claiming that Elesio was the initial aggressor.
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However, the court found that self-defense was not established as Panerio failed to prove that he acted in self-defense when he and Orteza killed Elesio. To claim self-defense, the victim must first commit unlawful aggression against the accused, which was not the case here. Panerio's assertion that Elesio, then drunk, boxed him and attempted to stab him was unsubstantiated by any convincing proof. Furthermore, the large number of wounds sustained by the victim negates any claim of self-defense.
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The court also ruled that Panerio may only be convicted of homicide, not murder, as the prosecution failed to prove that the crime was committed with treachery or any other qualifying circumstance. Treachery involves employing means, methods, or forms in the execution of a crime that directly and specially ensure its execution without risk to the offender arising from the victim's defense. The testimony of Olivar did not establish treachery as he only witnessed the incident when Elesio was already being stabbed by Panerio and Orteza.
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While the guilt of Panerio and Orteza for the death of Elesio is unquestioned, self-defense was not established, and treachery was not present. Therefore, Panerio can only be convicted of homicide.
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Nature of petition:
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On appeal is the 24 February 2011 Decision[1] of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR-H.C. No. 00707-MIN, which affirmed with modification the 4 February 2009 Decision[2] of the Regional Trial Court of Davao City, Branch 12, in Criminal Case No. 22,247-91, finding accused-appellant Yolando B. Panerio alias John "Yolly"[3] (Panerio) and accused Alex (Jojo) F. Orteza (Orteza) guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder, defined and penalized under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
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Dispositve portion:
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WHEREFORE, accused-appellant Yolanda B. Panerio and accused Alex F. Orteza are found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Homicide, defined and penalized under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code. They are each sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of twelve (12) years of prision mayor, as minimum, to seventeen (17) years and four (4) months of reclusion temporal, as maximum.
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Accused-appellant Yolanda B. Panerio and accused Alex F. Orteza are further ordered to pay jointly and severally the heirs of the deceased Elesio Ung the following amounts: (1) P50,000.00, as civil indemnity; and (2) P50,000.00, as moral damages. All monetary awards shall earn interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum reckoned from the finality of this decision until its full payment.
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