August 2009 - Philippine Supreme Court Resolutions
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[G.R. No. 187150 : August 03, 2009] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES VS. JUANITO COLLADO Y ACLERA:
[G.R. No. 187150 : August 03, 2009]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES VS. JUANITO COLLADO Y ACLERA
Sirs/Mesdames:
Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of the First Division of this Court dated 03 August 2009
G.R. No. 187150 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES versus JUANITO COLLADO Y ACLERA.
In a decision dated March 20, 2007, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Villasis, Pangasinan, Branch 50 found that accused-appellant Juanito Collado y Aclera killed Roger Pareja with treachery, convicted him of the crime of murder, sentenced him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua with all the accessory penalties provided by law and to pay the heirs of Pareja P50,000 civil indemnity, P20,000 actual damages, P25,000 temperate damages and P50,000 moral damages.
On intermediate appellate review, the Court of Appeals (CA) sustained the findings and conclusion of the RTC and affirmed accused-appellant's conviction per decision dated September 29, 2008.
Hence, the present appeal.
A review of the RTC and CA decisions shows that both courts did not commit any error in convicting accused-appellant. The prosecution's evidence sufficiently established accused-appellant's authorship of the crime and its attendant circumstances. Worse, accused-appellant failed to substantiate his claim of self-defense[1] given that the nature of the injuries sustained by the victim (5 incised wounds - on the neck, right temporal area of the head, forehead, right mandibular area and right upper arm) negated his claim.
In view thereof, the present appeal should be dismissed there being no reversible error committed by the CA to warrant the exercise by this Court of its discretionary appellate jurisdiction in this case. However, in view of recent jurisprudence,[2] the award of civil indemnity should be increased to P75,000.
WHEREFORE, the present appeal is hereby DISMISSED.The decision dated September 29, 2008 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 02753 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. Accused-appellant Juanito Collado y Aclera is hereby found guilty of the crime of murder for which he is sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua without eligibility for parole, with all the accessory penalties provided by law and to pay the heirs of Roger Pareja P75;000 civil indemnity, P20,000 actual damages, P25.000 temperate damages and P50.000 moral damages.
Costs against accused-appellant.
SO ORDERED.
WITNESS the Honorable Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Chairperson, Honorable Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Working Chairperson, Honorable Justices Renato C. Corona, Teresita Leonardo de Castro, and Lucas P. Bersamin, Members, First Division, this 3rd day of August 2009,
G.R. No. 187150 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES versus JUANITO COLLADO Y ACLERA.
In a decision dated March 20, 2007, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Villasis, Pangasinan, Branch 50 found that accused-appellant Juanito Collado y Aclera killed Roger Pareja with treachery, convicted him of the crime of murder, sentenced him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua with all the accessory penalties provided by law and to pay the heirs of Pareja P50,000 civil indemnity, P20,000 actual damages, P25,000 temperate damages and P50,000 moral damages.
On intermediate appellate review, the Court of Appeals (CA) sustained the findings and conclusion of the RTC and affirmed accused-appellant's conviction per decision dated September 29, 2008.
Hence, the present appeal.
A review of the RTC and CA decisions shows that both courts did not commit any error in convicting accused-appellant. The prosecution's evidence sufficiently established accused-appellant's authorship of the crime and its attendant circumstances. Worse, accused-appellant failed to substantiate his claim of self-defense[1] given that the nature of the injuries sustained by the victim (5 incised wounds - on the neck, right temporal area of the head, forehead, right mandibular area and right upper arm) negated his claim.
In view thereof, the present appeal should be dismissed there being no reversible error committed by the CA to warrant the exercise by this Court of its discretionary appellate jurisdiction in this case. However, in view of recent jurisprudence,[2] the award of civil indemnity should be increased to P75,000.
WHEREFORE, the present appeal is hereby DISMISSED.The decision dated September 29, 2008 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR HC No. 02753 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. Accused-appellant Juanito Collado y Aclera is hereby found guilty of the crime of murder for which he is sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua without eligibility for parole, with all the accessory penalties provided by law and to pay the heirs of Roger Pareja P75;000 civil indemnity, P20,000 actual damages, P25.000 temperate damages and P50.000 moral damages.
Costs against accused-appellant.
SO ORDERED.
WITNESS the Honorable Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Chairperson, Honorable Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Working Chairperson, Honorable Justices Renato C. Corona, Teresita Leonardo de Castro, and Lucas P. Bersamin, Members, First Division, this 3rd day of August 2009,
Very truly yours,
(Sgd.) ENRIQUETA ESGUERRA-VIDAL
Clerk of Court
First Division
(Sgd.) ENRIQUETA ESGUERRA-VIDAL
Clerk of Court
First Division
Endnotes:
[1] Accused-appellant's version of the incident was that during a drinking-spree. Pareja got drunk and started maligning the liquor that accused-appellant bought, He [old Pareja to just go home but the latter uttered invectives at him, after which Pareja took hold of the latter's bolo on top of the table. They grappled tor its possession and after wresting it from Pareja: he hacked him. Accused-appellant also asserted that after seeing Pareja bleeding, he immediately surrendered to the barangay people. Accused-appellant denounced the identification and statements made by prosecution witnesses Silvestre Tolentino and Gil Galapate that he repeatedly hacked Pareja on (he back during the argument, claiming that Tolentino and Galapate already left (he place when the incident happened.
[2] People V. Ranin, G.R. No. 173023, 25 June 2008; People v. Fuentes. G.R. No. 175995. 23 September 2008; People v. Entrialgo, G.R. No. 177353. 28 November 2008: People v. De Guzman, G.R. No. 173477, 4 February 2009
