G.R. No. 224888 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. RODERICK R. RAMELO, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, this Court finds the accused GUILTY BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT of the crime charged, and he is hereby sentenced to RECLUSION PERPETUA. He is further condemned to indemnify the heirs of the victim the amount of One Hundred Thousand (P100,000.00) Pesos as civil indemnity and Fifty Thousand (P50,000.00) Pesos as actual damages which will earn 6% annual interest from the finality of this judgment up to its satisfaction. [20] Aggrieved, Ramelo appealed before the CA. The CA Ruling In its assailed decision, the CA affirmed with modifications the RTC's judgment. It concurred with the trial court's assessment that no unlawful aggression attended the killing noting Pilapil's claim that he was able to defuse the hostilities between Nelson and Ramelo. Thus, it opined that the defense failed to prove self-defense. Nevertheless, the CA modified Ramelo's conviction to homicide and not murder ratiocinating that the attendance of treachery was not duly established. It gleaned from the testimonies of the witnesses that there was a prior confrontation between Nelson and Ramelo; and that the latter approached the former from the front. Hence, Nelson was forewarned of an impending danger and could have foreseen the attack by Ramelo. The appellate court, however, credited the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender in favor of Ramelo as it was satisfied that the requisites for its appreciation were sufficiently proven. The dispositive portion of the assailed decision reads: WHEREFORE, the Judgment rendered by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 14 of Baybay City, Leyte, in Criminal Case No. B-09-05-55 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION, in that: 1. Accused-appellant Roderick R. Ramelo is declared guilty beyond reasonable doubt of homicide defined and penalized under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code and is sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of eight (8) years and 1 day of prision mayor , as minimum, to fourteen (14) years of reclusion temporal , as maximum. 2. He is ordered to pay the Heirs of the Late Nelson Peña P50,000.00 as civil indemnity, P50,000.00 as moral damages and P25,000.00 as temperate damages. 3. Further, he shall pay interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum on the civil indemnity, moral damages and temperate damages from the finality of this decision until fully paid. SO ORDERED.