G.R. No. 122735 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ROGELIO ANDRES, ANTONIO SUMILATA, BERNARDO LARGO, ROBERTO TUGADO, RUFO ADVINCULA, RAYMUN RIOS (AT LARGE) AND JIMMY LAURENTE (AT LARGE), ACCUSED, ROGELIO ANDRES, ANTONIO SUMILATA, BERNARDO LARGO AND ROBERTO TUGADO.

Ruling

ACCORDINGLY, therefore, the Court finds accused: 1. Rogelio Andres 2. Antonio Sumilata 3. Bernardo Largo 4. Roberto Tugado guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder and sentences all of them to the penalty of reclusion perpetua to death and to indemnify the heirs of the deceased Domingo Astrande the amount of P50,000.00 plus actual burial and wake expenses amounting to P70,000.00." [7] Hence, this appeal. [8] The Facts According to the Prosecution The trial court encapsulated the prosecutions version of the facts as follows: "Danilo de la Cruz testified x x x that on June 20, 1994, he was at the hospital of [the] Sablayan Penal Colony when at 9:50 p.m., he noticed something after he was awakened from his sleep by noise which caused him to peep at the window and saw [prisoner] Antonio Sumilata striking or stabbing prison guard Domingo Astrande; he identified the accused Sumilata inside the courtroom; that he saw Antonio Sumilata with prisoners Rogelio Andres, Bernardo Largo and Robert Tugado when accused Sumilata stabbed Domingo Astrande x x x that he also saw prisoners Jimmy Laurente and Raymun Rios with the prisoners he named but the two escaped from the Sablayan Penal Colony and are still at large up to the present; he also saw accused Andres stab guard Astrande on the chest while accused Largo held Astrande and stabbed the latter on the back; when Astrande stood up, the group rambled and helped each other in striking Astrande; that he did not see accused Rufo Advincula in the group he named; when Astrande was already lying down sprawled on the floor of the hospital, another prison guard arrived and fired a warning shot and he also saw prisoner Winston Gonzales, an attendant on duty at the hospital; then the doctor of the hospital put Astrande on the bench and inspected the body of victim Astrande; that he was not able to approach Astrande because the whole premises were padlocked x x x that his companions Ante Fernando and others in the padlocked room were later awakened by the shot fired by the guard who arrived x x x that there was a bright light coming from the tv when Astrande was assaulted and so he can recognize the people who assaulted Astrande xxx. "Ante Fernando testified that x x x he was in the hospital watching tv from the window of their room; the tv was around two arms length from the window of his room; that he and prisoner Danilo de la Cruz were watching tv from the window of their room and later he went to sleep only to be awakened by shouts from the outside "Alis diyan, matamaan ka!" which forced him to stand up and when he peeped at the window, he saw prisoners Laurente and Rios with knives [run] away from the dead body of prison guard Domingo Astrande together with accused Andres and Tugado; he saw Astrande lying down face downward; when he saw Laurente, he was holding a bolo and Rios a long knife; he was able to recognize the accused he named: Andres, Largo, Tugado, Laurente and Rios because he was very near t