G.R. No. 135975 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. BONIFACIO ABADIES, ACCUSED-.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, for all the foregoing considerations, the Court finds the accused Bonifacio Abadies GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder as the killing was with treachery and hereby sentences him, after having found the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation in the unrebutted testimony of Jose Manuel Roldan and no mitigating circumstances being present to offset the same, pursuant to Art. 63 of the Revised Penal Code, with the penalty of DEATH. The Court further sentences the accused to pay the offended party the sum of P50,000.00 as indemnity; P25,000.00 as actual expenses; P50,000.00 as moral damages. SO PROMULGATED. [3] On automatic review before the Court, accused-appellant insists that the penalty of death should not have been imposed on him because THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN IMPOSING THE MAXIMUM PENALTY ON ACCUSED-APPELLANT DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF EVIDENT PREMEDITATION WAS NOT PROVED BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT. On December 24, 1995, Cecilio Roldan, his wife Cynthia, their son Ronald and neighbor Salve Aligway were celebrating Christmas Eve at the balcony of their house at Barangay Cadaohan, Ormoc City. At 2:00 a.m. of Christmas day, Cynthia saw appellant Bonifacio Abadies, her husbands uncle, approached Cecilio from behind. Without warning, accused-appellant shot Cecilio with a short firearm about 8 inches in length. [4] Cecilio was hit on the upper back and slumped to the floor. Salve Aligway rushed to his side. Cynthia saw accused-appellant rushing towards the back of their house since the balcony was lighted. [5] Jose Manuel Roldan, Cecilios brother who lived next door, heard the gunshot. He immediately went out of his house and saw accused-appellant, his uncle, carrying a firearm and hurriedly entering his own house, about ten meters away. Jose Manuel rushed toward his brothers house fearing that he had been hurt. He recalled that in the morning of the previous day, accused-appellant had threatened to kill Cecilio Roldan because of a recent misunderstanding between them. Jose Manuel arrived at Cecilios house and found the latter wounded. [6] Cecilio was rushed to the Ormoc District Hospital, where he eventually died. [7] According to the victims widow, accused-appellant harbored a grudge against her husband because he was unable to give him the additional amount of P10,000.00 for the lease of a rice land owned by a certain Langkoy Fran in the month of December 1995, a few weeks before the shooting incident transpired. [8] Dr. Jesus Castro, who conducted the post-mortem examination on Cecilio, found that he sustained a fatal gunshot wound at the back which hit the heart. The distance of the gun from the victim was more than one foot, judging from the absence of gunpowder in the body. [9] His post-mortem report indicated Cause of Death: CP arrest, 2 Massive and Profuse bleeding 2 to gunshot wound. [10] Accused-appellant admits having shot Cecilio but claims that the shooting was ac