G.R. No. 129732 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. MARIO BASCO Y SALAO, ACCUSED-. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, trial was had. The facts are those duly established through the testimony of Ednalyn Buenaventura, daughter of the deceased, as follows: At around 8:00 in the evening of May 3, 1992, Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. was having a drinking spree with several men outside his home, at Cabangis, Tondo, Manila. Accused-appellant Mario Basco was with the group drinking beer. Emy, a cousin of the deceased arrived from work. Mang Lando, one of the men in the group invited Emy to have a drink, but he refused and told them that he would drink later on. Emy, however, noticed that accused-appellant Mario Basco was playing with a "balisong", so he warned the latter about it and told him to put it away because it was "nakakailang". Mario who was obviously a bit intoxicated retorted and said "Pare, gusto mo ba talaga ng biruan" and immediately approached Emy and poked the knife at the latter's neck. Because of the sudden approach of accused-appellant and the slippery pavement, Mario slipped and Emy avoided the knife. [3] At this instance, the deceased Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. asked his other cousin Edong to help Emy, who was being attacked by accused- appellant. Edong then got a chair and was about to strike Mario when Mario's wife arrived and pacified them. Mario, however, continued wielding the knife and accidentally hit Rolly, a son of Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. Seeing that his son was seriously injured, Rolando Buenventura, Sr. became angry and he cursed accused-appellant. A heated exchange ensued. [4] At the height of the argument between the two, Jaime Macanas, a neighbor who was a policeman, came out of his house, just in front of the house of the Buenaventuras and fired two shots in the air to pacify the men. Then, Mario's wife brought him home. Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. and Emy were left outside the house, but not for long, because Emy went inside the house to sleep. [5] Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. on the other hand was called by Ednalyn, his daughter and Rolly, his son, to go inside the house and eat supper. When they were about to eat, accused-appellant Mario Basco came calling and cursing Rolando Buenaventura, Sr. Suddenly, accused-appellant was at the door of the Buenaventura house and when Rolando stood up to drink water, accused-appellant immediately shot him, causing him to fall to the ground. Accused-appellant fired another shot at Rolando, then he went nearer and again shot Rolando at close range, hitting him on the chest. [6] He died on the spot. In the autopsy report, the medico-legal examiner found the following: " EXTERNAL FINDINGS : "1. Gunshot wound, thru and thru, with the following entry and exit: "Point of Entry- at the left temporal region, in front of left ear, circular in shape, 60 inches from heel, 13.5 cms. from anterior midline, measuring 0.3 x 0.3 cms. and contusion collar measures 0.7 x 0.6 cms. and "Point of Exit-at the right parieto-occipital region, stellate in shape, 64 ½ inches from heel, 3 cms. from posterior midline,