G.R. No. 175332 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, vs. DAMASO GANDIA y CASTRO,[1] JERRY[2] RAMIREZ y RECIO,[3] RENATO OLLERES y RIVERA, DANTE GANDIA y SANTOS,[4] JOEL GONZALES y TODIO and ERNESTO CALARIPIO y MORALES (Acquitted).D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered, finding accused, namely: DAMASO GANDIA Y CASTRO, JERRY RAMIREZ Y RECIO, RENATO OLLERES Y RIVERA, DANTE GANDIA Y SANTOS, JOEL GONZALES Y TODIO and ERNESTO CALARIPIO Y MORALES guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of MURDER, qualified by treachery. On accused DAMASO GANDIA Y CASTRO, JERRY RAMIREZ Y RECIO, RENATO OLLERES Y RIVERA, DANTE GANDIA Y SANTOS AND JOEL GONZALES Y TODIO, without the presence of any aggravating or mitigating circumstance, hereby sentences them to Reclusion Perpetua. Accused ERNESTO CALARIPIO with the presence of the privileged mitigating circumstance of minority, he being born on April 11, 1979, applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, hereby sentences him to undergo imprisonment ranging from six (6) years and one (1) day of prision mayor as minimum to eight (8) years of prision mayor as maximum. To indemnify the heirs of the victim Louie Albuero, jointly and severally: (a) For the death of the victim P50,000.00; (b) Funeral expenses actually incurred and paid P30,844, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs. x x x x Considering that all the accused are detention prisoners, they should be credited with full time during which the[y] underwent preventive imprisonment, if they had voluntarily agreed in writing to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed on convicted prisoners; otherwise, they will be credited in the service of their sentence with 4/5 of their preventive imprisonment. [15] Damaso, Dante and Ramirez, who had filed a Notice of Appeal, subsequently filed separate motions to withdraw appeal which this Court granted. [16] Pursuant to People v. Mateo , [17] this Court, by Resolution of September 15, 2004, [18] referred the case with respect to appellants Olleres, Gonzales and Calaripio to the Court of Appeals. Appellants faulted the trial court in finding them guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In any event, they posited that they should only be held liable for homicide as the aggravating circumstance of treachery was not alleged with specificity so as to qualify the killing to murder, pursuant to Sections 8 and 9 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure that took effect on December 31, 2000. [19] By Decision of March 16, 2006, [20] the appellate court affirmed the conviction of the accused-appellants including Damaso, Dante and Ramirez who had withdrawn their respective appeals. It modified the trial courts decision, however, by acquitting Calaripio and imposing exemplary damages to the five accused. Thus it disposed: WHEREFORE , premises considered, the assailed Decision dated September 28, 1995 is AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION . Damaso Gandia, Jerry Ramirez, Renato Olleres, Dante Gandia and Joel Gonzales [are] ordered to pay, jointly and severally , the heirs of Louie Albuero the additional amount of P25,000.00 as exemplary damages . Ernesto Calaripio is ACQUITTED of the charge of murder. His immediate relea