G.R. No. 128820 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. GAUDIOSO MORE, ERNESTO, MORE AND JERWIN MORE, ACCUSED-. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua with all its accessory penalties, and to pay damages in the total amount of P262,310.00 plus the costs. Accused-appellants contend in this appeal that the trial court erred: (a) in not appreciating in their favor the justifying circumstance of self-defense, insisting that all the elements thereof were successfully established, and, (b) in finding them guilty beyond reasonable doubt of murder notwithstanding the inconsistencies in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses Romeo Muralla, Juanito Faromal and Sgt. Gersa. We find no merit in the appeal. When self-defense is invoked by an accused charged with murder or homicide he necessarily owns up to the killing but may escape criminal liability by proving that it was justified and that he incurred no criminal liability therefor. [6] Hence, the three (3) elements of self-defense, namely: (a) unlawful aggression on the part of the victim; (b) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel the aggression; and, (c) lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself, which must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. [7] However, without unlawful aggression there can be no self-defense, either complete or incomplete. [8] In the instant case, accused-appellants sought to establish unlawful aggression on the part of Valentino Pagumay by testifying that the latter, after asking Gaudioso for a light for his cigarette, suddenly and for no reason at all, drew his gun and pointed it at Gaudioso with the threatening words, "I will shoot you." However, quite an enlightening and revealing narrative follows thus: Q: When Valentino Pagumay drew his gun from his waist what did you do? A: Both my hands caught his hand holding the firearm x x x x Q: When you were able to grab the hand of Valentino Pagumay what happened next? A: He fell to the ground. Q: So you want to tell the Court that immediately after you grabbed or took hold of his hand he immediately fell to the ground? A: Yes sir because he wrestled with me when I took hold both of his hand (sic) and twisted his arm. Q: When Valentino Pagumay fell to the ground what did you do? A: After he fell to the ground I sat on his abdomen. My right knee was pinning down his left hand while my left hand was pinning on the ground his right hand and then I delivered several successive stab blows on his breast x x x x Q: And how many times did you stab him? A: I was not able to count the number of times because I was stabbing him successively. Q: And you cannot estimate the number of stab blows you delivered to him? A: I was not able to count the number of blows because I was stabbing and hitting him until his death (underscoring ours). [9] Clearly, the unlawful aggression allegedly started by Valentino - assuming it to be true - had already ceased by the time Gaudioso repeatedly stabbed Valentino to death. Gaudioso himself testified that after Valentino threatened to