G.R. No. 129285 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. ROBERTO PALABRICA Y BARCUMA, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, trial was held. As counsel for accused-appellant informed the trial court that his client was invoking self-defense, accused-appellant was required to present his evidence first [9] in accordance with Rule 119, Section 3(e) of the 1988 Rules of Criminal Procedure [10] which provides that "when the accused admits the act or omission charged in the complaint or information but interposes a lawful defense, the order of trial may be modified accordingly." Accused-appellant testified solely in his defense. Accused-appellant is a pedicab driver. His family owned a store along the national highway leading to San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. According to accused-appellant, on August 16, 1995, at around 10 o'clock in the evening, the deceased, Vic Jun Silvano, was in his store for some beer. The deceased had a quarrel with another customer. Accused-appellant said he tried to pacify the parties and told them to leave, but the deceased resented this and pulled out a knife. According to accused-appellant, he broke a bottle and, upon seeing this, the deceased ran away. Accused-appellant claimed that the deceased returned with a slingshot ( Indian pana ) which he used, hitting accused-appellant's father in the mouth. Nonetheless, according to accused-appellant, he did not get angry at the deceased. He merely reported the matter to the police who entered the incident in the police blotter. Accused-appellant said that the next day, August 17, 1995, at around 6 o'clock in the morning, he was told by his sister that the deceased and some companions were looking for him. He, therefore, looked for the deceased and found him on Ylagan Extension Street, playing billiards with some companions. This was at around 7 o'clock in the evening. According to accused-appellant, the deceased was facing the billiard table holding a cue stick. When the deceased saw him, accused-appellant asked what it was that he wanted. The deceased said, "So you are here," even as he dropped the cue stick he was holding and tried to draw the knife tucked in his waist. Accused-appellant claimed that he then stabbed the deceased in the stomach with the knife he (accused-appellant) was carrying and ran away because the deceased had several companions. When asked why the deceased had two stab wounds [11] when, according to accused-appellant, he stabbed him only once, accused-appellant said that he had heard that after the deceased had been stabbed, he fell down near a pedicab and that he may have sustained injuries as a result. [12] The prosecution presented an eyewitness, Domingo Lombreno, Jr., to refute accused-appellant's claim. Lombreno, Jr. was the caretaker of the billiard hall where the incident happened. He testified that at around 7 o'clock in the evening of August 17, 1995, Silvano played a billiard game with Andrew Limpio. As the two were known in the neighborhood to be among its best players, a crowd of around 15 people gathered to watch them play. Lombreno, Jr. kept scor