G.R. No. 104666 - PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. BIENVENIDO OMBROG Y MAGDARAOG.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered finding the Accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of Murder defined in and penalized by Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, qualified by treachery, and hereby metes on him the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA, with all the accessory penalties of the law and hereby condemns the Accused to pay the Heirs of Arnel Quilang indemnity in the amount of P50,000.00. The period during which the Accused was detained at the City Jail of Manila shall be credited to him in full provided that he agreed in writing to abide by and comply strictly with the rules and regulations of the City Jail of Manila. With costs against the Accused. The Facts Version of the Prosecution The prosecution presented a total of five (5) witnesses: (1) Dr. Marcial Ceñido, the medico-legal officer who conducted the post-mortem examination of the body of the victim, Arnel Quilang; (2) Pat. David Tuazon, the police officer who conducted the investigation of the incident leading to the death of Quilang; (3) Ronald Bordallo, lone prosecution eyewitness to the murder; (4) Dr. Jeffrey I. Rosuman, the physician who attended to the victim after he was brought to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC) immediately after being stabbed; and (5) Mrs. Concepcion C. Gahol, records custodian of JRMMC who presented the tip of a knife (Exhibit K-3) extracted by Dr. Rosuman from the body of the victim. The prosecutions version of the facts, which was adopted by the trial court, relied heavily on the testimony of eyewitness Ronald Bordallo, a 13-year old first year high school student residing at Area D, Parola, Tondo, Manila. According to said eyewitness, on August 17, 1990, at around 11:30 in the evening, he, together with Arnel Quilang, Arnold Saluib, defense witness Jonathan Adriano and accused-appellant were having a drinking spree at a store inside the house of Arnold, a nephew of the accused, in Parola, Tondo, Manila. The victim, Arnel Quilang, was seated on top of a table. The accused was on Arnels left side, while he (eyewitness) was seated more or less one meter away in front of Arnel, and the other two were beside him. They were drinking for about half an hour when the accused, whose house was only four houses away, left without a word and then came back after about a minute. The accused then approached Quilang from behind and suddenly stabbed him with a household knife about six to seven inches long, after which he ran from the premises. The witness and Arnold brought the victim to the Mary Johnston Hospital which, however, did not admit him but instead had him brought to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. Asked by the public prosecutor to identify the person who stabbed Arnel Quilang, the witness pointed to a person who, when asked, stated his name as Bienvenido Ombrog, the accused-appellant. The witness further testified that the accused was known in their place as Pedring. [4] Arnold Quilang was confined at the JRMMC