G.R. No. 132171 - THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. VIRGILIO GOMEZ, ACCUSED-.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, the Court finds the accused, Virgilio Gomez, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the felony of Murder and there being no other mitigating or aggravating circumstances attending the commission of the offense, imposes upon him the penalty of Reclusion Perpetua with all the accessory penalties provided for by law, and to pay the heirs of the victim the amount of P12,594.00 as actual damages and P50,000.00 as indemnity for the death of the deceased Jesus Sidayon. In meting out the judgment of conviction, the trial court relied on the testimony of the lone eyewitness, Romulo Roquero, which it found to be more credible than the defense of alibi set up by the accused. Romulo Roquero testified that at 9 oclock in the evening of March 22, 1993, he was entertaining several guests, namely Juan Roquero, John Jacaba, the accused Virgilio Gomez and the victim Jesus Sidayon at his house in Barangay Bungsod, Valderrama, Antique. It was the barangay fiesta, and he personally invited the victim and the accused, both of whom he knew since childhood, [3] to be his guests that night. Roquero recalled that while they were drinking, the accused excused himself and went out of the house. Thirty minutes later, he came back and just as the victim was about to take a drink stabbed him and fled. Siddayon turned around once, went out of the house and collapsed a few meters away. [4] Roquero and some other persons then put Sidayon on a hammock and rushed him to the hospital, where he died about twenty minutes later. [5] When questioned as to the details of the stabbing, Roquero stated that he recalled the victim to be seated, his left side facing the door through which the accused entered to stab him. [6] The victim was hit on the stomach, but Roquero could not recall at which side. [7] He also could not tell how long the knife used was, but he noted that the wound was "through and through", [8] and that the weapon bore through the stomach and exited at the lower back. Prior to the stabbing incident and while they were all drinking, Roquero did not recall the victim and the accused having exchanged a word with each other, as he was the one who was talking to the victim Jesus Sidayon. [9] He did not know the motive of the accused for stabbing the victim. The medico-legal officer, Dr. Lallaine Pagunsan, who conducted an autopsy upon the body of Jesus Sidayon, testified that the victim died of "hypovolemic shock due to injury of major (blood) vessels". [10] Although what was inflicted was a single stab wound, it was delivered with such strength [11] that it went through the small intestine and exited at the lower back, and it was fatal because it hit the small intestine --- a vital organ, causing profuse bleeding. A major artery, the abdominal aeorta, was ruptured. [12] The doctor also noted that when the victim arrived in the hospital, his intestines were out; [13] he was restless and could not communicate anymore. [14] He died five to te