Case: Art 14, Paragraph16-The act be committed

with treachery. There is treachery when the

offender commits any of the crimes against the
person, employing means, methods or forms in the
execution thereof, which tend directly and specially
to insure its execution, without risk to himself arising
from the defense which the offended party might
make.
Kind of Aggravating Circumstance: Qualifying
Aggravating Circumstance - those that change the nature of the crime. In this case, treachery and
evident premeditation ualifies the killing of a person to murder, hence a graver penalty, instead of merely
homicide.
Keyword: Tuba Tuba ra ni ai!
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Aug+ ,/, 1.04
1acts:
At around !am of "une #, $#!%, &icardo Corte' left his nipa hut located at (itio Adlas, )arrio )iluso,
(ilang, Cavite to gather tuba from a coconut tree nearby. *lora (arno, his wife, was left inside the hut.
+hile he was on top of the tree gathering tuba, he was struck by a volley of shots. ,e fell to the ground at
the base of the coconut tree.
-eanwhile, while inside their hut, *lora, wife of &icardo, heard three successive shots coming from
the south of their hut. (he went out, and from a distance of about ./ meters saw five men armed with
long firearms firing at her husband who was already lying on the ground at the foot of the coconut tree.
(he saw that the five men were about / meters away from him. 0ooking at the five men, *lora
recogni'ed one of them as 0aureano (angalang, a childhood acuaintance, and the others as Conrado
1on'ales, Irineo Canuel, 2erino Canuel and 3leuterio Cuyom. *lora ran towards them and shouted why
they were shooting her husband. As she continued to approach them, the five men fired shots at *lora.
)ecause of this she retreated to their hut for cover. (he heard more shots were fired, and after about /
minutes, the five men left the place.
Another witness to the event was &icardo (arno, brother of *lora Corte', who lived in a hut about .4
meters aways from the hut of the Corte'5s. +hen the incident happened he and his family were having
breakfast, when he suddenly heard shots. ,e came out of his hut and saw his brother-in-law being shot
by the five men he also knew as 0aureano (angalang, Conrado 1on'ales, Irineo Canuel, 2erino Canuel, and
3leuterio Cuyom. ,e saw (angalang using a grand carbine to shoot &icardo Corte', as he was on top of
the coconut tree, and he also saw him fall to the ground and being fired at again while lying helpless on
the ground. ,e saw his sister attempting to approach the five men, and he saw them fire shots at her.
,e wanted to 6oin her, but he was also fired upon by the five men, so he retreated to his own hut.
+hen the five men left, &icardo went to *lora5s hut and saw her sitting in the hut. ,e followed her
as she returned to the spot where her husband was, they both saw that he was already dead. 7oticing
this, &icardo he gathered his family and brought them to (itio )iga, and reported the killing to the chief of
police who went to the scene of the crime with some policemen and Constabulary men.
The necropsy report of &icardo Corte' showed that he sustained .8 gunshot wounds on different
parts of his body. *ourteen of these wounds were bullet entry wounds, while the other nine were bullet
exit wounds. Cause of death-multiple gunshot wounds.
&anga2ang3s a2ibi: ,e declared that in the afternoon of "une %, $#!% he and Crispulo -endo'a went to
the house of "ulian 1atdula at 9apitan (treet, (ampaloc, -anila. ,e arrived at 1atdula:s place at six
o:clock. ,e wanted to borrow money from 1atdula to defray the matriculation fees of his children. As
1atdula had no money at that time, he advised (angalang to wait until morning. ,e would try to raise the
sum of two hundred pesos which (angalang desired to borrow. (angalang and -endo'a agreed. They
allegedly slept in 1atdula:s house on the night of "une %th. The next morning, they breakfasted in that
house. At about ten o:clock on "une #, 1atdula delivered the two hundred pesos to (angalang. ,e and
-endo'a then went to the Central -arket in -anila and then to Quiapo. They returned to Cavite and
arrived at seven o:clock in the evening of "une # in )arrio Capdula. 1atdula and -endo'a corroborated
(angalang:s alibi.
4ssuess5(u2ings:
A. In criminal proceedings, which was given more weight, positive identification of the siblings or the
alibi of (angalang;
6e2d: The trial court re6ected appellant:s alibi. It noted that although his witnesses, -endo'a and
1atdula, learned of his arrest, and -endo'a even visited him in the municipal 6ail, (angalang and his
witnesses did not interpose the defense of alibi when he was investigated by the police and when he was
summoned at the preliminary investigation. (angalang points to certain discrepancies in the declarations
of -rs. Corte' and her brother &icardo (arno. The discrepancies may be attributed to deficiencies in
observation and recollection, or misapprehension of the misleading and confusing uestions during
cross-examination, or to the defective translation of the uestions and answers but they do not
necessarily indicate a willful attempt to commit falsehood. The controlling fact is that -rs. Corte' and
(arno clearly and consistently testified that they saw (angalang, a person already well-known to them,
among the five armed persons who shot &icardo Corte'. That unwavering identification negates
appellant:s alibi.
). +hat aggravating circumstance did the court identify and use as basis for the penalty of reclusion
perpetua;
6e2d: The Court identified the killing of &icardo Corte' to have the ualifying aggravating circumstance of
treachery or alevosia. This was manifested when the victim was shot while gathering tuba on top of a
coconut tree. ,e was unarmed, defenseless, and unaware of any impending assault, and there was no
provocation from him. The deliberate surprise attack of (angalang and his companions is a mode of
execution which insured the killing of &icardo Corte' without any risk towards them, which could have
arisen has &icardo Corte' been able to defend himself.