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G.R.Nos.11245356

TodayisTuesday,November29,2016

RepublicofthePhilippines
SUPREMECOURT
Manila
FIRSTDIVISION
G.R.Nos.11245356June28,2001
PEOPLEOFTHEPHILIPPINES,plaintiffappellee,
vs.
GERARDOLATUPANYSIBAL,aliasJERRY,accusedappellant.
PARDO,J.:
The case is an appeal from the decision1 of the Regional Trial Court, Tuao, Cagayan, Branch 11 convicting
Gerardo Latupan y Sibal, alias Jerry of the complex crime of double murder and sentencing him to "life
imprisonment" and to indemnify the heirs of the two victims in the amount of fifty thousand (P50,000.00) pesos
each.The court also convicted accused Gerardo Latupan of inflicting physical injuries to Jaime Asuncion, and
sentencedhimto"tendaysimprisonment"andtopaytwohundred(P200.00)pesosasindemnity.
OnApril13,1992,ProvincialProsecutorAlejandroA.PulidoofCagayanfiledwiththeRegionalTrialCourt,Tuao,
Cagayan four separate informations charging Gerardo Latupan y Sibal alias Jerry with two counts of frustrated
murderandtwocountsofmurder,committedasfollows:
CriminalCaseNo.379T
"That on or about April 29, 1991, in the Municipality of Tuao, Province of Cagayan, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, Gerardo Latupan alias Jerry, armed with a pointed
knife,withintenttokill,withevidentpremeditationandwithtreacherydidthenandtherewillfully,unlawfully
and feloniously attack, assault, box, maul, kick and hit with his aforesaid arm one Leo Asuncion, inflicting
uponhiminjuriesonthedifferentpartsofhisbody.
"ThattheaccusedhadperformedalltheactsofexecutionwhichwouldhaveproducedthecrimeofMurder
asaconsequencebutwhich,nevertheless,didnotproduceitbyreasonofcausesindependentofhisown
will.
"Contrarytolaw."2
CriminalCaseNo.380T
"That on or about April 29, 1991, in the Municipality of Tuao, Province of Cagayan, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, Gerardo Latupan alias Jerry, armed with a pointed
knife,withintenttokill,withevidentpremeditationandwithtreacherydidthenandtherewillfully,unlawfully
andfeloniouslyattack,assault,box,maulandkickone,JaimeAsuncioninflictinguponhiminjuriesonthe
differentpartsofhisbody.
"ThattheaccusedhadperformedalltheactsofexecutionwhichwouldhaveproducedthecrimeofMurder
asaconsequencebutwhich,nevertheless,didnotproduceitbyreasonofcausesindependentofhisown
will.
"Contrarytolaw."3
CriminalCaseNo.381T
"That on or about April 29, 1991, in the Municipality of Tuao, Province of Cagayan, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, Gerardo Latupan alias Jerry, armed with a pointed
knife,withintenttokill,withevidentpremeditationandwithtreacherydidthenandtherewillfully,unlawfully
and feloniously attack, assault and stab one, Jose Asuncion inflicting upon him stab wound on his body
whichcausedhisdeath.
"Contrarytolaw."4
CriminalCaseNo.382T
"That on or about April 29, 1991, in the Municipality of Tuao, Province of Cagayan, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, Gerardo Latupan alias Jerry, armed with a pointed
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knife,withintenttokill,withevidentpremeditationandwithtreacherydidthenandtherewillfully,unlawfully
and feloniously attack, assault and stab one, Lilia Asuncion inflicting upon her stab wounds on her body
whichcausedherdeath.
"Contrarytolaw."5
AtthearraignmentonMay25,1993,accusedpleadednotguiltytothechargeoffrustratedmurder.6Duringthe
pretrial conference of the four cases, accused offered to change his plea of not guilty to guilty of the complex
crimeofdoublemurderandfrustratedmurder.Theprosecutiondidnotinterposeanyobjection.Thus,onJuly20,
1993,thetrialcourtrearraignedtheaccused.Hewithdrewhispleaofnotguiltyandinsteadpleadedguiltytothe
singleoffenseofmultiplemurderwithmultiplefrustratedmurder.7
Thereafter,thetrialcourtorderedtheprosecutiontopresentevidencetoestablishtheculpabilityoftheaccused.
Thefactsareasfollows:
OnApril29,1991,ataround4:00intheafternoon,CeferinoDagulo(hereafterCeferino)waschoppingfirewood
outsidehishouseinAngang,Tuao,Cagayan.Suddenly,heheardtheshoutsofawomanandachildcomingfrom
thenorth.
Momentslater,CeferinosawaccusedGerardoLatupanySibalwalkinginhisdirection,carryingathin,bloodied
knife.AccusedLatupanenteredthehouseofCeferinoandstartedchasingCeferino'swife,whowasabletorunto
another house nearby. Unable to catch Ceferino's wife, accused Latupan turned to Ceferino and said, "I will kill
you all." At that time, accused Latupan's clothes, chest, hands and legs were full of blood. Accused Latupan
attemptedtothrusttheknifeintoCeferino,whowasabletoparryit.Lateron,accusedLatupantoldCeferinoto
bring him to the authorities and tried to give the knife to Ceferino. Ceferino refused to touch the knife and told
accusedtogototheauthoritiesbyhimself.Hearingthisadvice,accusedranaway.
The house of Emilio Asuncion (hereafter Emy) was 100 meters from Ceferino's house. At around 4:00 in the
afternoon of the same day, Emy Asuncion was returning to his house from a store. He reached his house and
foundhiswife,Lilia,deadonthegroundwithseveralstabwoundsonherbody.Hisoneyearoldson,Leo,was
lyingontopofLiliaAsuncion.EmypickedupLeoandsawthattheleftsideofLeo'sfacewaslacerated.Hesaw
Jaime,histhreeyearoldsonandaskedwhereJose,hiseldestson,was.Atthatmoment,Emyheardthevoiceof
Josefromupstairsofthehouse,askingformedicine.HeranupstairsandsawthatJosewaswounded.Heasked
Jose who stabbed him. Jose replied, "Uncle Jerry, Tatang." Seeing that Jose needed immediate medical
treatment,EmybroughthimtothehouseofCeferinoandthenreturnedtohishousetogethistwootherchildren,
LeoandJaime.TheyleftthecorpseofLiliaAsuncioninsideEmy'shouse.
LiliaAsuncionwasthesisterofCeferino'swife.
Meanwhile, Ceferino tried to ask a barangay councilman for assistance. Failing to obtain assistance, Ceferino
wentbacktohishouseandfoundEmyAsuncionandhischildrenthere.Then,Ceferinowenttoamilitarycampto
borrowavehicletobringthechildrentothehospital.Themilitarymenprovidedthemwithajeep.Thus,thethree
childrenweretakentotheNuestraSeoradePiatHospitalinCabalansan.Ridinginthejeepwerefivesoldiers,
the accused Latupan, Emy Asuncion, Ceferino Dagulo, Ceferino's wife, and the three children, Leo, Jaime and
JoseAsuncion.
Duringthetriptothehospital,Emy'sson,Jose,sawaccusedLatupaninsidethejeep.Josepointedtoaccused
Latupanastheonewhostabbedhim.
Atthehospital,thedoctorstreatedtheinjuriesofLeoandJaime.However,thedoctorsadvisedEmyandCeferino
to bring Jose to another hospital due to the seriousness of his wounds. So, they proceeded to Cagayan Valley
RegionalHospital.Sadly,Josewasdeadonarrival.8Hewasonlynineyearsold.
Jaime, 5 yearold son of Emy Asuncion, testified that he was three years old when the incident occurred. He
statedthataccusedLatupanstabbedhismother,steppedonhim,threwhisbrother,Leo,outsidethewindowand
stabbedhisotherbrother,Jose.9Afterpresentingtestimonialanddocumentaryevidence,theprosecutionrested
itscase.Thedefensedidnotpresentanytestimonialordocumentaryevidence,merelyrelyingonaccused'splea
ofguilty.Thus,thecasewasconsideredsubmittedfordecision.
OnAugust25,1993,thetrialcourtrenderedadecision,thedispositiveportionofwhichreads:
"WHEREFORE,findingtheaccusedGERARDOLATUPANaliasJERRYGUILTYbeyondreasonabledoubt
ofthecomplexoffenseofDoubleMurder,theCourtherebysentenceshimtosufferlifeimprisonmentand
toindemnifytheheirsofthetwovictimsintheamountofP50,000.00eachoratotalofP100,000.00.
"For the physical injuries suffered by Jaime Asuncion, the accused is sentenced to suffer ten (10) days
imprisonment.Likewise,forthephysicalinjuriessufferedbyLeonAsuncion,theaccusedisalsosentenced
tosufferten(10)daysimprisonment,bothtobesufferedsimultaneouslywiththemoregrievoussentence
oflifeimprisonment,plusP200.00indemnitytoeachofthetwovictims.
"SOORDERED.
"Giveninchambersthis25thdayofAugust,1993,atTuao,Cagayan,Philippines."
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"(sgd.)ORLANDOD.BELTRAN
"Judge"10
Hence,thisappeal.11
Accusedappellantpleadedguiltytothesingleoffenseofmultiplemurderwithmultiplefrustratedmurder.
AlthoughthisCourthassetasideconvictionsbasedonpleaofguiltyincapitaloffensesbecauseofimprovidence
thereofandwhensuchpleaisthesolebasisofthecondemnatoryjudgment,thecircumstancesofthiscasemerit
a different result. "Where the trial court receives evidence to determine precisely whether or not the accused
erred in admitting his guilt, the manner in which the plea of guilty is made (improvidently or not) loses legal
significance, for the simple reason that the conviction is based on the evidence proving the commission by the
accusedoftheoffensecharged."12
Crucial to the prosecution is the testimony of the eyewitness, Jaime Asuncion, who witnessed the incident and
evensufferedinjuriesfromtheunprovokedattackofaccusedappellant.Hewasfamiliarwithaccusedappellant
andcategoricallyrelatedtothecourttheeventsthatoccurredontheafternoonofApril29,1991.Jaimenarrated
howaccusedappellantstabbedhismother,threwhisbrotheroutofthewindow,steppedonhim,andstabbedhis
otherbrother.
Moreover,accusedappellantwasseennotfarfromthesceneofthecrimewithabloodiedknifeandclothes,and
mumblingthreatsatonlookers,includingCeferinoDaguloandhiswife.
Thus,accusedappellantisliableforthedeathsofLiliaandJoseAsuncion,andthephysicalinjuriesofJaimeand
LeoAsuncion.Fromthemanneraccusedattackedthefamily,heleftthemwithnomeansofdefenseorescape.
Consideringthetreacherousmannerbywhichthevictimswerekilled,theaccusedappellantisliableformurder
andphysicalinjuries.
The trial court, however, erred in convicting accusedappellant of the "complex crime of double murder" and
separateoffensesofseriousphysicalinjuries.Article48oftheRevisedPenalCodeprovides:"Whenasingleact
constitutestwoormoregraveorlessgravefeloniesorwhenanoffenseisanecessarymeansforcommittingthe
other,thepenaltyforthemostseriouscrimeshallbeimposed,thesametobeappliedinitsmaximumperiod."
Theinstantcasedoesnotfallunderanyofthetwomentionedinstanceswhenacomplexcrimeiscommitted.13
ThekillingofLiliaAsuncionandJoseAsuncionandthewoundingofJaimeandLeoAsuncionresultednotfroma
singleactbutfromseveralanddistinctactsofstabbing."Wherethedeathoftwopersonsdoesnotresultfroma
singleactbutfromtwodifferentshots,twoseparatemurders,andnotacomplexcrime,arecommitted."14
Thus, accusedappellant is liable, not for a complex crime of double murder, but for two separate counts of
murder,andseparatecountsofphysicalinjuries.
Further, the trial court incorrectly assumed that the aggravating circumstance of evident premeditation was
includedinthepleaofguilty.Qualifyingandaggravatingcircumstances,whicharetakenintoconsiderationforthe
purpose of increasing the degree of penalty to be imposed, must be proven with equal certainty as the
commissionoftheactchargedascriminaloffense.15
Thus, evident premeditation cannot be presumed against accusedappellant. To warrant a finding of evident
premeditation, it must appear not only that the accused decided to commit the crime prior to the moment of its
executionbutalsothatthisdecisionwastheresultofmeditation,calculation,reflection,orpersistentattempt.16In
thiscase,therewasnoproof,directorcircumstantial,offeredbytheprosecutiontoshowwhenaccusedappellant
meditatedandreflecteduponhisdecisiontokillthevictimandtheinterveningtimethatelapsedbeforethisplan
wascarriedout.Whenitisnotshownastohowandwhentheplantokillwashatchedorwhattimehadelapsed
beforeitwascarriedout,evidentpremeditationcannotbeconsidered.17
UnderArticle248oftheRevisedPenalCode,thepenaltyformurderatthetimeofthecommissionofthecrimein
April1991wasreclusiontemporalmaximumtodeath.Thetrialcourtconvictedaccusedappellantofmurderand
sentencedhimto"lifeimprisonment."Theproperimposablepenaltyisreclusionperpetua,notlifeimprisonment.
Obviously,thetrialcourtintendedtoimposereclusionperpetua.
However, the penalty of life imprisonment is not the same as reclusionperpetua.They are distinct in nature, in
duration and in accessory penalties.18 First, "life imprisonment" is imposed for serious offenses penalized by
speciallaws,whilereclusionperpetuaisprescribedundertheRevisedPenalCode.Second, "life imprisonment"
does not carry with it any accessory penalty. Reclusion perpetua has accessory penalties. Third, "life
imprisonment" does not appear to have any definite extent or duration, while reclusion perpetua entails
imprisonment for at least thirty (30) years after which the convict becomes eligible for pardon, although the
maximumperiodthereofshallinnocaseexceedforty(40)years.19
We likewise note that the trial court sentenced accused to "ten days of imprisonment" for each count of slight
physicalinjuries.Wereiteratetherulethatitisnecessaryforthecourtstoemploytheproperlegalterminologyin
theimpositionofpenaltiesbecauseofthesubstantialdifferenceintheircorrespondinglegaleffectsandaccessory
penalties.20Theappropriatenameofthepenaltymustbespecifiedinasmuchasundertheschemeofpenalties
in the Revised Penal Code, the principal penalty for a felony has its own specific duration and corresponding
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accessory penalties.21 Thus, the courts must employ the proper nomenclature specified in the Revised Penal
Code, such as "reclusion perpetua," not "life imprisonment" or "ten days of arresto menor," not "ten days of
imprisonment."
Hence,theproperpenaltyforeachmurdercommittedinApril1991,consideringtheabsenceofaggravatingand
mitigatingcircumstances,isreclusionperpetua,withitsaccessorypenalties.Further, accusedappellant is liable
for two counts of slight physical injuries and must be sentenced to twenty (20) days of arresto menor, each,
likewisewithitsaccessorypenaltiesundertheRevisedPenalCode.22
Wesustainthetrialcourt'sawardoffiftythousand(P50,000.00)pesosasdeathindemnityforeachofthevictims.
Nofurtherproofisnecessaryotherthanthefactofdeathofthevictimandtheaccused'sresponsibilitytherefor.23
Inaddition,weawardmoraldamagesintheamountofP50,000.00pesosforeachvictim,withoutneedofproofof
consequentphysicalsufferingandmentalanguishoftheheirsofthevictims,inlinewithrecentrulings.24
WHEREFORE, the Court AFFIRMS the decision of the Regional Trial Court, Tuao, Cagayan, Branch 11 in
CriminalCaseNos.11245356withMODIFICATION.TheaccusedappellantGerardoLatupanySibalisconvicted
of two counts of murder, for the death of Lilia Asuncion and Jose Asuncion, and is sentenced to reclusion
perpetuaineachcase,andtoindemnifytheheirsofLiliaandJoseAsuncionintheamountofP50,000.00pesos,
each case, and in addition thereto, the amount of P50,000.00 pesos, each case, as moral damages. Accused
appellant is further convicted of two counts of slight physical injuries and is sentenced to twenty (20) days of
arresto menor, in each case, plus P2,000.00 pesos as indemnity to each of the two victims, Jaime and Leo
Asuncion.
Costsagainstaccusedappellant.
SOORDERED.
Davide,Jr.,C.J.,(Chairman),Puno,andKapunan,JJ.,concur.
YnaresSantiago,J.,onofficialbusinessabroad.

Footnotes
1InCriminalCaseNos.379T,380T,381T,382T,JudgeOrlandoD.Beltran,presiding.
2RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookI,p.31.
3RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookII,p.4.
4RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookIII,p.4.
5RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookIV,p.4.
6CertificateofArraignment,RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookI,p.43.
7CertificateofArraignment,RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookI,p.50.
8TSN,August9,1993,pp.310.
9TSN,August9,1993,pp.1213.
10Decision,RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookI,pp.5965,atp.65.
11NoticeofAppeal,RegionalTrialCourtRecord,BookI,p.66.
12Peoplev.Derilo,271SCRA633,658659[1997].
13Peoplev.Abubu,322SCRA407,414[2000].
14Peoplev.Tabaco,270SCRA32,62[1997].
15Peoplev.Piamonte,303SCRA577,588[1999].
16Peoplev.Basao,310SCRA743,780[1999].
17Peoplev.Enolva,323SCRA295,310311[2000].
18Peoplev.Ricafranca,323SCRA652,665[2000].
19Peoplev.Fuertes,326SCRA382,414[2000].
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