Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

SEVENTH JUDICIAL REGION
BRANCH 58
Cebu City

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,

Plaintiff,
-versus-

CRIM. CASE No. 67777

For : Homicide

JEAN PAUL BEBE FRANCISCO,

Accused.
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DECISION
I.

THE CHARGE

Accused Jean Paul Bebe Francisco was charged with homicide by the
Cebu City Prosecutors Office in an Information filed on November 5, 1994,
the accusatory portion of which reads:
That on or about the first (1st) day of November
1994, in the City of Cebu, Philippines, and within the
jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named
accused, armed with a bladed weapon, with intent to kill,
did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously
attack, assault and stab one Justtine Gastardo, thereby
inflicting upon him a wounds one of which was fatally
inflicted and which directly caused his death.
CONTRARY TO LAW.
Accused Jean Paul Bebe Francisco is a Filipino, 25 years old, single
and a resident of Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City. The crime was committed in
Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Honorable
Court.
The Information for Homicide was filed on November 5, 1994 before
the Regional Trial Court of Cebu City. The case was raffled to Regional Trial
Court, Branch 58 Cebu City, Cebu on the same day, November 5, 1994. A
warrant of arrest was issued on November 6, 1994 against the accused. On
November 9, 1994, Jean Paul Bebe Francisco appeared before the Court to
submit himself under its jurisdiction.

Jean Paul Bebe Francisco is presently detained at Cebu City Jail

pending the judicial proceedings.
When arraigned, accused, assisted by his counsel, pleaded not guilty
of the crime charged.
During pre-trial, the parties stipulated and, thus, dispensed proof on
the following:
1. The identity of the accused as the same person charged and
arraigned in the Information.
2. The body of the victim was found at the backyard of the house of
one Richard Jan Collantes in Sudlon, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
II.

FACTS OF THE CASE

The accused, Jean Paul Bebe Francisco, and the deceased, Justtine
Gastardo are neighbors. The following were taken from the testimony of one
of the prosecutions witness, Richard Collantes:
In the afternoon November 1, 1994, the two were in the
backyard of one Richard Collantes who was also their neighbor.
The three were preparing their fighting cocks and had it
conditioned for a big derby the following day. At around 5:30 in
the afternoon of the same day, the three decided to have a few
drinks. During the course of their drinking, Francisco and
Gastardo started a debate as to who between them is the better
breeder and whose fighting cock will win the derby.
At around 7:30 pm, they were able to finish an entire
case of beer. Thus, Collantes decided to leave the two to fetch
some more beer for them inside his house which was just ten
meters away. While inside his house, he could hear Francisco
and Gastardo seemingly arguing but would then burst into a
loud laughter after a few moments. Collantes came back with
another case of beer but left them again to answer the call of
nature. He proceeded to the woods nearby, approximately 15
meters away from the spot where he left the two. While he was
doing his business, he heard Francisco shout Boang ka
animal and Gastardo exclaim Ayaw bai. Thinking that the
two were still debating, Collantes continued answering the call
of nature and then went to wash his hands thereafter. While
washing his hands, he heard their neighbors, Richard Mier,
scream. Alarmed, he rushed to where the scream was and found
Gastardo lying and unconscious with a tari (sharp razor blade
attached to the legs of fighting cocks) still stuck in his
abdomen, a couple of meters away from Gastardo was Mier
who was hysterically screaming. Francisco was nowhere to be
found. Collantes and Mier then brought Gastardo to their
barangay hall and was brought to Perpetual Succour using the
barangays emergency vehicle. When they were already in the
hospital, Gastardo was pronounced dead on arrival because of

the significant blood loss he sustained from the three stab

wounds in his abdomen.
The prosecution also presented Richard Mier as witness. He narrated
the following as his version of the facts:
Richard Mier returned home with his wife and daughter
after visiting their dead relatives in the cemetery at around 6:00
pm on November 1, 1994. They passed by Francisco, Gastardo
and Collantes who were drinking. Francisco asked Mier to join
them but the latter refused after seeing his wife giving him the
look. At around 7:00 pm that same night, while tutoring his
daughter for her Math assignment, Mier could hear the loud
laughter outside which he believed came from the three men
drinking. His house was just 10 meters away from the house of
Collantes. As the noise grew louder making it hard for her
daughter to concentrate, Mier decided to go out and asked the
three men to minimize their voices. As he was making his way
outside his house, he heard someone shout Boang ka animal
and another Ayaw bai. When he was about halfway there, he
saw someone running away fast and recognized him to be
Francisco after the latters face was illuminated by a lamp post.
Mier continued to approach the spot where the men were
drinking and to his shock found Gastardo lying unconscious
with blood in his stomach and a tari stuck on it. He then started
to scream out of panic and shock which was heard by Collantes.
Collantes then proceeded to carry Gastardo and asked Mier to
drive the latters motorcycle towards the barangay hall.

III.

EVIDENCE OF THE PROSECUTION

The evidence of the prosecution showed that the deceased Justtine

Gastardo spent the last hours of his life with Franscico and Collantes. The
testimony of Collantes and Mier were corroborated by their other neighbors
who heard and saw them on that day which was contrary to the alibi of
accused Francisco that he was at Carreta Cemetery that day and slept in his
mothers house in Banawa. Another compelling pieces of evidence of the
guilt of the accused are the fingerprints, identified by the crime laboratory as
that of Franciscos, found in the tari (Exhibit A) which was found stuck
in the victims abdomen and the blood stained white shirt (Exhibit B) found
in the house of the accused which was left half burnt.
The autopsy reports (Exhibits "C" and "D") submitted by Dr. Rufino
Ynzon, the City Health Officer of Cebu City on the examination of the
cadaver of the deceased victim indicate that death resulted from "excessive
blood losss due to a stab wound in the lower chest in the abdominal viscera
which hit the aorta. Justtine Gastardo's wounds were described as follows:
POST MORTEM FINDINGS

1. Wound, stabbed, about an inch in length at the right

chest, between the 3rd and 4th intercostal space,
penetrating the thoracic cavity involving the right lung.
2. Wound, stabbed, about 1 inch in length, located at the
lower right abdoment, penetrating the sternum, then
thoracic cavity piercing the bottom portion of the right
lung. (Exhibit D)
3. Wound, stabbed, about 1 inch in length, located at the
right upper abdomen penetrating the the sternum hitting
the aorta. (Exhibit "C").
Wherefore, in the light of the foregoing facts and circumstances
accused Jean Paul Bebe Francisco is hereby declared GUILTY of the
CRIME HOMICIDE under the Revised Penal Code of the
Philippines for the killing of the late Justtine Gastardo beyond reasonable
doubt. The Penalty of Reclusion Temporal is hereby imposed against the
said Jean Paul Bebe Francisco, who is hereby further ordered to indemnify
the the civil and moral damages to the heirs of the late Justtine Gastardo in
the total amount of 500,000.00 pesos.

December 21, 1997, Cebu City.

SO ORDERED
Signed: EUGENIO GERONIMO (Assisting Judge Designate)