TITLE

PEOPLE vs PUNZALAN
Keywords: Aquarius
videoke bar; Navy men; ran
over by car; Sinong
papatayin?
Crime Charged:
RTC: complex crime of
double murder with
multiple attempted murder
CA: AFFIRMED
DEFENSE TO THE CA:
He merely acted in
avoidance of greater evil or
injury, a justifying
circumstance under Article
11 (4). His act of increasing
his vehicles speed was
reasonable and justified as
he was being attacked by
two men whose four
companions were also
approaching. He asserted
that the attack against him
by the two navy personnel
constituted actual and
imminent danger to his life
and limb. The sight of the
four approaching
companions of his attackers
"created in his mind a fear
of greater evil," prompting
him to speed up his vehicle
to avoid a greater evil or
injury to himself.
NO qualifying
circumstance of treachery;
nothing in the records
would show that he

FACTS
PROSECUTION:
In 8/2002, Seaman 1st Class (SN1) Andal,
SN1 Duclayna, SN1 Bacosa, SN1 Domingo,
SN1 Cuya, and SN1 Bundang were among the
members of the Philippine Navy sent for
schooling at the Naval Education and
Training Command (NETC) in Zambales
In the afternoon of 8/10/2002, they went to
All in One Canteen to have some drinks and
thereafter transferred to a nearby videoke bar
Aquarius to continue their drinking session
Heated argument regarding a flickering
lightbulb ensued between Bacosa and
Punzalan
When Bacosa suggested that the light be
turned off, Punzalan misunderstood it as
Sinong papatayin? and thinking that it was
directed at him
Cuya tried to Pacify them; Bundang on the
other hand apologized on behalf of Bacosa
Thereafter, they left Aquarius and returned
to NETC to avoid further trouble
Along the way, they passed by the NETC
Sentry gate where De Guzman and Dimaala
were stationed
After they passed by the sentry gate, SN1 De
Guzman and Dimaala flagged down a rushing
and zigzagging maroon Nissan van
The sentries approached the van and
recognized Punzalan who was reeking of
liquor as the driver and herd him uttered
Kasi chief, gago ang mga yan! pointing to
Bacosas group
Punzalan shifted gears and sped away while
uttering, "papatayin ko ang mga yan!"
While F1EN Dimaala was writing the vans
plate number and details in the logbook, he
suddenly heard a loud thud
De Guzman saw how the van sped away
towards the camp and suddenly swerved to

ISSUE
WON appellant is
guilty of complex
crime of murder
with attempted
murder?

HELD
The testimonies of the prosecution
witnesses, taken together,
inevitably showed the criminal
intent of the Accused-Appellant to
inflict harm on the victims. They
testified on the incident in a clear,
concise, corroborative, and
straightforward manner. Thus,
their testimonies must prevail over
the testimony given by the
Accused-Appellant which, on the
other hand, was neither
substantiated nor supported by any
evidence.
Avoidance of greater evil or
injury is invoked, is baseless
for the evil did not actually exist
and the last requisite is absent. It is
also inconsistent with the
testimony of Alicia, his own
witness. (no unusual incident
happened)
o

the evil sought to be avoided

actually exists

the injury feared be greater

than that done to avoid it

there be no other practical

and less harmful means of
preventing it

The road was wide,

unobstructed by trees and
well-lighted. Appellant was
a driver by occupation.
However, appellant himself
testified that when he

DOCTRINE
Art. 48. Penalty for
complex crimes. When
a single act constitutes
two or more grave or
less grave felonies, or
when an offense is a
necessary means for
committing the other, the
penalty for the most
serious crime shall be
imposed, the same to be
applied in its maximum
period.

Murder and Attempted

murder (both grave
felonies)

Article 63 of the same

Code provides that if the
penalty prescribed is
composed of two
indivisible penalties, as
in the instant case, and there
is an aggravating
circumstance the higher
penalty should be
imposed.
Treachery as qualifying
aggravating
circumstance
Use of a vehicle as
ordinary aggravating
circumstance

consciously or deliberately
adopted the means of
execution
SC:
Medical Findings:
SN1 Andal died of
cardiorespiratory
arrest as a result of
massive blunt
traumatic injuries to
the head, thorax and
abdomen. The force
of impact caused the
internal organs like
the kidneys,
mesentery and
spleen to be fatally
injured.
SN1 Duclayna
sustained fatal
injuries to the head
and liver. The head
and neck injuries
were such that a lot
of blood vessels were
ruptured and the
fractures were
embedded in the
brain. The laceration
on the liver, also a
mortal injury, was a
blunt traumatic
injury.
SN1 Cuya suffered
lacerated wounds on
the head and
different parts of the
body for which he
was confined at the
infirmary for about

the right hitting the group of the walking

navy personnel prompting him to exclaim to
F1EN Dimaala, "chief, binangga ang tropa!"
SN1 Cuya and SN1 Bacosa were thrown away
towards a grassy spot on the roadside. They
momentarily lost consciousness; SN1
Duclayna lying motionless on the ground.
SN1 Cuya tried to resuscitate SN1 Duclayna,
while SN1 Bacosa tried to chase the van. SN1
Domingo was not hit by the van as he was in
the first group and was pushed away from the
path of the speeding van.
The vehicle sped away again when other
people started to arrive at the scene of the
incident.
SN1 De Guzman found SN1 Cuya
administering CPR on SN1 Duclayna. He also
saw the misshapen body of SN1 Andal lying
some 50 meters away, apparently dragged
there when the speeding van hit SN1 Andal.
SN1 Cuya instructed SN1 De Guzman to get
an ambulance but the car of the officer on
duty at that time arrived and they boarded
SN1 Duclaynas body to the vehicle to be
brought to the hospital.
The other injured navy personnel, namely,
SN1 Cuya, SN1 Bacosa, and SN1 Bundang,
were brought to the infirmary for treatment
Local police soon arrived and found the
bloodied lifeless body of SN1 Andal
One of the responding officers was
appellants neighbor and led SPO1 Llorico to
appellants place where they found appellant
standing near his gateand brought him to the
police station

DEFENSE:
He claimed he was drinking with Marvin
Acebeda and Romeo Eusantos at the
"Aquarius" videoke bar.
When he sang, the navy personnel laughed at

shifted to the second gear

and immediately stepped on
the accelerator upon seeing
the four navy personnel
approaching from in front
of him, he did not make any
attempt to avoid hitting the
navy personnel.

TREACHERY is CORRECT
o

offender commits any of the

crimes against persons,
employing means, methods
or forms in the execution
thereof which tend directly
and especially to ensure its
execution, without risk to
himself arising from any
defense which the offended
party might make

(1) the employment of

means of execution that
gives the person attacked no
opportunity to defend
himself or to retaliate; and
(2) the means of execution
was deliberate or
consciously adopted

Ran the victim from behind;

there was no warning to the
victims; they were unaware
of the threat to their lives;
victims were surprised; they
were not able to repel or
prevent the attack and they
pose no threat to Punzalan.

xxx bump, overrun,

smash and hit from

18 days
SN1 Bacosa
sustained injuries on
his knee and left
hand and stayed in
the infirmary for a
day
SN1 Bundang
suffered injuries to
his right foot.
MEDICO-LEGAL:
DANILO CUYA: "Head
Injury, grade 1 (Lacerated
wound 5.0 cm,
accipitoparietal area, (L)
and lacerated wound, Lower
lip) 2 to VA"
EVELIO BACOSA:
"Multiple abrasion, wrist,
volar surface (L), 2nd digit,
abrasion, dorsun, (L) foot"
ERLINGER BUNDANG:
"Abrasion, medial maleolus,
(R)"
ARNULFO ANDAL:
"Head Injury, Grade IV;
(Depressed Fracture,
Frontal: Lacerated wounds,
8.0 cm 3.0 cm. forehead,
and 5.0 cm parietal, (R);
Avulsion, medial aspect,
upper arm to elbow, hip and
enguinal area, (L);
Multiple abrasion, anterior
and posterior chest, knees
and (R) foot secondary to
VA"

him as he was out of tune. He then stood up,

paid his bills and went out.
Acebeda followed him and informed him that
the navy personnel would like to make peace.
He went back inside the bar with Acebedo
and approached the navy personnel. When
SN1 Bacosa appeared to reach out for
appellants hand, appellant offered his hand
but SN1 Bacosa suddenly punched
appellants right ear.
To avoid further altercation, appellant left
the bar with Acebeda. Appellant went home
driving his van, with the spouses Romeo and
Alicia Eusantos who hitched a ride as
passengers.
When they passed by the sentry, somebody
threw stones at the van. When he alighted
and inspected the vehicle, he saw that one of
the headlights was broken.
He saw SN1 Bacosa and another man
approaching him so he went back inside the
van but the duo boxed him repeatedly on his
shoulder through the vans open window.
When he saw the four other navy personnel
coming towards him, he accelerated the van.
During the whole incident, Romeo was asleep
as he was very drunk while Alicia was seated
at the back of the van. Upon reaching
appellants home, the spouses alighted from
the van and proceeded to their place.
ALICIA: She testified that she and her
husband hitched a ride with appellant but did
not notice any unusual incident from the
time they rode the vehicle until they alighted
from it.

behind, xxx

Aggravating Circumstance of
use of vehicle
o

Appellant deliberately used

the van he was driving to
pursue the victims. Upon
catching up with them,
appellant ran over them and
mowed them down with the
van

He continued to speed away

from the scene of the
incident. A

Appellant used the van both

as a means to commit a
crime and to flee the scene
of the crime after he
committed the felonious act.

Art. 48. Penalty for complex

crimes. When a single act
constitutes two or more grave or
less grave felonies, or when an
offense is a necessary means for
committing the other, the penalty
for the most serious crime shall be
imposed, the same to be applied in
its maximum period.

Appellant was animated by a single

purpose, to kill the navy personnel,
and committed a single act of
stepping on the accelerator,
swerving to the right side of the
road ramming through the navy
personnel, causing the death of SN1
Andal and SN1 Duclayna and, at the

ANTONIO DUCLAYNA:
"Head Injury, Grade IV
(Lacerated wound,
Contusion, Hematoma (R)
Parietal) secondary to VA

same time, constituting an attempt

to kill SN1 Cuya, SN1 Bacosa, SN1
Bundang and SN1 Domingo.

The crimes of murder and

attempted murder are both grave
felonies as the law attaches an
afflictive penalty to capital
punishment (RP-death) for murder
while attempted murder is
punished by P.Mayor, an afflictive
penalty.

Article 63 of the same Code

provides that if the penalty
prescribed is composed of two
indivisible penalties, as in the
instant case, and there is an
aggravating circumstance the
higher penalty should be imposed.
Since use of vehicle can be
considered as an ordinary
aggravating circumstance,
treachery, by itself, being sufficient
to qualify the killing, the proper
imposable penalty the higher
sanction is death. However, in
view of the enactment of Republic
Act No. 9346, prohibiting the
imposition of the death penalty, the
penalty for the killing of each of the
two victims is reduced to reclusion
perpetua without eligibility for
parole. The penalty of reclusion
perpetua thus imposed by the
Court of Appeals on appellant for
the complex crime that he
committed is correct.

PEOPLE vs DULAY

Keywords: Grenade,
Legaspi Sr. and Jr.
Patay si Sr., Jr., sugatan
kaya frustrated
Crime Charged: Complex
Crime of Murder and
Frustrated Murder
RTC: Complex crime of
Murder with Attempted
Murder

CA: AFFIRMED: Murder

and FRUSTRATED Murder
SC: Complex Crime of
Murder and Frustrated
Murder
Medical Findings:
Orlando Sr.
His Certificate of
Death states that he died of
cardio-respiratory arrest
due to hemorrhagic shock
due to "transection of the
right kidney, perforation of
the duodenum, pancreas
and stomach due to grenade
blast injury

In the evening of 30 December 2002 at

around 6:30, Orlando Jr. (or simply
"Junior"), a child about six years of age, was
outside the kitchen of their house located in
Ligaya, Aglipay, Province of Quirino. His
father, the late Orlando Sr., was also
somewhere in the yard and was asking Junior
to hand him a chair. They had just finished
dinner and were intending to watch the
television later.
Wondering why the dog was barking loudly,
Mrs. Engracia Legaspi peeped from inside
the kitchen and noticed Dulay's dog in the
vicinity. She surmised that its master,
[Dulay], was also present. Junior's elder
sister, Melanie went out to look for the dogleash to transfer the mutt to another area.|
Using the flashlight he was constantly
prohibited from playing with, Junior directed
a beam towards the grassy area where he
discovered [Dulay] whom he recognized
because of the characteristic "mumps" below
his left ear. Melanie also saw [Dulay] as he
was staring at Orlando Sr. Their uncle Dante
suddenly threw something that resembled a
ball, towards the cemented part of the yard.
It turned out to be a grenade, and it landed
about seven meters from where Junior and
his father were. [Dulay] then went away on
his bicycle towards the direction of his house
When the grenade exploded, Junior was hurt
in his pelvic area, while his father was fatally
hit by shrapnel, causing his death. Melanie
rushed to the succor of her bloodied father,
barely noticing Junior who was likewise lying
on the ground, but was still conscious and
crying. Engracia hollered for help from the
neighborhood. Because of the firecrackers in
that New Year's Eve, people did not readily
render assistance, until they realized the
intensity of the explosion that shook the
ground

WON respondent is
guilty of complex
crime of murder
with frustrated
murder or murder
with Attempted
Murder

Dulay is guilty of frustrated

murder. The requisites of a
frustrated felony are: (1) that the
offender has performed all the acts
of execution which would produce
the felony; and (2) that the felony is
not produced due to causes
independent of the perpetrator's
will.
Applying the foregoing to the case
at bar, Dulay has performed all acts
of execution in throwing the
grenade which could have caused
Junior's death as a consequence,
but because of immediate medical
assistance, a cause independent of
Dulay's will, Junior survived.

Note: Hindi masyado nag discuss sa

complex crime. Inexplain lang bakit
Frustrated murder at hindi attempted

Complex Crime of Murder and

Frustrated Murder
Frustrated and not attempted
because

1) that the offender has

performed all the acts of
execution which would
produce the felony; and (2)
that the felony is not
produced due to causes
independent of the
perpetrator's will.

Orlando Sr. was rushed to the hospital but he

expired shortly thereafter. His Certificate of
Death states that he died of cardiorespiratory arrest due to hemorrhagic shock
due to "transection of the right kidney,
perforation of the duodenum, pancreas and
stomach due to grenade blast injury.

Dulays Alibi
purported trip from the house of his
uncle Onofre Dulay in Gamis to his
friend,

Joel

Ritualo

another barangay,

in
Dibul.

According to his story, he was

Onofre's caretaker while the latter
was in Manila. Since he had no
electricity in Gamis, he went on a
bike to Ritualo to have his Motolite
battery recharged. While waiting for
the recharging to finish, he went on
a drinking spree with Ritualo and
another man, Pepito Maluret, until
around 7:30 p.m. when he bid the
two

liquor-companions

goodbye.

With the energized battery in tow,

he left, but Ritualo insisted on
accompanying him to the road as he
was

already

afterwards,

drunk.
Ritualo

Not

long

hailed

the

passenger jeepney that passed them

which was driven by his uncle,

witness Robert Daileg.
|||