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Plaintiff-Appellee vs. vs. Accused-Appellant The Solicitor General Jose C Flores JR

Roberto Villanueva was convicted of murdering Benjamin Liwanagan who he stabbed in the back while Liwanagan was watching a card game. The court affirmed the conviction, finding that Villanueva committed the killing with treachery based on how he suddenly attacked Liwanagan from behind without warning and without giving Liwanagan a chance to defend himself. The court also noted that Villanueva had been threatening revenge on others earlier that day, indicating the killing was premeditated rather than a spontaneous act. The indemnity awarded was increased to P30,000.

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50 views2 pages

Plaintiff-Appellee vs. vs. Accused-Appellant The Solicitor General Jose C Flores JR

Roberto Villanueva was convicted of murdering Benjamin Liwanagan who he stabbed in the back while Liwanagan was watching a card game. The court affirmed the conviction, finding that Villanueva committed the killing with treachery based on how he suddenly attacked Liwanagan from behind without warning and without giving Liwanagan a chance to defend himself. The court also noted that Villanueva had been threatening revenge on others earlier that day, indicating the killing was premeditated rather than a spontaneous act. The indemnity awarded was increased to P30,000.

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Anna Guevarra
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© © All Rights Reserved
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SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. No. L-64165. June 25, 1984.]

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES , plaintiff-appellee, vs. ROBERTO


VILLANUEVA , accused-appellant.

The Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellee.


Jose C. Flores, Jr. for accused-appellant.

SYLLABUS

1. CRIMINAL LAW; QUALIFYING CIRCUMSTANCE; ALEVOSIA; QUALIFIES


KILLING TO MURDER. — The killing was an assassination pure and simple. It was a
deliberate, sudden and unexpected assault from behind, without warning and without
giving the victim a chance to defend himself or repel the assault and without risk to the
assailant. That is the characteristic or distinguishing hallmark of alevosia. It was not a
killing made on the spur of the moment. It was not prompted by mere impulse. It was
well-planned and re ected upon as shown by the prior threatening. acts of the accused
and the manner it was executed. The existence of treachery cannot be doubted.

DECISION

AQUINO , J : p

This is a murder case. Ru no Jamig and Ricardo Revedizo testi ed that at around
nine o'clock in the evening of August 24, 1979, while Benjamin Liwanagan, 38, a welder,
was watching a card game being played on the deck of the M/V Transmar , which was
docked at the pier of Barangay Cotta, Lucena City, Roberto Villanueva, a stevedore or
cargador, unexpectedly appeared. Without any preliminaries, he suddenly approached
Liwanagan from behind and stabbed him once in the back (13-14, tsn, October 4,
1982). Villanueva fled after inflicting a mortal wound. Cdpr

Liwanagan fell on his knees. He asked to be brought to the hospital. He died


because of the stab wound (Exh. A). Some hours before the stabbing, Villanueva saw
Crisanto Buela and Castro Roadilla. Buela testi ed that Villanueva was in a belligerent
mood. He was looking for the persons involved in a ght with his brother. He
threatened to kill them. He was thirsting for revenge. He had a heated altercation with
Roadilla.
Villanueva was charged with murder on September 17, 1979. He went into hiding.
He was a fugitive from justice for more than two years until he was arrested on January
25, 1982. He did not present any evidence at the trial. He was convicted of murder
quali ed by treachery, sentenced to reclusion perpetua and to pay an indemnity of
P12,000 (Criminal Case No. 2543).
His counsel admits the killing but contends that it was homicide because
treachery was not proven. Villanueva wanted to plead guilty to homicide. The trial court
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did not accede to his request. He did not present evidence because allegedly the proof
offered by the prosecution was su cient to show homicide but not murder (Brief, p.
61, Rollo).
We hold that the killing was an assassination pure and simple. It was a deliberate,
sudden and unexpected assault from behind, without warning and without giving the
victim a chance to defend himself or repel the assault and without risk to the assailant.
That is the characteristic or distinguishing hallmark of alevosia.
It was not a killing made on the spur of the moment. It was not prompted by
mere impulse. It was well-planned and re ected upon as shown by the prior threatening
acts of the accused and the manner it was executed. The existence of treachery cannot
be doubted.
WHEREFORE, the trial court's judgment is a rmed with the modi cation that the
indemnity is increased to P30,000. Costs de oficio.
SO ORDERED.
Makasiar, Concepcion, Jr ., Guerrero, Abad Santos, Escolin and Cuevas, JJ .,
concur.

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