People vs. Oyanib, G.R. Nos. 130634-35
People vs. Oyanib, G.R. Nos. 130634-35
People vs. Oyanib, G.R. Nos. 130634-35
650
FIRST DIVISION
G.R. Nos. 130634-35, March 12, 2001
DE CIS ION
PARDO, J.:
On September 11, 1995, Iligan City Prosecutor Ulysses V. Lagcao filed with
the Regional Trial Court, Iligan City two (2) separate informations charging
accused Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza with murder and parricide, as follows:
Cardiorespiratory arrest
Hypovolemic shock irreversible
Multiple organ injury
Multiple stab wound chest & abdomen
On January 17, 1996, the trial court arraigned accused Manolito Oyanib y
Mendoza by reading the informations against him and translating them into
the Visayan dialect. [9] He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
As the two (2) cases arose from the same set of facts, the trial
court conducted a joint trial.
At about 9:30 in the evening of September 4, 1995, while Edgardo and his
family were watching TV at the sala located at the ground floor of their
house at Purok 3-A, Tambacan, Iligan City, they heard a commotion coming
from the second floor rented by Tita. The commotion and the noise lasted for
quite some time. When it died down, Edgardo went upstairs to check. [11]
Upstairs, Edgardo saw Tita wearing a duster, bloodied and sprawled on the
floor. He saw Manolito stabbing Jesus Esquierdo (hereafter Jesus) while
sitting on the latter's stomach. Jesus was wearing a pair of long black pants.
When Edgardo asked Manolito what he was doing, accused told Edgardo not
to interfere.
Thereafter, Edgardo left the house and called the police. Meanwhile, the
neighbors brought Tita to the hospital. She died on the way to the hospital. [12]
At the crime scene, SPO3 Tubil saw the lifeless body of Jesus lying face up
with several stab wounds in different parts of the body. Jesus was clad in t-
shirt and long pants. From the crime scene, he recovered a knife. Afterwards,
he went to Dr. Uy Hospital to check on Tita; he was informed that she was
dead. Manolito was the suspect in the killing of Jesus and Tita. [14] The
incident was recorded in the police blotter as Entry No. 137138. [15]
Likewise, Tita sustained several stab wounds, with the fatal wounds inflicted
in the left chest and right side of the abdomen. The cause of death was
"cardiorespiratory arrest, hypovolemic shock and multiple stab wound."[19]
Despite their separation, Manolito tried to win Tita back and exerted all
efforts towards reconciliation for the sake of the children. However, Tita was
very reluctant to reconcile with Manolito. [21] In fact, she was very open
about her relationship with other men and would flaunt it in front of
Manolito. One time, he chanced upon his wife and her paramour, Jesus, in a
very intimate situation by the hanging bridge at Brgy. Tambacan, Iligan City.
[22] Manolito confronted Tita and Jesus about this. He censured his wife and
reminded her that she was still his wife. They just ignored him; they even
threatened to kill him. [23]
Upon seeing him, Jesus kicked Manolito in the cheek. Manolito immediately
stabbed Jesus. Though Jesus was 5'9" in height and weighed about 70 kg.,
the suddenness of the assault caused him to lose his balance and fall down.
Manolito took advantage of this opportunity and stabbed Jesus in the
stomach. Tita left the room upon seeing Manolito, only to come back armed
with a Tanduay bottle. She hit Manolito in the head, while at the same time
shouting "kill him Jake, kill him Jake."[25]
In the commotion, Manolito stabbed Jesus, hitting him in the abdomen. Jesus
fell down and Manolito stabbed him again. Meanwhile, Tita stabbed Manolito
in the arm with the broken Tanduay bottle. This angered Manolito and he
stabbed Tita in the left breast. He stabbed her three (3) more times in
different parts of her body. Tita fell near the lifeless body of her paramour. It
was at this point that Edgardo, the owner of the house Tita was renting,
appeared from the ground floor and inquired about what had happened.
Manolito told Edgardo not to interfere because he had nothing to do with it.
When asked why he was carrying a knife when he went to his wife's place,
Manolito said that he brought it for self-defense. Prior to the incident, he
received threats from his wife and her paramour, Jesus, that they would kill
him so they could live together. [27]
After trial, on May 26, 1997, the trial court promulgated a joint decision
finding accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crimes charged. The
dispositive portion reads:
"SO ORDERED.
"MAXIMO B. RATUNIL
"Presiding Judge"[28]
At the outset, accused admitted killing his wife and her paramour. He invoked
Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code as an absolutory and an exempting
cause. "An absolutory cause is present `where the act committed is a crime
but for reasons of public policy and sentiment there is no penalty imposed.'"
[32]
To the mind of the court, what actually happened was that accused chanced
upon Jesus at the place of his wife. He saw his wife and Jesus in the act of
having sexual intercourse. Blinded by jealousy and outrage, accused stabbed
Jesus who fought off and kicked the accused. He vented his anger on his wife
when she reacted, not in defense of him, but in support of Jesus. Hence, he
stabbed his wife as well several times. Accused Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza
surrendered to the police when a call for him to surrender was made.
The law imposes very stringent requirements before affording the offended
spouse the opportunity to avail himself of Article 247, Revised Penal Code.
As the Court put it in People v. Wagas:[35]
Costs de oficio.
SO ORDERED.
[1]In Criminal Cases Nos. II-6012 and II-6018, Judge Maximo B. Ratunil,
presiding. Rollo, pp.18-29.
[2] Regretfully, the trial court judge did not know how to apply the
Indeterminate Sentence Law. He imposed indefinite minimum and maximum
penalties. He must impose a specific penalty in both the minimum and
maximum periods (Cf. People v. Herbias, 333 Phil. 422 [1996]).
[6] Rollo, p. 9.