399 Phil. 405
PANGANIBAN, J.:
"WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing findings that the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of accused Nomer delos Santos, Rico Ramos and Leopoldo Abarientos of the crime of murder of which they are presently charged, judgment is hereby rendered whereby in the absence of any of the aggravating or mitigating circumstances, said three (3) accused are hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua; to pay jointly and severally the surviving heirs of Jose Estrada, particularly his widow Florenia Estrada the sum of TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED NINETY-TWO (P23,892.00) PESOS, representing actual damages; FIFTY THOUSAND (P50,000.00) PESOS, as indemnity for the death of Jose Estrada and moral damages in the amount of SEVENTY THOUSAND (P70,000.00) PESOS; and to pay the costs."[2] (Emphasis in original.)
"That on or about the 15th day of December, 1996 in Tinalmud, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, conspiring, confederating together and mutually helping each other, with intent to kill and by means of treachery and taking advantage of their mutual strength, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously assault, attack and shoot with a hand gun Jose Estrada, thereby inflicting upon the latter the mortal wound on his head which resulted in his instantaneous death, to the damage and prejudice of his heirs in the amount that may be proven in court."[5]
"At around 2:00 o'clock [o]n the afternoon of December 15, 1996, victim Jose Estrada was with his wife and son at the town proper of Pasacao, Camarines Sur. They proce[e]ded to Nacoco, where they boarded a motorboat to go home to Tinalmud, Pasacao, Camarines Sur. Victim Jose Estrada sat at the rear portion of the motor boat while his wife and son sat about two arms length in front of him.
"Thereafter, appellants Nomer de los Santos, Rico Ramos, Leopoldo Abarientos and co-accused Santiago de Luna (still-at-large) boarded the motor boat and sat at the front portion of the vessel. The group drank liquor while on board the motor boat. When the boat started to move, appellant Nomer de los Santos moved to the rear portion of the boat and sat at about one (1) meter from the victim.
"Suddenly Florentina[10] Estrada heard a gun shot. She turned and saw her husband Jose Estrada with blood oozing from his nose and mouth. She then saw appellant Nomer de los Santos standing next to her husband holding a gun. Florentina Estrada pleaded for appellant de los Santos to take her husband to the hospital but the latter refused.
"At this time, the other appellants (Rico Ramos and Leopoldo Abarientos), stood up while holding hand grenades, and ordered the people at the motor boat to keep quiet. When the boat reached Calibaya, Dalupaon, appellants and co-accused Santiago de Luna disembarked. Appellant Nomer de los Santos pushed the boat out to sea again. Nobody helped Jose Estrada and his family.
"When they reached the shore of Barangay Dalupaon, Florentina Estrada went to the barangay captain and asked for help. When they arrived at the boat, Jose Estrada was already dead.
"Dr. Melchor Baesa, the Municipal Health Officer of Pasacao, conducted a post-mortem examination on the body of the victim Jose Estrada. Victim Jose Estrada sustained a fatal gun shot wound on his left temple. The cause of his death was intracranial hemorr[h]age secondary to gunshot wound."[11]11 (citations omitted)
"[Appellant] Nomer delos Santos x x x knows Rico Ramos because the latter is from his place also in San Francisco, Quezon. Leopoldo Abarientos is his half-brother and he used to go to the place of his sisters in Caranan, Pasacao, Camarines Sur. He declared that he also kn[e]w Santiago de Luna. Prior to December 15, 1996, delos Santos was residing in the house of Leopoldo Abarientos in Bahay, Pasacao, Camarines Sur. He was a rebel, a member of the New People's Army (NPA) and he surrendered to the army battalion at Tambo, Pamplona, Camarines Sur[. D]elos Santos present[ed] in court a xerox copy of a news item written by Editor Rey Salao purporting to have been published on May 2, 1996 [in] a newspaper "Remate" showing that he was a member of the NPA and he was caught during a raid by the military. (Exh. 1 and 1-A-delos Santos).
"Nomer delos Santos declared that before the month of April, 1996 he wrote CAFGU Abarientos that he was surrendering already. Because of this Abarientos was given an order by the Philippine Army to talk to him in Quezon province. When Abarientos came back to Camarines Sur, it was decided to get him from Quezon and so he was taken from Quezon and was brought to Tambo, Pamplona, Camarines Sur and placed in the custody of the army from April 29, 1996 to October 13, 1996. Thereafter, he applied for an amnesty. Nomer delos Santos admitted that [o]n the afternoon of December 15, 1996, he boarded a motorboat at Nacoco, Pasacao, Camarines Sur together with his co-accused Rico Ramos, Santiago de Luna and CAFGU Leopoldo Abarientos. The latter was the one who brought him to the motorboat as they were then going to Bahao, Libmanan, Camarines Sur before [proceeding] to the Civilian Relation Services (CRS).
"Before they left Nacoco, Abarientos and de Luna had an argument with Jose Estrada whom delos Santos heard saying to Abarientos and de Luna `Magsilayog na lang sila' (They should just fly). Upon boarding the boat delos Santos went to the rear portion while Ramos, de Luna and Abarientos stayed at the front portion of the boat. There were about four (4) persons who were at the rear portion of the motorboat. He was sitting together with another person while the other two (2) were standing. Jose Estrada was sitting on top of the cover of the engine facing the right side of the boat attending to a nylon rope. Estrada's left side was facing the front portion of the boat and the right side was facing his direction. Estrada was about two (2) meters from him. [W]hile they were at said places and position[s] he heard a gunshot and then he saw Estrada f[a]ll down. He did not know where the gunshot came from and at that time his co-accused were at the front portion of the boat. After the shot was fired, Abarientos pulled out his .38 caliber revolver and told the pilot of the boat to bring the boat to the shore. The pilot followed what Abarientos told him, but he was not familiar with the place where he and his co-accused disembarked. Delos Santos declared that he was not armed at that time and he had no handgun. It was Abarientos whom he [knew] x x x was then armed with a .38 caliber revolver.
"Nomer delos Santos denied the truth of the testimony of Florenia Estrada and Vivencio Granadel that after Jose Estrada was shot[,] Florenia Estrada requested him to bring back the boat to Pasacao, but that he allegedly shook his head and waived his hand indicating `no.' It is not true either that it was he who shot Jose Estrada while on the motorboat [o]n the afternoon of December 15, 1996. He was there as detainee and he was not supposed to carry a firearm. Delos Santos declared that the motive of the widow of Jose Estrada and the prosecution witnesses in pointing [to] him as the one who allegedly shot Jose Estrada is because the wife of Abarientos was often in the company of the widow of Jose Estrada.
"Rico Ramos testified that he [was] a native of Barangay Pangsangahan, San Francisco, Quezon but in December 1996 he was actually residing in the house of Leopoldo Abarientos, his second cousin, at Barangay Bahay, Pasacao, Camarines Sur. On December 15, 1996[,] he and Abarientos left the house of the latter. They were going to Pasacao, but his final destination was Bahao in order to get the goat that was given by the sister of Leopoldo Abarientos which the latter would butcher during the birthday of his wife the following day.
"From the house of Leopoldo Abarientos[,] he was invited by the latter to go with him to Caranan, Pasacao, Camarines Sur to attend x x x the birthday party of Santiago de Luna who is a cousin of Leopoldo Abarientos. After attending the birthday party of de Luna[,] he and Abarientos went to the Pasacao town proper together with Nomer delos Santos and Santiago de Luna. At Pasacao town proper at about 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon[,] the four (4) of them including Rico Ramos boarded a motorboat at Nacoco, Pasacao, Camarines Sur. One of the passengers he recognized on that motorboat was Granadel who testified for the prosecution in this case. When they boarded the motorboat, he, Abarientos and de Luna stayed in the front portion of the boat while delos Santos went to the rear portion of the boat.
"After the motorboat departed from Nacoco and was already traveling[,] he heard a shot, but he did not know where the sound came from. In his attempt to verify where the shot came from[,] he looked to the direction of the rear portion of the boat and there he saw a male person with blood on his head. The person whom he later on came to know as Jose Estrada slumped on the place where the engine was. After the shot was fired[,] the boat proceeded to the direction of Calibayan, Pasacao, Camarines Sur and there he and his three (3) co-accused alighted from the boat. From Calibayan[,] the four (4) of them walked to Caranan. From Caranan he, Abarientos and delos Santos proceeded to Pasacao proper while de Luna was left behind at his place in Caranan. From Pasacao[,] he and Abarientos went home to Barangay Bahay while delos Santos separated from them when they reached Pasacao.
"Rico Ramos also testified that after Jose Estrada was shot[,] he and Florenia Estrada looked at each other, but he did not understand anything about her alleged signal with her eyes requesting him to have the boat turned back to Pasacao. He denied having a hand grenade at that time when the incident complained of happened and it is not true that after the shot was fired he allegedly stood up and walked back and forth on the boat saying: `You saw nothing, you heard nothing.' Rico Ramos was taken into [the] custody of the law on December 24, 1996 at the house of Cesar Remollena at Barangay Salvacion, Pamplona, Camarines Sur without a warrant of arrest and he was brought to Pasacao, Camarines Sur, and since then[,] he has been under detention up to the present.
"SPO1 Constantino Espiritu, a member of the PNP, Pasacao, Camarines Sur, testified at the instance of accused Nomer delos Santos with respect to the Entry No. 829 on the Pasacao PNP Police Blotter relative to the report of Florenia Estrada at 6:30 o'clock in the evening of December 15, 1996 (Exh. 2) and Entry No. 853 dated December 23, 1996 wherein it was placed in the Police Blotter of the PNP of Pasacao, Camarines Sur that Florenia Estrada positively identified Francisco Nanalo [sic] y Baraga as one of the suspects in the killing of her husband (Exh. 3)."[13]
"The court a quo erred in finding that the fatal shooting of the deceased Jose Estrada was attended by a conspiracy in which appellant Rico Ramos had a part, and in convicting said accused-appellant."[15]
"The trial court gravely erred in finding accused-appellant Leopoldo Abarientos as co-conspirator in the commission of the crime charged."[16]