THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs.

EMELITO SITCHON
Case Digested by: Jeremy M Tuburan
FACTS:
A charge of murder was instituted against Emelito Sitchon y Tayag for
beating to death Mark Anthony Fernandez, the two-year old son of his
common-law wife.
The case happened in the City of Manila on June 12, 1996 where the
said accused feloniously assaulted and use personal violence upon the said
minor, mauling and clubbing him on the different parts of his body with the
use of a steel hammer and a wooden stick, thereby inflicting upon the latter
mortal wounds which were the direct and immediate cause of his death
thereafter.
Five witnesses testified for the prosecution, namely, Lilia Garcia, a
neighbor; the victim's eight-year old brother Roberto; the investigating
officer, PO3 Paul Dennis Javier; Dr. Manuel Lagonera, medico-legal officer of
the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); and Felicisima Francisco, a
forensic chemist of the same agency.
Dr. Manuel Lagonera conducted the postmortem examination of the
victims body on June 12, 1996 at 4:40 p.m. He found that the boy had
suffered many injuries, including three wounds at the head and the anterior
chest, which could have been inflicted with the use of blunt objects such as a
piece of wood or a fist. The child could have been dead three to four hours,
or not more than eight hours, prior to the postmortem examination. Dr.
Lagonera concluded that the victim died of bilateral pneumonia secondary to
multiple blunt traversal injuries or complication of the lungs due to said
injuries
The accused clarified that the killing of the boy was "accidental." He
reiterated that he was under the influence of drugs, which he had taken one
after the other. He was a drug dependent and, in fact, had been confined at
the Tagaytay Rehabilitation Center. He said he was conscious when the
incident happened but he simply did not realize that he had hit the child hard
with the brooms wooden handle. He denied having hit the boy with a
hammer or having banged his head against the wall.

On July 3, 1998, the trial court promulgated its decision finding the
accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of murder and is
sentenced to suffer the death penalty and to pay the costs.
ISSUE:
Whether the conviction of the defendant for the crime of murder is
proper

RULING:
The appellants defense that he did not intend the killing would not
exculpate him from liability. Article 4(1) of the Revised Penal Code provides
that criminal liability shall be incurred by any person committing a felony
(delito) although the wrongful act done be different from that which he
intended. He who is the cause of the cause is the cause of the evil caused
The killing in this case was attended by treachery. It is beyond dispute
that the killing of minor children who, by reason of their tender years, could
not be expected to put up a defense, is treacherous.
In view of the attendance of the aggravating circumstance of treachery,
the killing of the victim is qualified to murder, punishable under Article 248 of
the Revised Penal Code by reclusion perpetua to death. The murder was
attended by the mitigating circumstance of lack of intention to commit so
grave a wrong and there is no aggravating circumstance. Hence, the lesser
penalty of reclusion perpetua must be imposed upon appellant.

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES vs.

MATT G. CAMPOMANES and EDWIN D. ROSITA

Case Digested by: Jeremy M Tuburan

FACTS:
On January 4, 1995, the two accused were charged with the crime of
murder in an information which alleges that on or about December 30, 1994,
in the City of Manila, the said accused conspiring and confederating together
and mutually helping each other, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and
feloniously with intent to kill and by means of treachery and evident
premeditation, attack, assault and use personal violence upon one Loreto
Alkonga holding his arms and stabbing his body several times with a fan
knife, thereby inflicting upon the latter mortal wounds which were the direct
and immediate cause of his death thereafter.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge during the arraignment.
Hence during trial, Dr. Manuel Lagonera, the medico-legal officer of the
Western Police District Command, testified that he conducted a post-mortem
examination on the body of Loreto Alkonga, and found eight stab wounds
caused by a large bladed instrument and other non-surgical wounds caused
by a narrower or smaller bladed instrument. The victim suffered internal
injuries on the right ventricle of the heart, pancreas, spleen, diaphragm and
blood vessels of the left and right kidneys. He died due to shock secondary
to multiple stab wounds.

After trial, the court a quo rendered judgment finding the two accused
Matt Campomanes and Edwin Rosita guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the
crime of murder.
Matt Campomanes appealed on the ground that the trial court erred
(1) in finding that there was direct conspiracy among accused-appellants in
the commission of the crime, (2) evident premeditation was attendant in the
commission of the crime to qualify it to murder, and (3) not upholding the
theory of incomplete self-defense raised by both appellants despite physical
evidence supporting the same.
ISSUE:
Whether the judgment of murder against the accused was correct

RULING:
Conspiracy is present where the participants performed specific acts
with such closeness and coordination as unmistakably to indicate a common
purpose or design in bringing about the crime. The fact that accusedappellant was not the one who stabbed the victim does not negate his
participation in the conspiracy.
On the second error assignment, evident premeditation was not
sufficiently proven. Treachery, however, is present. There are two conditions
for the existence of the qualifying circumstance of treachery, viz: (1) the
employment of the means of execution that gives the person attacked no
opportunity to defend himself or retaliate; and (2) the deliberate and
conscious adoption of the means of execution. In the case at bar, eyewitness
Aureada testified that when the victim was stabbed by Rosita, said victim
was in a sitting position with arms raised and held by Campomanes.
Lastly, the number of wounds on the body of the victim negates the
claim of self-defense, complete or incomplete. Hence,
the
questioned
Decision convicting the accused of the crime of murder was affirmed.