People v. Fontanilla
People v. Fontanilla
DECISION
BERSAMIN, J : p
Dr. Felicidad Leda, the physician who conducted the autopsy on the
cadaver of Olais, attested that her post-mortem examination showed that
Olais had suffered a fracture on the left temporal area of the skull, causing
his death. She opined that a hard object or a severe force had hit the skull of
the victim more than once, considering that the skull had been already
fragmented and the fractures on the skull had been radiating. 6
SPO1 Abraham Valdez, who investigated the slaying and apprehended
Fontanilla, declared that he had gone looking for Fontanilla in his house
along with other policemen; that Fontanilla's father had denied that he was
around; that their search of the house had led to the arrest of Fontanilla
inside; and that they had then brought him to the police station. 7 Valdez
further declared that Fontanilla asserted that he would only speak in court. 8
At the trial, Fontanilla claimed self-defense. He said that on the night of
the incident, he had been standing on the road near his house when Olais,
wielding a nightstick and appearing to be drunk, had boxed him in the
stomach; that although he had then talked to Olais nicely, the latter had
continued hitting him with his fists, striking him with straight blows; that
Olais, a karate expert, had also kicked him with both his legs; that he had
thus been forced to defend himself by picking up a stone with which he had
hit the right side of the victim's head, causing the latter to fall face down to
the ground; and that he had then left the scene for his house upon seeing
that Olais was no longer moving. 9
Fontanilla's daughter Marilou corroborated her father's version. 10
On June 21, 2001, the RTC declared Fontanilla guilty as charged, and
disposed thusly:
WHEREFORE, in the light of the foregoing, the Court hereby
renders judgment declaring he accused ALFONSO FONTANILLA Y
OBALDO @ 'Carlos' guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of
MURDER as defined and penalized in Art. 248 of the Revised Penal
Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 7659, Sec. 6, and thereby
sentences him to suffer the penalty of RECLUSION PERPETUA TO
DEATH and to indemnify the heirs of the victim in the amount of Fifty
Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00).
SO ORDERED. 11
III.
FURTHERMORE, THE TRIAL COURT GRAVELY ERRED IN NOT
APPRECIATING THE SPECIAL PRIVILEGE[D] MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE
OF INCOMPLETE SELF-DEFENSE AND THE MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE
OF VOLUNTARY SURRENDER.
Ruling
We affirm the conviction.
Fontanilla pleaded self-defense. In order for self-defense to be
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appreciated, he had to prove by clear and convincing evidence the following
elements: (a) unlawful aggression on the part of the victim; (b) reasonable
necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and (c) lack of
sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself. 19
Unlawful aggression is the indispensable element of self-defense, for if no
unlawful aggression attributed to the victim is established, self-defense is
unavailing, for there is nothing to repel. 20 The character of the element of
unlawful aggression is aptly explained as follows:
Unlawful aggression on the part of the victim is the primordial
element of the justifying circumstance of self-defense. Without
unlawful aggression, there can be no justified killing in defense of
oneself. The test for the presence of unlawful aggression under the
circumstances is whether the aggression from the victim put in real
peril the life or personal safety of the person defending himself; the
peril must not be an imagined or imaginary threat. Accordingly, the
accused must establish the concurrence of three elements of unlawful
aggression, namely: ( a) there must be a physical or material attack or
assault; (b) the attack or assault must be actual, or, at least, imminent;
and (c) the attack or assault must be unlawful.
The CA and the RTC found that treachery was attendant. We concur.
Fontanilla had appeared out of nowhere to strike Olais on the head, first with
the wooden stick, and then with a big stone, causing Olais to fall to the
ground facedown. The suddenness and unexpectedness of the attack
effectively denied to Olais the ability to defend himself or to retaliate against
Fontanilla. ACcEHI
Footnotes
*Vice Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo, who took part in the proceedings in
the Court of Appeals, per raffle of January 18, 2012.
1.CA rollo, pp. 98-108; penned by Associate Justice Conrado M. Vasquez, Jr. (later
Presiding Justice, now retired), with Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo
(now a Member of the Court) and Associate Justice Vicente S.E. Veloso
concurring.
2.Bellang is a blunt instrument made of coconut wood used by barangay tanod in
their patrols (per TSN, November 12, 1998, p. 6).
3.Records, pp. 167-168.
4.Id., p. 1.
15.Id., p. 172.
16.CA rollo, pp. 104-105.
17.Id., pp. 105-106.
18.Id., pp. 107-108.