The Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling finding a Virac barangay kagawad guilty of killing a 64-year-old worker in 2020 but held him liable only for the crime of homicide.
In a decision promulgated March 22, 2024, the CA’s Special 17th Division chaired by Associate Justice Pablito A. Perez denied the appeal filed by accused Archie Tabo Araojo and sentenced him to suffer the penalty of six years and one day of prison mayor to 12 years and one day of reclusion perpetua.
He was likewise ordered to pay the heirs of victim Donato Vargas the sum of P50,000.00 as civil indemnity, P50,000.00 as moral damages, P50,000.00 as exemplary damages, and P32,899.05 for funeral and burial expenses.
The prosecution had charged Araojo with murder for using a bolo and his superior strength in hacking Vargas to death in the evening of March 24, 2020 in barangay Balite, Virac.
Upon his arrest, the accused admitted to the police that he hacked Vargas because he lost his temper.
In his defense during trial at the Regional Trial Court, Araojo testified that while making his rounds to implement curfew hours in Balite, he was surprised to see Vargas standing near the garden of Araojo’s house, holding a sack of feeds.
He approached Vargas to remind him to stay indoors but the latter allegedly replied: “Porke’t kagawad ka huna mo kong sisay ka man, dai ka makialam Sakuya maski pulis ka pa o presidente ka pa dai kang pakialam sako ta alam ko ang batas.”
He claimed that when he walked beside Vargas, the latter suddenly kicked him, causing him to fall to the ground. Araojo said that in panic he grabbed an object and started hitting Vargas with it.
On December 18, 2020, the RTC found Araojo guilty of murder and sentenced him to reclusion perpetua and to pay the victim’s heirs the total sum of P232,899.50 in damages and indemnity.
Insisting that the RTC erred in convicting him, he claimed that the court erred in disregarding the presence of justifying circumstance of self-defense and the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender as well as in finding that abuse of superior strength attended the crime.
The appeals court, however, said that Araojo failed to present clear and convincing evidence that his life was in danger and that Vargas was his unlawful aggressor, noting that no injuries were found on Araojo’s person during medical examination.
On the other hand, the CA stated that while there was a 30-year disparity between the age of Vargas and Araojo, no evidence was adduced to prove that the latter purposely sought his advantage in age and physical condition in killing Vargas, who had no weapon and was carrying only a sack of feeds.
The appeals court likewise appreciated in the petitioner’s favor the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender, as he had freely submitted himself to barangay captain Crispulo Vargas and the police officers even before he was actually arrested.