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PEOPLE vs. Gerry Sumalpong, et al.

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. GERRY SUMALPONG, JOSEPH LUMUNGGO, MELCHOR FERNANDO and BILLY LAKSINTO, accused, GERRY SUMALPONG and MELCHOR FERNANDO, accused-appellants.

G.R. No. 124705 | 1998-01-20

D E C I S I O N

PANGANIBAN, J:

The Court finds occasion to reiterate the time-settled rule that the attendant circumstances in the commission of a crime must be proved as solidly as the offense itself, and any doubt as to then presence must be resolved in favor of the accused. In the clear-absence of any generic aggravating circumstance attending the murder, appellants may be sentenced only to reclusion perpetua, not death as imposed by the trial court.

The Case

In an Information 1 dated January 17, 1994, Cotabato City Prosecutor Ortillano D. Tan charged Gerry Sumalpong, Joseph Lumunggo, Melchor Fernando and Billy Laksinto with the...