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PEOPLE vs Amado Sapigao, Samuel Sapigao, et al

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, appellee, vs. AMADOR SAPIGAO (At Large); JOSE SAPIGAO (At Large); SAMUEL SAPIGAO (At Large); ELPIDIO MAMERTO; ARTURO MAMERTO, SR. (At Large); ROBERT OBILLO (At Large); VERSON MAMERTO (At Large); FRANCIS SAPIGAO (At Large); and REYNALDO SAPIGAO alias "CALLONG" (At Large), appellants.

G.R. No. 144975 | 2003-06-18

D E C I S I O N

VITUG, J.:

On 24 December 1998, around eleven o'clock in the evening, full-swing preparations for the Christmas Eve festivities among the residents of Barangay Carusocan Sur, Asingan, Pangasinan, were just about in their final stages. Neighbors and friends had by then gathered together in anticipation of the much-awaited noche buena to be partaken at the strike of midnight. The Christmas air, however, gave no warning of an impending bloody incident which would shatter an otherwise pervading yuletide festivity.

Emmanuel Sapigao and his brother Gem Sapigao were on their way on board a motorcycle, driven by Gem Sapigao,...