The law of nature — the "foundation of the privilege to use all reasonable means to repel an aggression that endangers one's own life and the lives of others" — does not require the accused to use unerring judgment when they had the reasonable grounds to believe that they were in apparent danger of losing their lives or suffering great bodily injury.[1] We observe this doctrine in the Petition for Review on Certiorari[2] before this Court assailing the Decision[3] dated June 28, 2019, and the Resolution[4] dated November 12, 2019, of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR No. 41325.
ANTECEDENTS
On August 16, 2011, at around 7:30 p.m., petitioner Leo Abuyo y Sagrit (Leo) and his wife were heading home on board their motorcycle. Suddenly, Leo saw Cesar Tapel (Cesar) and his son, Charles Tapel (Charles), who were armed with a fan knife (balisong) and a gun, respectively. Thereafter, Cesar and Charles blocked Leo's way. However, Leo swerved the motorcycle to the left and sped towards the house of his father, Leonardo Abuyo (Leonardo). Charles followed and went outside Leonardo's house which is just beside that of Leo's house. Furious, Charles kicked the bamboo fence of Leonardo's house, pointed his gun to people, and yelled for Leo to come out. Leonardo tried to pacify Charles, but Cesar arrived and stabbed Leonardo in the lower left part of his chest. Leonardo ran towards Leo's house, but Cesar still pursued him with the fan knife. At that instance, Leo went outside and chased Cesar to the former's house.
In their confrontation, Cesar tried to stab Leo. As a defense, Leo got hold of a bolo on top of the table and hacked Cesar's right hand. Consequently, Cesar dropped the fan knife. Cesar managed to pick up the fan knife but Leo stabbed him again in the lower part of his stomach. Later, Cesar died due to stab injury on his left abdomen and multiple lacerated wounds on his right hand.[5] Leo voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities after the incident.[6] Accordingly, Leo was charged with Homicide before the Regional Trial Court of Daet, Camarines Norte, Branch 38 (RTC).
RULING
The admission of self-defense or defense of a relative frees the prosecution from the burden of proving that the accused committed the crime. The burden is shifted to the accused to prove that their act was justified. These justifying circumstances must be clearly established through convincing evidence. They cannot be appreciated if uncorroborated by competent evidence or is patently doubtful.
Here, Leo admitted to be the author of Cesar's death but invoked the justifying circumstances of self-defense and defense of a relative.[18] As such, the burden of evidence shifts to Leo to prove these defenses.[19] In self-defense, the following elements must concur: (1) unlawful aggression on the part of the victim; (2) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel such aggression; and (3) lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person resorting to self-defense.[20] In defense of a relative, the accused likewise needs to establish the first two requisites of self-defense. In lieu of the third requirement, however, the accused must prove that "in case the provocation was given by the person attacked, that the one making the defense had no part therein."[21]
The first requisite of "unlawful aggression on the part of the victim" is the indispensable element of both self-defense and defense of a relative.[22] If no unlawful aggression attributed to the victim was established, the defenses are unavailing for there is nothing to prevent or repel.[23] For unlawful aggression to be present, there must be a real danger to life or personal safety.[24]
Anent the second requisite, "reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel such aggression" envisions a rational equivalence between the perceived danger and the means employed to repel the attack. Yet, the Court recognized that in self-defense or defense of a relative, the instinct for self-preservation will outweigh rational thinking. Thus, "when it is apparent that a person has reasonably acted upon this instinct, it is the duty of the courts to sanction the act and hold the act irresponsible in law for the consequences."[25] The third requisite of "lack of sufficient provocation" requires the person invoking self-defense to not have antagonized the attacker. A provocation is deemed sufficient if it is "adequate to excite the person to commit the wrong and must accordingly be proportionate to its gravity."[26]
Here, it is undisputed that the first and third requisites of self-defense and defense of a relative are present. There was unlawful aggression when Cesar attacked and pursued Leonardo, and turned and attempted to stab Leo. In these circumstances, Leo had the right to repel the unlawful aggression in order to protect himself and his father. Also, there was no provocation on the part of Leo since the attack originated from Cesar and Charles. Leo and his wife were peacefully traversing their way home when Cesar and Charles blocked their way and chased them. Similarly, Leo was already in his father's house when Cesar and Charles started the commotion.
Nonetheless, the CA and the RTC held that Leo failed to prove the second requisite of reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel the unlawful aggression.[27] Notably, this requisite does not imply material commensurability between the means of attack and defense. What the law requires is rational equivalence which presupposes the consideration not only of the nature and quality of the weapons used by the defender and the assailant – but of the totality of circumstances surrounding the defense vis-à-vis the unlawful aggression.[28] Moreover, the law requires rational necessity, not indispensable need. In each particular case, it is necessary to judge the relative necessity, whether more or less imperative, in accordance with the rules of rational logic. The accused may be given the benefit of any reasonable doubt as to whether or not they employed rational means to repel the aggression.[29]
Corollarily, the courts should not demand that the accused conduct themselves with the poise of a person not under imminent threat of fatal harm. It must be assumed that one who is assaulted cannot have sufficient tranquility of mind to think, calculate, and make comparisons that can easily be made in the calmness of reason. The accused had no time to reflect and to reason out their responses. The test is whether the accused's subjective belief as to the imminence and seriousness of the danger was reasonable or not,[30] and the reasonableness of the accused's belief must be viewed from their standpoint at the time they acted.[31] The right of a person to take life in self-defense and defense of a relative or a stranger arises from their belief in the necessity for doing so; and such belief and reasonableness thereof are to be judged in light of the circumstances as they then appeared to the accused, not in light of circumstances as they would appear to others or based on the belief that others may or might entertain as to the nature arid imminence of the danger and the necessity to kill.[32]
In People v. Olarbe,[37] the accused and his wife were awakened by the sound of a gunshot and shouting from the deceased, who was holding a rifle and a bolo. The deceased forcibly entered the accused's house. When the deceased aimed the gun at the accused, the latter grabbed the gun and grappled for its possession. When the accused managed to wrestle the gun from the deceased, he shot the latter. However, the deceased still managed to get his bolo from his waist and turned his assault to the accused's common-law wife. The accused once again grabbed the bolo and hacked the deceased causing his death. In that case, the Court explained that all the elements of self-defense are present, viz.:
"The courts ought to remember that a person who is assaulted has neither the time nor the sufficient tranquility of mind to think, calculate and choose the weapon to be used. For, in emergencies of this kind, human nature does not act upon processes of formal reason but in obedience to the instinct of self-preservation; and when it is apparent that a person has reasonably acted upon this instinct, it is the duty of the courts to hold the actor not responsible in law for the consequences. Verily, the law requires rational equivalence, not material commensurability[.]"[38] (Emphasis supplied)
In Ganal, Jr. v. People,[39] the deceased went to the house of accused armed with a knife and started throwing stones. When the father of the accused tried to calmly ask the deceased to go home, he pushed open the gate of the house and hit the accused's father in the chest, causing the latter to fall and lose consciousness. Seeing this, the accused rushed inside the house, got his gun, and fired a warning shot in the air. When the deceased continued moving closer to the accused, the accused shot him once. When the deceased did not retreat and instead continued moving forward, accused shot him four more times. The deceased died instantly. The Court ruled that the accused's killing of the deceased was justified. The Court stressed that the instinct of self-preservation prevailed upon the accused during the fateful incident.[40]
Similarly, the particular circumstances which confronted Leo at the time of the incident condoned the means he employed to protect his father and himself. To reiterate, the measure of rational necessity is to be found in the situation as it appeared to Leo at the time of the incident. The law does not require that Leo should mete out his blows in such manner that, upon a calm and deliberate review of the incident, it will not appear that he exceeded the precise limits of what was absolutely necessary to put his antagonist hors de combat, or that he struck one blow more than what was absolutely necessary to save his own life, or that he failed to hold his hand so as to avoid inflicting a fatal wound where a less severe stroke might have served the purpose.[41] Under such conditions, Leo cannot be expected to reflect coolly nor wait after each blow to determine its effects.
More importantly, three crucial facts reveal that Leo was impelled by the instinct of self-preservation rather than the homicidal urge of one bent on killing. First, Leo never took advantage of the opportunity to race off an attack against the disarmed Cesar who lost grip of the knife. Leo could have preempted Cesar's repossession of the knife with swift, successive, and injurious blows. Rather, Leo held his ground and was forced to act only when Cesar repossessed the fan knife. Second, there was a threatening presence of Charles who was holding a gun that could be fired at any given moment during the incident.
If Leo was actuated by homicidal intentions, he would have persisted in his attack against Cesar and thereafter, he would have also raced off an attack against Charles to preempt a possible gunfire. Leo would have attempted to kill Charles as well, but he did nothing of that sort. Leo only acted reactively and retaliated blows only against the striking aggressor. Third, Leo voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities after the incident. As the Court repeatedly observed, unexplained flight is an indication of guilt.[42] The guilty flee when no man pursueth but the innocent are as bold as a lion.[43]
In sum, the rule is that the reasonable necessity of the means employed to repel or prevent the attack depends upon the imminent danger of injury.[44] Cesar's act of attacking Leo and Leonardo with a fan knife was a very real danger to their lives. Charles' possession of a gun, which could be fired anytime during the stabbing commotion, exacerbates the danger that lurks on Leo and Leonardo's mortality. Leo had to repel the best way he can especially that Leonardo, who was already injured, cannot be expected to aid in his defense. Lastly, that the stomach wound which Leo inflicted upon Cesar proved to be fatal does not make the means he employed any less reasonable under the circumstances. Taken together, Leo is entitled to an acquittal on the grounds of self-defense and defense of relative.
FOOTNOTES
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