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THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, VS. Mario Tabaco, Accused-Appellant. G.R. Nos. 100382-100385 March 19, 1997

The document discusses a case where a peace officer shot and killed four people at a cockpit arena with an M-14 rifle. The court found it was not a complex crime but rather four separate murders since more than one bullet was fired. The accused was sentenced to four life imprisonment terms.

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IAN GILBERT PENALES
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538 views2 pages

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, VS. Mario Tabaco, Accused-Appellant. G.R. Nos. 100382-100385 March 19, 1997

The document discusses a case where a peace officer shot and killed four people at a cockpit arena with an M-14 rifle. The court found it was not a complex crime but rather four separate murders since more than one bullet was fired. The accused was sentenced to four life imprisonment terms.

Uploaded by

IAN GILBERT PENALES
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, 

VS.
MARIO TABACO, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

G.R. Nos. 100382-100385 March 19, 1997

Facts:

Peace officer Mario Tabaco was assigned to maintain peace and order at cockpit arena bringing
with him his M-14 issued firearm which was fully loaded.

At about ten 10 o'clock in the evening, while the accused Mario Tabaco was seated, he
suddenly without warning or provocation, shot the late mayor Jorge Arreola, with his M-14
rifle, followed by several successive burst of gunfire, resulting in the shooting to death of the
late Mayor Arreola, Capt. Oscar Tabulog, Felicito Rigunan and Pat. Romeo Regunton, although
the latter managed to run passing through the western gate near the gaffers cage but was
chased by accused Tabaco. Regunton was later found dead inside the canteen of Mrs. Amparo
Go inside the Octagon cockpit arena.

Issue:

Whether or not crime committed is a complex crime.

Held:

The evidence shows that the four (4) victims were FELLED by one single shot/burst of fire
and/or successive automatic gun fires, meaning continuous. Hence, it is a complex crime
involving four murdered victims, under the first category, where a single act of shooting
constituted two or more grave or less grave felonies (delito compuesto),

The trial court misappreciated the facts in People vs. Pama. In said case, there was only one
bullet which killed two persons. Hence, there was only a single act which produced two crimes,
resulting in a specie of complex crime known as a compound crime, wherein a single act
produces two or more grave or less grave felonies. In the case at bench, there was more than
one bullet expended by the accused-appellant in killing the four victims. The evidence adduced
by the prosecution show that Tabaco entered the cockpit with a fully loaded M-14 sub-machine
gun. 28 He fired the weapon, which contained 20 rounds of bullets in its magazine,
continuously. When the rifle was recovered from Tabaco, the magazine was already empty.
Moreover, several spent shells were
recovered from the scene of the crime. Hence, the ruling enunciated in People vs. Pama cannot
be applied.

Consequently, the four murders which resulted from a burst of gunfire cannot be considered a
complex crime. They are separate crimes. The accused-appellant must therefore be held liable
for each and every death he has caused, and sentenced accordingly to four sentences
of reclusion perpetua.

WHEREFORE, no reversible error having been committed by the trial court in finding accused-
appellant guilty of four (4) counts of Murder and one (1) count of Homicide with Frustrated
Homicide, the judgment appealed from should be, as it is, hereby AFFIRMED, with the
MODIFICATION that four sentences of reclusion perpetua be hereby imposed.

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