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196 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

People vs. Oyanib
*
G.R. Nos. 130634-35. March 12, 2001.

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs.

MANOLITO OYANIB y MENDOZA, accused-appellant.

Criminal Law; Husband and Wife; Adultery; Death Under Exceptional

Circumstances; Exempting Circumstances; Words and Phrases; An
absolutory cause is present “where the act committed is a crime but for
reasons of public policy and sentiment there is no penalty imposed.”—At
the outset, accused admitted killing his wife and her paramour. He invoked
Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code as an absolutory and an exempting
cause. “An absolutory cause is present Svhere the act committed is a crime
but for reasons of public policy and sentiment there is no penalty imposed.’
”
Same; Same; Same; Same; Elements; The death caused must be the
proximate result of the outrage overwhelming the nccused after chancing
upon his spouse in the act of infidelity—the killing by the husband of his
wife must concur with her flagrant adultery.—Having admitted the killing,
it is incumbent upon accused to prove the exempting circumstances to the
satisfaction of the court in order to be relieved of any criminal liability
Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code prescribes the following essential
elements for such a defense: (1) that a legally married person surprises his
spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person; (2)
that he kills any of them or both of them in the act or immediately
thereafter; and (3) that he has not promoted or facilitated the prostitution of
his wife (or daughter) or that he or she has not consented to the infidelity of
the other spouse. Accused must prove these elements by clear and
convincing evidence, otherwise his defense would be untenable. “The death
caused must be the proximate result of the outrage overwhelming the
accused after chancing upon his spouse in the act of infidelity. Simply put,
the killing by the husband of his wife must concur with her flagrant
adultery.”
Same; Same; Same; Same; The law imposes very stringent
requirements before affording the offended spouse the opportunity to avail
himself of Article 247, Revised Penal Code—it must be resorted to only with
great caution so much so that the law requires that it be inflicted only
during the sexual intercourse or immediately thereafter.—The law imposes

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very stringent requirements before affording the offended spouse the

opportunity to

_______________

* FIRST DIVISION.

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People vs. Oyanib

avail himself of Article 247, Revised Penal Code. As the Court put it in
People v. Wagas: “The vindication of a Man’s honor is justified because of
the scandal an unfaithful wife creates; the law is strict on this, authorizing as
it does, a man to chastise her, even with death. But killing the errant spouse
as a purification is so severe as that it can only be justified when the
unfaithful spouse is caught in flagrante delicto, and it must be resorted to
only with great caution so much so that the law requires that it be inflicted
only during the sexual intercourse or immediately thereafter.”

APPEAL from a decision of the Regional Trial Court of Iligan City,

Lanao del Norte, Br. 2.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

The Solicitor General for plaintiff-appellee.
Generalao Law Office for accused-appellant.

PARDO, J.:

Accused1 Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza appeals from the joint

decision of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 02, Iligan City finding
him guilty beyond reasonable doubt of homicide
2
and parricide and
sentencing him to an indeterminate penalty of six (6) months one
day (1) to six (6) years of prision correccional as minimum to six
(6) years one (1) day to eight (8) years of prision mayor as
maximum, and to pay P50,000.00 civil indemnity and the costs for
the death of Jesus Esquierdo, and to reclusion perpetua, to pay 4
P50,000.00 and the costs for the death of his wife, Tita T. Oyanib.
On September 11, 1995, Iligan City Prosecutor Ulysses V.
Lagcao filed with the Regional Trial Court, Iligan City two (2)
separate

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1 In Criminal Cases Nos. 11-6012 and 11-6018, Judge Maximo B. Ratunil,

presiding. Rollo, pp. 18-29.
2 Regretfully, the trial court judge did not know how to apply the Indeterminate
Sentence Law. He imposed indefinite minimum and maximum penalties He must
impose a specific penalty in both the minimum and maximum periods (Cf. People v.
Herbias, 333 Phil. 422; 265 SCRA 571 [1996]).
3 In Criminal Case No. 11-6012.
4 In Criminal Case No. 11-6018.

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People vs. Oyanib

informations charging accused Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza with

murder and parricide, as follows:

Criminal Case No. 6012

“That on or about September 4, 1995, in the City of Iligan, Philippines, and

within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, armed with
a deadly weapon to wit: a hunting knife about six inches long and with
intent to kill and evident premeditation and by means of treachery, did then
and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously attack, assault, stab and
wound one Jesus Esquierdo, thereby inflicting upon him the following
physical injuries, to wit:

Cardiorespiratory arrest
Hypovolemic shock irreversible
Multiple organ injury
Multiple stab wound chest & abdomen

and as a result thereof the said Jesus Esquierdo died.

“Contrary to and in violation of Article 248 of the Revised Penal
5
Code
with the aggravating circumstances (sic) of evident premeditation.”

Criminal Case No. 6018

“That on or about September 4, 1995, in the City of Iligan, Philippines,

and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, having
conceived and (sic) deliberate intent to kill his wife Tita Oyanib, did then
and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and with evident
premeditation, attack, assault, stab and wound his wife, as a result of said
attack, the said Tita Oyanib died. 6
“Contrary to and in violation of Article 246 of the Revised Penal Code.”

The prosecutor recommended no bail for the temporary liberty of

accused Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza in both cases.
On September7 11, 1995, accused voluntarily surrendered to the
police authorities and was immediately detained at the Iligan City
8
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8
Jail.

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5 Rollo, p. 11.
6 Rollo, p. 9.
7 Criminal Case No. 11-6018, RTC Record, p. 85.
8 Ibid., p. 14.

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On January 17, 1996, the trial court arraigned accused Manolito

Oyanib y Mendoza by reading the informations9
against him said
translating them into the Visayan dialect. He pleaded not guilty to
both charges.
As the two (2) cases arose from the same set of facts, the trial
court conducted a joint trial.
Accused Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza (hereafter Manolito) and10
Tita T. Oyanib (hereafter Tita) were married on February 3, 1979
and had two (2) children, Desilor and Julius. They lived in Purok 1,
Tambacan, Iligan City.
In 1994, due to marital differences, Manolito and Tita separated,
with Manolito keeping custody of their two (2) children. Tita rented
a room at the second floor of the house of Edgardo Lladas (hereafter
Edgardo), not far from the place where her family lived.
At about 9:30 in the evening of September 4, 1995, while
Edgardo and his family were watching TV at the sala located at the
ground floor of their house at Purok 3-A, Tambacan, Iligan City,
they heard a commotion coming from the second floor rented by
Tita. The commotion and the noise, lasted for quite 11
some time.
When it died down, Edgardo went upstairs to check.
Upstairs, Edgardo saw Tita wearing a duster, bloodied and
sprawled on the floor. He saw Manolito stabbing Jesus Esquierdo
(hereafter Jesus) while sitting on the latter’s stomach. Jesus was
wearing a pair of long black pants. When Edgardo asked Manolito
what he was doing, accused told Edgardo not to interfere.
Thereafter, Edgardo left the house and called the police.
Meanwhile, the neighbors 12
brought Tita to the hospital. She died on
the way to the hospital.
SPO3 Eduard Tubil, police investigator, General Investigation
Office, Iligan City Police Command, Precinct I, Poblacion, Iligan
City said that at about 9:00 in the evening of September 4, 1995,
while he was on duty, he received an information regarding a stab-

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9 Ibid., p. 39.
10 TSN, April 17, 1996, p. 13.
11 TSN, April 10, 1996, p. 6.
12 Ibid., pp. 7-10.

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People vs. Oyanib

bing 13incident at the Llagas residence at Purok 3-A, Tambacan, Iligan

City.
At the crime scene, SPO3 Tubil saw the lifeless body of Jesus
lying face up with several stab wounds in different parts of the body.
Jesus was clad in t-shirt and long pants. From the crime scene, he
recovered a knife. Afterwards, he went to Dr. Uy Hospital to check
on Tita; he was informed that she was 14
dead. Manolito was the
suspect in the killing of Jesus and Tita. 15The incident was recorded
in the police blotter as Entry No. 137138.
On September 5, 1995, Dr. Leonardo A. Labanon, Medico-Legal 16
Officer, Iligan City examined the bodies of Jesus and Tita. Jesus
sustained multiple stab wounds, and those 17
inflicted in the right and
left chests and stomach were fatal. The cause of death was
“cardiorespiratory arrest, hypovolemic shock irreversible,18 multiple
organ injury and multiple stab wound chest and abdomen.”
Likewise, Tita sustained several stab wounds, with the fatal
wounds inflicted in the left chest and right side of the abdomen. The
cause of death was “cardiorespiratory
19
arrest, hypovolemic shock and
multiple stab wound.”
As heretofore stated, in 1994, following a series of arguments,
Manolito and Tita decided to live separately. Manolito retained
custody of their two (2) children. Immediately after the separation,
Tita stayed at her friend Merlyn’s house for two (2) months.
Afterwards, she transferred to the Lladas residence, located at 20Purok
3, G. Tambacan, Iligan City, and rented the second floor. The
rented space consisted mainly of a sala with one adjoining room. It
was arranged in a manner that if one enters the main entrance door,
one is immediately led to the sala and from the sala directly to the
door of the adjoining room.

_______________

13 TSN, April 17, 1996, pp. 3-4.

14 Ibid., pp. 5-9.
15 TSN, April 18, 1996, p. 3.
16 TSN, April 17, 1996, p. 25.
17 Ibid., p. 17.
18 Ibid., p. 20.

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19 Criminal Case No. 11-6018, RTC Record, Exhibit “E,” p. 6.

20 TSN, March 6, 1997, pp. 11-18.

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People vs. Oyanib

Despite their separation, Manolito tried to win Tita back and exerted
all efforts towards reconciliation for the sake of the children. 21
However, Tita was very reluctant to reconcile with Manolito. In
fact, she was very open about her relationship with other men and
would flaunt it in front of Manolito. One time, he chanced upon his
wife and her paramour, Jesus, in a very intimate situation 22
by the
hanging bridge at Brgy. Tambacan, Iligan City. Manolito
confronted Tita and Jesus about this. He censured his wife and
reminded her that she was still
23
his wife. They just ignored him; they
even threatened to kill him.
In the evening of September 4, 1995, after supper, his daughter
Desilor handed Manolito a letter from the Iligan City National High
School. The letter mentioned that his son Julius failed in two (2)
subjects and invited his parents to a meeting at the school. Because
he had work from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon the
next day, Manolito went to24Tita’s house to ask her to attend the
school meeting in his behalf.
Upon reaching Tita’s rented place, he heard “sounds of romance”
(kissing) coming from the inside. He pried open the door lock using
a hunting knife. He caught his wife Tita and Jesus having sexual
intercourse. Jesus was on top of Tita and his pants were down to his
knees.
Upon seeing him, Jesus kicked Manolito in the cheek. Manolito
immediately stabbed Jesus. Though Jesus was 5’9” in height and
weighed about 70 kg., the suddenness of the assault caused him to
lose his balance and fall down. Manolito took advantage of this
opportunity and stabbed Jesus in the stomach. Tita left the room
upon seeing Manolito, only to come back armed with a Tanduay
bottle. She hit Manolito in the25head, while at the same time shouting
“kill him Jake, kill him Jake.’
In the commotion, Manolito stabbed Jesus, hitting him in the
abdomen. Jesus fell down and Manolito stabbed him again. Mean-

_______________

21 Ibid., p. 16.
22 Ibid., p. 49.
23 Rollo, p. 52.
24 Ibid., pp. 22-23.
25 Ibid., pp. 24-28.

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People vs. Oyanib

while, Tita stabbed Manolito in the arm with the broken Tanduay
bottle. This angered Manolito and he stabbed Tita in the left breast.
He stabbed her three (3) more times in different parts of her body.
Tita fell near the lifeless body of her paramour. It was at this point
that Edgardo, the owner of the house Tita was renting, appeared
from the ground floor and inquired about what had happened.
Manolito told Edgardo not to interfere because he had nothing to do
with it.
Thereafter, Manolito left the house of Edgardo and went to
Kilumco, Camague, Iligan City and stayed at the wake of his
friend’s neighbor. He threw away the knife he used in stabbing his
wife and her paramour. At around 4:00 in the morning of the
following day, he went to Camague Highway to catch a bus for
Lentogan, Aurora, Zamboanga. While in Lentogan, he heard over
radio DXIC that there was a call for him to surrender. He heeded the
call and gave himself 26
up to the police authorities in Precinct 2,
Nonocan, Iligan City.
When asked why he was carrying a knife when he went to his
wife’s place, Manolito said that he brought it for self-defense. Prior
to the incident, he received threats from his wife and her27paramour,
Jesus, that they would kill him so they could live together.
After trial, on May 26, 1997, the trial court promulgated a joint
decision finding accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the
crimes charged. The dispositive portion reads:

‘WHEREFORE, in the light of the foregoing findings and pronouncements

and having carefully observed the demeanor of witnesses, this Court hereby
declares accused MANOLITO OYANIB y Mendoza GUILTY beyond
reasonable doubt of the crime of Homicide (Crim. Case No. II-6012) and
Parricide (Crim. Case No. II-6018) and appreciating the two (2) mitigating
circumstances of passion or obfuscation and voluntary surrender without
any aggravating circumstances to consider, this Court sentences accused
Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza to suffer an imprisonment as follows:

“1) In Criminal Case No. II-6012:

_______________

26 TSN, March 6, 1997, pp. 30-35.

27 Ibid., pp. 32, 45-46.

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To an Indeterminate Penalty ranging from SIX (6) MONTHS ONE (1) DAY to SIX
(6) YEARS as Minimum to Six (6) YEARS ONE (1) DAY TO EIGHT (8) YEARS
as Maximum; to indemnify heirs of Jesus Esquierdo the sum of P50,000.00 as civil
indemnity, and to pay the costs.

“2) In Criminal Case No. II-6018:

To RECLUSION PERPETUA pursuant to Republic Act No. 7659; to indemnify

heirs of his wife P50,000.00 as civil indemnity and to pay the costs.

“It is likewise ordered that the aforesaid imprisonment is subject to the forty
(40) years limitation prescribed in Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Accused is likewise entitled to full credit of his preventive
imprisonment.
“SO ORDERED.
“Iligan City, Philippines, May 26, 1997.
“MAXIMO B. RATUNIL28
Presiding Judge”

On June 17, 1997, accused Manolito Oyanib y Mendoza interposed

an appeal
29
from the joint decision of the trial court to the Supreme
Court.
Accused admitted the killings. He argued that he killed them both
under the exceptional circumstances provided in Article 247 of the
Revised Penal Code. He raised several errors allegedly committed
by the trial court, which boiled down to the basic issue of whether
accused is entitled to the exceptional
30
privilege under Article 247 of
the Revised Penal Code. He questioned the trial court’s
appreciation of the facts and the evidence, contending that it ignored
and overlooked vital pieces of physical evidence material to the
defense of the accused, like the photograph of the lifeless body of
Jesus. Accused contends that the photograph graphically showed
that Jesus’ pants were wide open, unzipped and unbuttoned,
revealing that he was not wearing any underwear, lending credence

_______________

28 Rollo, pp. 18-29, at p. 29.

29 Criminal Case No. II-6081, RTC Record, p. 112.
30 Rollo, pp. 56-57.

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to his defense that he caught his wife and her paramour in the act of
sexual intercourse. On the other hand, the Solicitor General
submitted that accused-appellant failed to discharge the burden of
proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that he killed the victims
under the exceptional circumstances contemplated in Article 247 of
the Revised Penal Code. Hence, the trial court31did not err in denying
him the exempting privilege under the Article.
We find the appeal meritorious.
At the outset, accused admitted killing his wife and her paramour.
He invoked Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code as an absolutory
and an exempting cause. “An absolutory cause is present ‘where the
act committed is a crime but for reasons 32
of public policy and
sentiment there is no penalty imposed.’ ”
Having admitted the killing, it is incumbent upon accused to
prove the exempting circumstances to the satisfaction of the court in
order to be relieved of any criminal liability Article 247 of the
Revised Penal Code prescribes the following essential elements for
such a defense: (1) that a legally married person surprises his spouse
in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person; (2)
that he kills any of them or both of them in the act or immediately
thereafter; and (3) that he has not promoted or facilitated the
prostitution of his wife (or daughter) or that 33
he or she has not
consented to the infidelity of the other spouse. Accused must prove
these elements by clear and convincing evidence, otherwise his
defense would be untenable. “The death caused must be the
proximate result of the outrage overwhelming the accused after
chancing upon his spouse in the act of infidelity. Simply put, the
killing by34 the husband of his wife must concur with her flagrant
adultery.”
There is no question that the first element is present in the case at
bar. The crucial fact that accused must convincingly prove to the

_______________

31 Ibid., pp. 125-126.

32 People v. Talisic, 344 Phil. 51, 59; 278 SCRA 517 [1997].
33 People v. Wagas, 171 SCRA 69, 73 [1989]; People v. Talisic, supra, Note 32, at
p. 60; citing People v. Gelaver, 223 SCRA 310, 313-314 [1993].
34 People v. Wagas, supra, Note 33, at p. 73.

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People vs. Oyanib

court is that he killed his wife and her paramour in the act of sexual
intercourse or immediately thereafter.

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After an assiduous analysis of the evidence presented and the

testimonies of the witnesses, we find accused to have acted within
the circumstances contemplated in Article 247 of the Revised Penal
Code. Admittedly, accused-appellant surprised his wife and her
lover in the act of sexual intercourse.
To the mind of the court, what actually happened was that
accused chanced upon Jesus at the place of his wife. He saw his wife
and Jesus in the act of having sexual intercourse. Blinded by
jealousy and outrage, accused stabbed Jesus who fought off and
kicked the accused. He vented his anger on his wife when she
reacted, not in defense of him, but in support of Jesus. Hence, he
stabbed his wife as well several times. Accused Manolito Oyanib y
Mendoza surrendered to the police when a call for him to surrender
was made.
The law imposes very stringent requirements before affording the
offended spouse the opportunity to avail himself of Article35
247,
Revised Penal Code. As the Court put it in People v. Wagas:

“The vindication of a Man’s honor is justified because of the scandal an

unfaithful wife creates; the law is strict on this, authorizing as it does, a man
to chastise her, even with death. But killing the errant spouse as a
purification is so severe as that it can only be justified when the unfaithful
spouse is caught in flagrante delicto, and it must be resorted to only with
great caution so much so that the law requires that it be inflicted only during
the sexual intercourse or immediately thereafter.”

WHEREFORE, the Court REVERSES the appealed decision of the

Regional Trial Court, Branch 02, Iligan City in Criminal Cases Nos.
II-6012 and II-6018. The Court sentences accused Manolito Oyanib
y Mendoza to two (2) years and four (4) months of des-

_______________

35 People v. Wagas, supra, Note 33, at p. 74.

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People vs. Oyanib
36
tierro. He shall not be permitted to enter Iligan City, nor
37
within a
radius, of one hundred (100) kilometers from Iligan City.
Costs de oficio.
SO ORDERED.

Davide, Jr. (Chairman), Puno, Kapunan and Ynares-

Santiago, JJ., concur.

Judgment reversed.
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Notes.—American jurisprudence, on cases involving statutes in

that jurisdiction which are in pari materia with ours, yields the rule
that after a divorce has been decreed, the innocent spouse no longer
has the right to institute proceedings against the offenders where the
statute provides that the innocent spouse shall have the exclusive
right to institute a prosecution for adultery. (Pilapil vs. Ibay-Somera,
174 SCRA 653 [1989])
Under Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code, the killing of the
wife by the husband (or vice versa) is justified if the husband kills
her while engaged in sexual intercourse with another man or
immediately thereafter. (People vs. Cabalhin, 231 SCRA 486
[1994])
The kind of attitude of a husband allegedly merely standing still
and endure the illicit sexual congress between his wife and her
supposed paramour from beginning to end, and of just going after
his wife’s lover when the latter is through with his lovemaking and
only after he would have put on his clothes and started to flee, defies
human nature—truly, there is no real test of truth in the testimony of
a witness except gauge it consonantly with human knowledge,
observation, and experience. (People vs. Velasco, 351 SCRA 539
[2001])

——o0o——

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36 The Indeterminate Sentence Law is not applicable to a sentence of destierro

(Regalado, Criminal Law Conspectus, First Edition, 2000, p. 207).
37 Article 87, Revised Penal Code.

207

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