G.R. No. 48101. November 22, 1941

THE PEOPLE OP THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. VICENTE NABORA, DEFENDANT AND APPELLANT.

Decisions / Signed Resolutions November 22, 1941 MORAN, J.:
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MORAN, J.:


On the night of December 3,  1940,  while the  accused Vicente Nabora was taking a walk along the new Luneta, the deceased  Domingo de Vera met him near the site of the flagpole and  pointing  his  finger  at him (accused) asked him what he was doing there and then  said:  “Don’t you know we are  watching for honeymooners here”?  Provoked by the  attitude of the deceased, the accused drew  out his knife and stabbed the deceased on the abdomen and on the other parts of the body which caused the latter his instant death. An information for homicide was filed against the accused wherein it was alleged that  he is a “recidivist, he having been previously convicted three times of physical injuries” and “punished once  of robbery, three times of theft, and twice of illegal possession of a deadly weapon, by virtue of final judgments of competent courts.”  Defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and was allowed to  testify on mitigating circumstances in his favor. The trial court then sentenced him to an indeterminate penalty of from 10 years and 1 day of  prision mayor to 17 years, 4 months and 1 day of reclusion temporal and to pay the heirs of the deceased an indemnity of P2,000, without subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.  This judgment is now sought to be reviewed in this appeal.

By defendant’s plea  of guilty, he admits the aggravating circumstances of recidivism and reiteracion alleged in the information.  In partial offset, he is entitled to one mitigating circumstance—voluntary plea of guilty.  His claim to another mitigating circumstance—that of sufficient provocation on the  part  of the deceased—cannot be  sustained. The provocation, to constitute a mitigating circumstance, must, in the language of the  law, be “sufficient”, that is, adequate to excite  the  person to commit .the wrong  and must accordingly be proportionate to its gravity.  In the instant case, it can hardly be  said that the acts  of the deceased in pointing  his finger at the defendant and uttering the question aforementioned constitute a sufficient cause for him to draw out his knife and  kill the deceased.

Appellant is accordingly sentenced to an indeterminate penalty of not less than 10 years and 1 day of prision mayor and not more than 18 years of reclusion temporal,  and in all  other  respects,  the judgment is  affirmed, with costs against appellant.

Avancena, C. J., Abad Santos, Diaz, and Horrilleno, JJ., concur.

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