The Supreme Court has upheld the convictions for murder of five fraternity members in connection with the death in 1994 of Dennis Venturina, a student of the University of the Philippines and a member of a rival brotherhood.
In a ruling penned by SC Associate Justice Mario Victor “Marvic” Leonen, the high tribunal affirmed the decision of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court that found five members of the Scintilla Juris Fraternity guilty for the murder of Venturina on December 8, 1994.
On February 28, 2002, the trial court found suspects Robert Michael Alvir, Danilo Feliciano Jr, Christopher Soliva, Julius Victor Medalla, and Warren Zingapan guilty of murder and attempted murder, and were sentenced to the penalty of reclusion perpetua.
The Court of Appeals on December 26, 2010 affirmed the guilty verdict.
Court records showed Ventura and six other co-members of the Sigma Rho fraternity were eating at the Beach House Canteen near the Main Library in UP Diliman when they were attacked by masked men with baseball bats and lead pipes.
Ventura shortly afterwards died at the St. Luke’s Medical Center, while the six other victims survived.
Just like the trial court and the appellate tribunal, the SC gave more weight on the victims’ positive identification of the perpetrators rather than on the latter’s respective alibis.
“The victims were able to positively identify their attackers while the accused-appellants merely offered alibis and denials as their defense. The credibility of the victims was upheld by both the trial court and the appellate court while giving little credence to the accused-appellants’ alibis,” the SC said.
“There is thus no reason to disturb their findings,” it added.
While upholding the CA’s ruling on the case, the SC ruled that the appeals court erred when it ruled that treachery was not involved in the incident.
“The swiftness and the suddenness of the attack gave no opportunity for the victims to retaliate or even to defend themselves. Treachery, therefore, was present in the case,” the SC said.
The high court also said the CA erred when it said the accused should have only been guilty of slight physical injuries with regard to victims Cesar Manrobang Jr and Leandro Lachica, because the two victims were no longer pursued by their attackers when they ran away.
As for victim Cristobal Gaston Jr., the CA said the wounds he sustained were “too shallow” to indicate the suspects intended to kill him.
But in its ruling, the SC modified these finding by the CA and affirmed the trial court’s decision that the five suspects should still be found guilty of attempted murder, and not just slight physical injuries.
“The intent to kill was already present at the moment of attack and that intent was shared by all the accused-appellants alike when the presence of conspiracy was proven,” the SC said.
“It would be illogical to presume that despite the swiftness and suddenness of the attack, the attackers intended to kill only Venturina, (Mervin) Natalicio, and (Arnel) Fortes, and only intended to injure Lachica, Mangrobang, and Gaston. Since the intent to kill was evident from the moment the accused-appellants took their first swing, all of them were liable for the intent to kill,” it added.
In its ruling, the high tribunal blamed frat wars to the culture of impunity in frat cases, in which prosecution is rare and credible witnesses rarely speak up.
“There are elements within the academic milieu that trade misplaced concepts of perverse brotherhood for these hopes…. This culture of impunity must stop. There is no space in this society for hooliganism disguised as fraternity rumbles,” the court said.
The high court expressed hope that frat-related cases, including that of Venturina’s would “empower those who have a better view of masculinity: one which valorizes courage, sacrifice and honor in more life-saving pursuits.”
“Fraternity rumbles are an anathema, an immature and useless expenditure of testosterone. It fosters a culture that retards manhood,” said the SC. —NB, GMA News
