Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fact: Beronga, Sabalones, Alegarbes, and Cabanero were convicted after a shooting incident in Cebu in
1985 which led to the death of Glenn Tiempo and Alfredo Nardo, and fatal injuries of Nelson Tiempo, Rey
Bolo and Rogelio Presores. The victims were asked to bring the car of a certain Stephen Lim who also
attended a wedding party. Nelson Tiempo drove the car with Rogelio Presores. Alfredo Nardo drove the
owner-type jeep along with Glenn Tiempo and Rey Bolo to aid the group back to the party after parking
the car at Lims house. When they reached the gate, they were met with a sudden burst of gunfire. The
accused were identified as the gunmen. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court.
Sabalones and Beronga appealed.
Crime Committed: Two counts of murder, and three counts of frustrated murder
Contention of the People: Prosecution witnesses Edwin Santos and Rogelio Presores testified about the
shooting and identified the faces of the accused. Presores was riding in the car that is behind the jeep.
He positively identified Sabalones as one of the gunmen. When the gunmen fired at the car, driver
Nelson Tiempo immediately maneuvered and arrived at Major Juan Tiempos house from which they have
escaped death.
Contention of the Accused: Accused-appellants Sabalones and Beronga denied their presence during the
commission of the crime. Sabalones presented numerous witnesses who stated that he was sound asleep
when the incident took place [since he got tired watching over his brothers wake]. While Beronga
testified that he attended a cock-derby in Cebu, and was fetched by his wife at 7 pm, arrived home by
10:30 pm to sleep. Sabalones even escaped from place to place to flee from the wrath of Maj. Juan
Tiempo, the father of the two victims. The defense even pointed out errors from the testimonies of the
witnesses arguing that the place where the incident happened is dim and not lighted.
Also there was a presence of treachery, because of the circumstances that the crime was done at night
time and that the accused hid themselves among the bamboo. Evident premeditation is also an
aggravating circumstance [the accused had planned to kill the victim some days before].