information later on.

March 1992, the victims Ronquillo brothers were played 3 rounds of basketball in
Sta. Mesa Manila against the team of Joey de los Santos. The Ronquillos brothers won the first 2 rounds
but the 3rd one ended in a brawl. Later that afternoon, Joey went back to the place carrying 2 pillboxes
but were apprehended. So, Joey and his brother just threw stones at the Ronquillos’ house. The
neighbors saw this and ran after them and mauled them. That night, the victims were in front of the
Ronquillos’ house. Suddenly, a white Ford Fiera without a plate number stopped in front of the group.
There were 10- 13 people on board, including Joey and his brother. The passengers in the Fiera alighted,
faces covered with handkerchiefs and they were armed. The victims tried to run but a shot was fired and
Felix (victim) was shot. They were boxed, kicked and hit and dragged into the van. They were brought to
a basement in a compound where witness Elena saw them being mauled, whipped with a gun, beaten
with steel tubes and lead pipes. They also had a blowtorch and the victims’ hands were tied. The victims
begged for mercy. Afterwards, they were herded back to the car, seeming almost dead. 2 days later,
their bodies were found in the Pasig river. Accused’ defense was an alibi, that they are INC members and
were attending a panata that night. According to them, when they read their names in the newspapers
as the perpetrators of the crime, they consulted the INC Central Office and were then accompanied by a
lawyer to go to the police station to “clear their names,” They were later on identified in a police line-up.
The RTC convicted all of them for MURDER, with a penalty of reclusion perpetua. ISSUE: W/N the
accused are entitled to the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender. HELD/RATIO: No. First of all,
the witnesses were able to fully establish and prove and connect the appellants-accused to the crime.
The SC is sufficiently satisfied that their guilt was proven beyond reasonable doubt. The killing was
characterized by treachery. Though treachery should normally attend at the inception of the aggression,
the facts show that the victims were first seized and bound and then slain, hence treachery is present. In
this case, it is enough to point out that the victims’ hands were tied at the back when their bodies were
found floating in Pasig River. This fact clearly shows that the victims were rendered defenseless and
helpless, thereby allowing the appellants to commit the crime without risk at all to their persons. The
circumstance of abuse of superior strength was absorbed in treachery. The appellants’ move to “clear
their names” cannot be accepted as voluntary surrender. For a surrender to be voluntary, it must be
spontaneous and should show the intent of the accused to submit himself unconditionally to the
authorities, either because (1) he acknowledges his guilt or (2) he wishes to save the government the
trouble and expense necessarily included for his search and capture. When the accused goes to a police
station merely to clear his name and not to give himself up, voluntary surrender may not be
appreciated. People v. Diva FACTS:  Maximo and Cesaria Diva (DIVA Spouses) were charged with the
murder of Ananias Bano (BANO) at the junction of the provincial road and of a trail leading to the house
of the Diva Spouses in Barrio Santiago, San Francisco, Cebu, on the afternoon of June 3, 1961.  The
information alleged that on June 3, 1962, DIVA Spouses w/ intent to kill, conspired and mutually helped
each other w/ evident premeditation and treachery, and taking advantage of superior strength, attacked
BANO w/ bolo weapons inflicting 8 wounds, 2 of which were fatal.  Based on the evidence of the
prosecution: o Prior to the incident, BANO was a resident of Barrio Himinsolan, 4 km. away from Barrio
Santiago, both of the municipality of San Francisco, Cebu. BANO married Alejandra Diva Aclon (daughter
of Teodora Diva de Aclon and niece of Maximo Diva (ergo, Teodora is the sister of Maximo’s father,
Raymundo