ART. 247.

Any legally married person who having surprised his spouse in the act of
committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill any of them or both of them in
the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall
suffer the penalty of destierro.

If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall be exempt from
punishment.

These rules shall be applicable, under the same circumstances, to parents with respect to
their daughters under eighteen years of age, and their seducer, while the daughters are living
with their parents.

Any person who shall promote or facilitate the prostitution of his wife or daughter, or shall
otherwise have consented to the infidelity of the other spouse shall not be entitled to the
benefits of this article.”

People v. Oyanib

THE CASE: This is an appeal from the joint decision of the RTC - Iligan, convicting
accused-appellant Oyanib , of the crimes of homicide and parricide.
CRIME Murder – for killing his wife’s paramour, Jesus Esquierdo
CHARGED Parricide – for killing his wife, Tita Oyanib
RTC Iligan GUILTY of homicide and parricide; 2 mitigating circumstances of passion
or obfuscation & voluntary surrender
SC Reversed the decision of the RTC

FACTS:
 Manolito and Tita were married in 1979; 2 children; living in Iligan City.
 They separated de facto in 1994 due to marital differences, with Manolito keeping
custody of their children; Tita lived nearby, renting a room at the second floor of Edgardo
Lladas’ house.
 Manolito exerted efforts towards reconciliation for the sake of their children, but to no
avail. Tita was very reluctant to reconcile but instead, she was open about her
relationship with other men and would flaunt it in front of Manolito.
 In one instance, Manolito chanced upon Tita and Jesus in a very intimate situation by a
hanging bridge. He confronted them and reminded Tita that she was still his wife. They
ignored him and threatened to kill him.
 On September 4, 1995, Manolito went to the house where Tita was staying to inform the
latter of the meeting at the school re: the failing grades of their child. Upon reaching the
house, he heard kissing sounds. He opened the door using a hunting knife and caught
Tita and Jesus having sexual intercourse, Jesus on top of Tita, with his pants on his
knees.
 Jesus kicked Manolito in the cheek, but the latter immediately stabbed the former.
 Though Jesus was 5’9” in height and weighed about 70 kg., he fell down due to the
suddenness of the assault. Manolito took advantage of this opportunity and stabbed
Jesus in the stomach.
  Tita left the room and came back with a Tanduay bottle. She hit Manolito in the head,
while at the same time shouting “kill him Jake, kill him Jake”.
 Tita then stabbed Manolito in the arm with the Tanduay bottle. In turn, Manolito stabbed
Tita in the left breast and three more times in different parts of her body.
 Lladas, upon hearing a commotion on the second floor of his house, went to check and
found Manolito stabbing Jesus while sitting on the latter’s stomach. Tita was sprawled on
the floor with her duster smeared with blood; she died on the way to the hospital.
 Jesus and Tita died of multiple stab wounds.
 Thereafter, Manolito went to the wake of his friend’s neighbor and went to catch a bus
for Aurora, Zamboanga the following day. He threw away the knife he used in stabbing
his wife and her paramour.
 While he was in Lentogan, he heard over the radio that there was a call for him to
surrender. Thereafter, he voluntarily surrendered to the police authorities in Iligan.
 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 her paramour, Jesus, that
they would kill him so they could live together.

RTC Iligan: GUILTY of homicide and parricide; 2 mitigating circumstances of passion or

obfuscation & voluntary surrender
ISSUE: Whether or not accused is entitled to the exceptional privilege under Article 247
HELD:
YES. 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 of
public policy and sentiment there is no penalty imposed.’

ELEMENTS OF ART 247

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;
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

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, the killing by the husband of his
wife must concur with her flagrant adultery.
APPLICATION OF THE ELEMENTS:

Elements:
(1) Present
(2) Present – accused surprised his wife and her lover in the act of sexual intercourse.
He was blinded by jealousy and outrage. He vented his anger on his wife when
she reacted, not in defense of him, but in support of Jesus, her paramour.

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 flragrante 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.