04/02/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly the person attacked to defend himself. For treachery to be considered, two (2) elements must concur: (a) the employment of means of execution that gives the person attacked no opportunity to defend himself or retaliate; and, (b) the means of execution were deliberately or consciously adopted.[32] In this case, treachery was not present. In a long line of cases, the Court held that "the essence of treachery is the swift and unexpected attack on an unarmed victim without the slightest provocation on his part."[33] To ensure that he was not in any risk, accused-appellant Bangcado frisked and searched Cogasi, Clemente, Adawan and Lino to see if they were concealing any weapons. After making sure that the victims were unarmed, Bangcado directed the victims to form a line against the Ford Fierra to separate the victims from each other and so that the latter could not rush to their friends' defense. Because Bangcado and Banisa were holding handguns, Cogasi and his friends did as they were told and were caught unaware when they were shot. In fact, Adawan and Lino died of gunshot wounds in the head, while Cogasi and Clemente only sustained head wounds that did not prove fatal. In the absence of any previous plan or agreement to commit a crime, the criminal responsibility arising from different acts directed against one and the same person is individual and not collective, and that each of the participants is liable only for his own acts.[34] Consequently, Banisa must be absolved from criminal responsibility for the assault on the victims. It is clear that neither the victims nor Banisa could have anticipated Bangcado's act of shooting the victims since the attack was sudden and without any reason or purpose. Thus, the criminal design of Bangcado had not yet been revealed prior to the killings. For public position to be appreciated as an aggravating circumstance, the public official must use his influence, prestige and ascendancy which his office gives him in realizing his purpose. If the accused could have perpetrated the crime without occupying his position, then there is no abuse of public position.[35] Hence, that aggravating circumstance cannot be appreciated here. While it may seem that accused-appellants intended to assert their authority as policemen and encourage in the victims' minds the belief that they were part of Operation KapKap when they frisked the victims, both Cogasi and Clemente testified that they never told the investigating officers that their assailants might be policemen. In fact, because the assailants were not in uniform, they believed the latter to be civilians. The defense claims that the injuries of the surviving victims were not serious enough to classify the attack under the frustrated stage, therefore, they committed only attempted homicide. However, the doctors who attended to the surviving victims testified that had they not treated Cogasi and Clemente's injuries the latter would have suffered from infection which could result in their death. It is clear that only timely medical attention saved both victims from imminent death. Accused-appellants deny that there was an offer to compromise when their relatives visited Miguel Adawan, the 81-year old father of Leandro Adawan. The old Adawan in tears testified that he came to know of the accused Bangcado and Banisa through their relatives when the latter came to his house in Besao, Mt. Province. Although the incident occurred on 27 June 1993, the first visit was sometime in April 1995 when Magdalena Mabiasan, the mother of Jose Banisa came "for a possible elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/37955 9/16