Brothers Pedro and Paulo had a bitter conflict over a subdivided family land share. One morning, Pedro bumped into Paulo and Paulo’s wife, Paula, on a pathway. After an initial verbal tussle, Paulo and Paula turned their backs to walk away. Without warning, Pedro pulled out a bolo and suddenly hacked Paula from behind, fatally wounding her, and severely hacked Paulo when he turned around. Fortunately, Paulo lived due to timely medical intervention. Charged with murder and frustrated murder, Pedro invokes complete self-defense, claiming that the victims made aggressive moves first during the pathway encounter. Both the trial court and the Supreme Court rejected his plea.

Is Pedro’s invocation of complete self-defense tenable?